Laid In America -

He kissed her. Not because the party demanded it, not because Chad told him to, but because the space between them had finally collapsed, like a dying star into something dense and real.

“You snore,” she said.

She was sitting on a leather couch, alone. She wore a simple grey sweater and jeans, no costume. Her hair was a messy bun, and she was reading a dog-eared paperback by the light of a strobe. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.

“I see you,” she said.

She looked up. Her eyes were the color of old honey. “Neither is this party.”