Free Survive the Night by Danielle Vega Page B

car’s tiny, but a hundred people are jammed inside. Orange and pink glow-in-the-dark necklaces glimmer from their necks and wrists, and they wave glow sticks above their heads. A thick cloud of marijuana smoke gathers at the top of the subway car.
    â€œAre you ready for some music?” Woody yells. If I squint, I can see him standing on a cracked yellow seat in the middle of the car. A faded subway map stretches across the wall behind him.
    Woody’s gone full cow, with the costume zipped over his chest and a plastic nose strapped over his real one. A black-and-white tail swings between his legs, and he has fifteen glowy pink necklaces dangling from his neck.
    The crowd cheers. I spot Aya wrapped around a silver pole in the middle of the car, pumping her fists in the air. Wispy black strands of hair hang in front of her face. I search for Julie’s bushy curls, but I don’t see her.
    â€œCome on,” Shana shouts over the cheering.
    She and Sam duck through the wall of people and disappear into the smoky car. I try to follow, but another jab of pain shoots through my knee. Grimacing, I step out of the doorway and lean against a graffiti-covered window.
    I squint through the glass, watching Sam wade through the crowd and crawl onto the seat next to Woody. Someone hands him a guitar and he ducks his head to play.
    Disappointment rolls through me. I thought I felt something shift when we were playing Twister, but Sam doesn’t even scan the crowd to see if I’m watching.
    I sigh and make my way farther down the platform to look for Julie instead. I refuse to be the girl who hangs around her ex-boyfriend when he obviously doesn’t want her there. It’s better that I give him a chance to miss me.
    Julie’s thick curls usually make her pretty easy to find, but it’s so crowded down here that I can barely see two feet in front of me. I push my way through the partiers, wondering if she found a bathroom to hide in, like she did the night she came with Shana and me to the rave at the pool. She spent the entire night huddled in the back of the handicapped stall.
    â€œLearn the secrets of your future, only a nickel,” she had said when Shana and I finally came to find her. A lit joint was balanced on her knee.
    I dug a nickel out of my pocket and handed it to her.
    â€œYour aura’s yellow,” she said, sliding the nickel into her combat boot. “It means you’re cheerful and good-natured but easily led astray.”
    â€œThat’s not the future,” I pointed out. Julie picked up her joint with two fingers.
    â€œYour good nature will lead you to love,” she said. “And love will lead you to danger.”
    A toilet flushed, and Shana threw open her stall door. The hard plastic slapped against the wall.
    â€œYou’re cracked, Jules,” she said, switching on a faucet. “Sam’s a Boy Scout. No danger there.”
    Julie leveled her eyes at Shana. She took a puff off her joint, and smoke curled up toward the ceiling.
    â€œThere are many different kinds of love,” she said.
    Techno music blasts from a set of wireless speakers, sending a deep oontz oontz trembling through the ground. I think I see someone with dark, bushy hair, and I grab her arm. But when she turns around I see that it’s really a he , and his hair is actually a fake-looking wig.
    â€œYou’re pretty!” someone shouts. I turn, and a skeletally thin boy wearing Goth makeup grabs my hand and pulls me into the crowd.
    â€œWhoa,” I say, stumbling after him. He yanks me toward a thick group of gyrating people and grabs my hips. For a second, I consider dancing with him. I even sneak a glance over my shoulder to see whether Sam’s watching through the subway car window. Then I realize what I’m doing and pull away, disgusted with myself.
    â€œNo thanks,” I say, untangling myself from Goth Boy’s arms. I am not that desperate. I take