the sleepy cashier leaning over the front counter, his elbow resting on the edge of the register and his chin propped up in his hand. He had barely opened his eyes at us when we entered, just gave a quick wave to Zac when he led me toward the back.
When he’d stirred the drink until he was satisfied with the consistency, Zac handed the cup over to me with a smile like he’d given me the secret to immortality.
I looked into the purple-black disaster inside the cup. “Um, no thanks.”
Zac shook his head when I tried to hand it back to him and grabbed another cup from the stack to begin the process all over again. “That one’s for you. Specially made. My treat.” He stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth as he focused on repeating the right mixture for his own drink.
I held the cup in front of me, afraid to take a sip. “I don’t think I’ve ever had anything from a gas station before. Other than the bottled drinks and bags of chips, I mean. I didn’t even know there was a food area back here.”
Zac’s eyes widened. “Seriously? Some days I exist solely on Gas ‘N Drive’s corn dogs and nachos. I mean, the corn dogs here aren’t Diggity Dog corn dogs, but they’re good when it’s two A.M. and you have a mad corn dog craving.”
I swished the half-frozen liquid around in my cup. “Can’t say I’ve ever had a mad corn dog craving either.”
“Sometimes I’m not sure you’re human, Avery James.” He finished creating his own slushie and I followed him to the front of the store. The cashier blinked at us, yawning wide, as we approached.
“Hey, man,” he greeted Zac, pushing himself upright to key in our purchases.
“Hey, Jake.” Zac nodded to me. “Do you know Avery?”
The cashier, Jake, studied me for a moment through half-closed lids, then shook his head. “Nah, don’t think so. I remember everyone that comes through during the night shift.”
“I’m usually asleep during the night shift,” I told him.
“I’m disturbing her beauty rest,” Zac said with a mischievous grin. “Introducing her to the wild world of midnight slushies.”
Jake laughed as he handed back Zac’s change. “Don’t corrupt her too much, Greeley. Later, guys.”
We headed outside to my car, but when Zac reached for the door handle I hit the lock button on my keychain. He stopped and looked back to where I still stood on the sidewalk next to the store.
“No eating or drinking in my car,” I said. “Rule number one, remember?”
“You have plastic on your seats. I don’t think it will hurt anything if I spill some.”
I shook my head. “No slushies in the car.”
He raised his eyebrows at me. “So you want to stand here in the dark and drink them?”
The gas station’s parking lot was brightly lit, but beyond that, the rest of the world was dark and shadowy. Anything could be hiding out there behind the bushes, watching us, waiting to mug two idiot teenagers standing around in a parking lot drinking slushies at almost two in the morning.
“All right,” I relented. “We’ll get in the car. But we’re not going anywhere until the drinks are gone. And if you spill even one drop, you’ll be sorry.”
To his credit, Zac was careful getting into the car instead of tumbling in like he usually did. I turned the ignition far enough that the radio came on so we could listen to Hallow Flux while we sat.
“All right,” Zac said, grinning at me. “Ready to experience flavor beyond all comprehension? Ready to enter a world of cherry and lime and grape so magnified your head will explode?”
“Ready for an obscene sugar rush?” I asked, wrinkling my nose at the cup in my hand.
“On the count of three.” Zac held up his fingers. “One...Two...Three! Drink!”
We raised our cups at the same time, but while Zac gulped his down, his Adam’s apple bobbing rapidly, I took only a small mouthful. The frozen drink sent chills through my teeth and down my throat while the sugar tingled on my tongue.
But it wasn’t bad. There was something to Zac’s theory about the right ratio of cherry to lime to grape after all. At the very least, the cold liquid was a welcome relief to the warm night.
Zac lowered his cup and pressed his free hand into his forehead. “Slushie headache!” he groaned, laughing as he bent over.
“You spill and you’re in trouble. I mean it!”