Title: Soco Amaretto Lime

Author: Cherry Vanilla aka Sarah

Fandom: The Faculty

Pairing: Casey/Zeke

Rating: PG-13

Summary: “I’m gonna stay eighteen forever / so we can stay like this forever.” 

Notes 1: I wanted to write a story based upon “Soco Amaretto Lime” by Brand New.  This is what I came up with.  To get the full affect, you should listen to the song, which you can listen to here

Notes 2:  This can be taken as a sequel to my 2003 story All-American Boy or my recent story Another Day in Paradise, as they are very similar in theme.  Or, it can be treated as a stand-alone. 

 

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I.  Passed out on the overpass

    Sunday best and broken glass

   Broken down from the bikes and bars
  Suspended like spirits over speeding cars
  You and me were kings over the parkway tonight

 

There’s one stretch of highway within 10 miles of your town.  It leads to Columbus aka “the real world”.  The alien thing certainly put your town on the map, but it’s still in the middle of nowhere.  To escape, you and Zeke climb into his car and drive for miles until you’ve reached that highway.  You both walk up to the overpass while Zeke absently kicks at broken bottles.  You climb on the rail, wind blowing through your hair. If you close your eyes, you feel like you’re flying.  Zeke is beside you and you can hear the low rumble of his voice as he sings underneath his breath.  You slump down against the concrete wall and pull Zeke down with you.  He hands you his bottle of homemade Soco Amaretto Lime and you take another drink; it’s almost empty.  You pass it back to him and you giggle absently.  The two of you lay there, heads touching, occasionally making out lazily.  His hand is warm on your thigh.  There’s so many things you want to say.  It begins to rain, but you’re already drowning in his kisses.  You want to suspend this moment in time.  His head is burrowed into the crook of your neck, his breath steady and warm.  You feel yourself begin to pass out in a drunken haze.  You wish you had your camera. 

 

II. You’re just jealous cause we’re young and in love

 

You still have trouble believing any of it actually happened.  Aliens. It defies logic and really, when you think about it, it’s down right silly.  Aside from the celebrity Delilah pushed on you, you’re ready to put everything behind you.  Except you soon realized people can accept aliens a lot more than two kids being gay and in love.  You and Zeke don’t hold hands in public or anything, but you’re together constantly and rumors have started to fly.  Any respect you gained in the eyes of your peers after liberating the town is mostly gone.  Gabe began shoving you in the hall again, calling you ‘fag’, except now Zeke is there to shove him back.  Last week, ‘faggot’ was spray painted on your gym locker.  You and Zeke stayed after school scrubbing it off and then, in defiance, blew one another in locker room.  You know you shouldn’t let it bother you, but it does.  Zeke says fuck Gabe and all the other guys, they’re just jealous.  Maybe so, but you’re still happy it’s almost over.  One more week of classes and you’re both out.  Zeke repeated senior year so you caught up to him.  You just turned 18 and he’ll be 19 in November.  You both applied to colleges in Columbus but haven’t heard anything yet.  You’re slowly dying in this town.

 

 

III.  And tonight will go on forever while we
      walk around this town like we own the streets
      and stay awake through summer like we own the heat
    Singin' "everybody wake up (wake up) it's time to get down"
    (everybody, everybody wake up it's time to get down)

 

Out here with Zeke, with the rain slowing, and the warmth of liquor and the summer mist thick in the air, you feel like you can do anything.  You walk down to the car and he holds your hand.  You know he shouldn’t be driving so you tell him to leave it.  He doesn’t put up a fight.  You start walking down darkened streets, the only sounds audible are the locusts in the night and the sound of your breathing.  You look over at Zeke and can’t understand why he’s with you. 

 

“Stop it, Case.”

 

His voice startles you and you jump a little.  He looks at you, eyes hard.  “I know when you’re self-deprecating.” 

 

You’ve been together about a year, yet he knows you better than you know yourself.  You laugh to yourself. 

 

He holds your hand a little tighter.  “What’s wrong?” 

 

You’re still drunk, and now you’re getting melancholy and he seems fine and willing to have a serious conversation and it’s too much for you to handle.  “What the fuck are we doing, Zeke? We’re gonna get out of this town for what? Columbus? Who’s to say anything will be different over there?”

 

Zeke stops walking and you look back at him.  “Then what do you want, Case?” Quietly. Defeated. 

 

“I want… I don’t know.”

 

“You want me to declare my love for you, is that it?”  You’re about to tell him no, because really, that isn’t it, but he’s already walking up the street of houses, shouting “Everybody wake up, wake up, I LOVE CASEY CONNOR!”

 

You jog to catch up with him and start laughing.  Then he’s laughing too and he’s in your arms.  The embrace suddenly turns serious and Zeke whispers, “You know I’m not embarrassed.” 

 

“I know.” Because you do. 

 

II.   I'm gonna stay eighteen forever
      So we can stay like this forever
     And we'll never miss a party
     cause we keep them going constantly
    And we'll never have to listen
    to anyone about anything
   cause it's all been done and it's all been said
  We're the coolest kids and we take what we can get

 

You somehow make it to the football field at school and collapse.  The sun is starting to come up and so is your stomach.  You throw up until your insides feel like they’re on the outside.  Zeke hands you a piece of gum and that’s why you love him.  At this very moment, lying in the cool, damp grass with Zeke and watching the sun come up you feel invincible.  You close your eyes and forget your social status, forget Gabe, forget Delilah,  forget everyone except Zeke.  Right now the two of you are kings and no one can change that.  Zeke starts to kiss you, shifts his body down on top of you and you forget thinking all together. 

 

 

III. The hell out of this town

     Find some conversation

    The low fuel light has been on for days

   It doesn’t mean anything

   I’ve got another 500 ‘nother 500 miles

  Before we shut this engine down

 

The next day is Saturday and Zeke’s off picking up his car.  You go to your mailbox and your heart leaps in your throat at one of the envelopes.  It’s from Time Magazine.  You never told Zeke you did this.  You felt foolish and if you never heard anything back then it didn’t make any difference anyway.  But now there’s a response and your heart is thudding in your chest.  You open the envelope. 

 

When Zeke comes over, you’re still sitting outside on your porch.  You haven’t moved.

 

“Casey. You okay?” 

 

You had him the piece of paper.  He reads it, not fully comprehending.  “Case, what is this?”

 

“It’s our ticket out.”

 

You start telling him how after the Time cover story, you stayed in touch with the Doug, the editor.  He’d mention there was a photographer position available and he didn’t really care about your age as long as you had the goods.  So, you mailed him your portfolio and now you apparently have a job offer. 

 

Zeke absorbs all of this and finally says, “Then what the hell are we waiting for.”

 

You meet Stan and Stokely on the football field the night of graduation.  Your bags are in Zeke’s car.  You hug them goodbye and promise to stay in touch.  Then it’s just the two of you, on the open road.  Doug’s handling your relocation because he’s just that nice of a guy and you’re staying in a hotel until you find an apartment.  Zeke says he’ll probably apply to some schools in New York, majoring in biology.  Right now you’re low on gas and money and you’re terrified.  But Zeke is beside you, talking lowly as the radio buzzes out anthems of youth.  The wind fans your face as you cross the Ohio state line. 

 

[end]

 

 

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