Last Stop This Town by David Steinberg Read Free Book Online Page A

pass. “Yeah, I’ll get right on that.”
    Dylan was still furiously texting when Walker moved on to a moment of self-reflection. “I think I just need to accept that high school is over and I’ll make a fresh start next year in college.”
    “Sounds like a plan,” Noah humored him.
    Pike was still brainstorming. “Hey, Suzanne will sleep with you if you buy her some weed.”
    Walker perked up, considering. “Is she going to Marco’s for Beach Weekend?”
    But before Pike could figure out how to make that happen, Dylan finally finished on the phone and held it up triumphantly. “Cancel your Brazilian waxes, gentlemen. Welcome to Beach Weekend 2.0.”
    That got their attention. Even if they had no idea what he was talking about, it sounded promising.
    Dylan continued, “We’re not going to Marco’s. We’re going into the city.”
    “Hartford?” Walker inquired.
    “New York, dumbass.” Dylan started going over the texts. “My friend Pete just told me about a massive party in the city Friday night.”
    Pike racked his brain. “Is he that guy from the ski trip? The one with three balls?”
    “Yeah,” Dylan replied.
    Noah looked concerned. “But what about Marco’s?”
    “Fuck Marco’s,” Dylan countered. “This is Stark Raving Mad 2012. It’s in an abandoned warehouse. There’s going to be close to a thousand people there.”
    Pike’s eyes lit up. “Perfect. I can pick up some weed in the city.”
    “You don’t have enough weed?” Walker wondered aloud.
    “Marco says I owe him twelve hundred bucks for that piece of shit couch.”
    “That’s fucking bullshit,” Walker said, trying to sound supportive.
    “I know,” Pike lamented. “But he said I could pay him back in weed.”
    Noah was still stuck on the basic premise. “Guys, we can’t miss the last big party of high school.”
    “High school is over, my man,” Dylan proclaimed, then added, “Ask your doctor what not being a pussy can do for you.” Dylan was very pleased with himself for coming up with that last part.
    But Noah wasn’t sure.
    Dylan tried to ice the cake. “We’re talking about New York City. No ID required. Topless bars. Bottomless drinks. And the loosest sluts on the Strip.” Dylan was on fire with catchy sayings.
    But he could see that Noah was still down in the dumps and that he had to cheer him up before he would agree to anything. “Look, I get it.” He looked at Noah sympathetically. “But it’s over between you and Sarah. You need to move on. And we are going to help you do just that.”
    The way Dylan figured, there was something in it for everyone. They’d get Pike some pot, get Walker laid, and get Noah to forget about Sarah. “It’ll be our last big hurrah of high school.”
    Noah was stubborn. “What’s the hurry? We have the whole summer to party.”
    Dylan flinched so slightly that the guys didn’t even notice. They didn’t have the whole summer, even if Dylan wasn’t ready yet to tell his friends why.
    Noah still wasn’t convinced. Sure, a weekend in New York with the guys would probably be pretty awesome. But Noah wanted to be with Sarah and Sarah was going to be at Marco’s. He didn’t care that they had broken up. He wanted to spend the last weekend of high school with the guys and her.
    Before they could discuss it any further, Marco’s bouncer friend Chuck walked by with his football brethren. He led with his standard greeting, “S’up, ladies,” then for absolutely no reason whatsoever proceeded to give Walker a titty-twister.
    Walker screamed. “Ow! That hurt, asshole!”
    Noah stepped up to defend Walker. “Stop being a dick, Chuck.”
    Chuck came back with an ever-so-witty retort, “I’m sorry, ahomosayswhat?”
    Noah just rolled his eyes. It was the oldest one in the book and Noah wasn’t going to let Chuck have the satisfaction. “Excuse me? Didn’t quite catch that.”
    Chuck repeated, “Ahomosayswhat?” a few times, hoping to trick Noah, but Noah was about a