But shockingly, the vision was shattered, and The Man’s face looked up in surprise, as Spencer’s fear diminished, his power fading, all because of the girl behind the glass; Ashley, with her beautiful chocolate brown hair, inquisitive mind, and that glowing smile that the Greeks could have used to stop the Romans.

Now Spencer was here, in Dodger’s van. Her journey from the patio, down the street, and into this position a faded memory, as if someone had reached into her brain and snatched that part out, leaving her confused and ponderous, like an annoying case of déjà vu. Her eyes stared ahead, into the dark trees that lined the street, a blinking streetlight causing odd patterns to appear on the tree trunks.

A cold metallic feel exploded onto her lips, the damp beer can rim trailing water droplets mixed with beer into her mouth, a rush of cold heading down her throat on towards her stomach, where it will mix with stomach acids and hours old chicken pot pie.

An enormous smile appeared on her lips that were still crushed against the beer can. Beer drooled down her chin and onto her top. She looked down and used her free hand to wipe off the liquid, leaving a trail of wetness over the cotton shirt.

Ashley glanced over at Spencer, studying her angelic face, her own face one gigantic smile, her chest full of hot air, a response to Spencer’s sudden happiness, hoping that it was she who had caused it, had punctured a hole in the balloon that encased her friend, releasing the unspoken and unidentified pain that was keeping Spencer afloat in the sky barely out of reach from grasping fingers.

“Wow, a Spencer smile…haven’t see you craft one of those in ages.”

Spencer kept grinning, chugged the rest of her beer, crushed the can, and laid it next to her in the van.

A loud burp erupted from Spencer’s throat, causing both girls to laugh hysterically. The whole act seemed so uncharacteristically Spencer. Perhaps from someone who had just met her, but Ashley knew the real Spencer and a beer burp was probably the most ladylike action Spencer had ever concocted.

Their laughs began to fade, but the lighthearted mood had not, both equally aware of the silence between them that had been broken, each girl thinking back to a happier time in unison, when there seemed to be few worries, except making it back to the house by nightfall, if mom would buy each girl the latest shoes with the purple laces, or who could make it down Culver Street hill without slowing down before the sharp turn at the bottom.