Ditch Day
Inspired by French Riviera-PHIA
IMPORTANT NOTICE: HIT PLAY ON THE AUDIO
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OKAY THEN CARRY ON.
HAPPY READING.
(Please I just really want y’all to read while the song is playing to get the vibe. Thank you)
FOR BEGINNING TO FIRST CHORUS (0:00-1:10)
“No,” Nia said flatly.
“Yes,” Eshe replied without hesitation, already peeling the backing off a googly eye.
“I’m not doing this.”
“It’s art.”
“It’s a crime.”
“It’s art,” Eshe repeated with absolute conviction.
Before Nia could stop her, Eshe pressed the oversized googly eye onto a pristine vanilla-scented candle sitting innocently on a display shelf. The eye wobbled slightly before settling into place, transforming the candle from tasteful home décor into something that looked alarmingly sentient.
For a long second, it stared up at them, and Nia had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep a straight face.
They’d been in this craft store for six minutes. Nia barely knew this girl.
“Just do the rooster,” Eshe whispered, leaning in close enough that Nia could smell her perfume “Look at him. He needs it.”
Nia looked at the rooster.
The rooster looked ridiculous already.
She looked down at the googly eye sitting in her palm.
Then she looked back at Eshe, who had already moved on to a decorative picture frame and was carefully selecting eye sizes with focused concentration.
Something about the seriousness on her face completely shattered what remained of Nia’s resistance.
With a sigh that sounded suspiciously like surrender, she pressed the googly eye onto the rooster.
Eshe pressed both hands over her heart.
“Nia!”
“Stop,” Nia said, though she was already peeling another eye off the sheet.
“Nia, you’re an artist!”
“I’m fixing your mistake,” Nia muttered, squinting at the ceramic bird while she pressed the eye into place.
“That’s exactly what artists say,” Eshe said, grinning.
After that, things escalated surprisingly fast.
A ceramic mushroom gained eyes.
Then a second mushroom.
A decorative watering can.
A wooden squirrel.
Then a googly eye on a picture frame.
Every time Nia told herself that was the last one, she found another object that looked like it was only one googly eye away from having a personality.
Eshe caught her doing it and made a face like she was witnessing something beautiful, and that was it. They both cracked up at the same time, laughing quietly first, then not quietly at all, Nia covering her mouth with both hands while Eshe shook silently against a ceramic vase.
By the time the employee turned the corner and stopped dead at an entire shelf of blinking, staring home goods, they had maybe two seconds before Eshe straightened up, clasped her hands behind her back, and said “Art,” with the serene confidence of someone who had never been wrong about anything.
They were out the door before the employee finished her sentence.
FOR SECOND VERSE AND CHORUS (1:11-2:13)
If you can only see how much time is left of the song go to (2:24)
The casino was also Eshe’s idea, which went without saying.
It was one of those mid-size ones that let eighteen-year-olds into the arcade section, which meant they were technically allowed to be there.
Eshe found a bucket of abandoned coins near a change machine, stared into it for a moment, then looked at Nia.
“Bet I can stack all of these on that security guard’s desk before that guy comes back.”
“No!” Nia said, with exaggerated exasperation that was mostly for show.
“I’ll split them with you.”
“They’re not your coins.”
“Morally? Everyone’s coins.” she replied was already sizing up the distance across the carpet. “Lookout or not?”
Nia was the lookout.
She stationed herself near the slot machines trying to look casual, which she was terrible at, because Eshe had started tiptoeing and it was physically impossible to watch without laughing.
The stack started small.
A few coins.
Then a few more.
Then somehow a surprisingly respectable tower.
Every successful placement made her visibly more committed to the bit.
The tower was getting genuinely impressive.
Then the security guard started walking back toward his desk and locked eyes directly with Nia, who was standing there looking about as suspicious as a lookout could possibly look.
For one long second, neither of them moved.
Then, without thinking, Nia pointed straight at Eshe.
The guard looked over.
“Traitor,” she mouthed.
And then they ran.
Through the arcade, past the change booths, out the side exit into the afternoon, Eshe grabbing Nia’s hand without thinking to pull her around a corner, and they collapsed against the outside wall breathless. Nia laughing so hard there was no sound.
Beside her, Eshe slid down to sit on the curb, still clutching the nearly empty coin bucket like she’d won it in battle.
And somewhere beneath the laughter, a strange thought drifted through Nia’s mind.
This morning, she hadn’t known Eshe Adeyemi at all.
Not really.
They went to the same school. Shared hallways. Shared teachers. Existed in the same orbit without ever quite crossing paths.
Then Eshe had spotted her sitting on the hood of her pink Civic, appointed herself Nia’s ditch day connoisseur, and climbed into the passenger seat.
That was how the day had started. That was how Nia had ended up here, back against a casino wall, hand still in Eshe’s hand, not pulling away.
“Third place,” Nia managed.
“Third place what?”
“Third place we’ve been kicked out of today.”
Eshe held up one finger. “Escorted.”
“We ran, Eshe.”
“We quickly escorted ourselves.”
FOR BRIDGE AND LAST CHORUS (2:13-END)
If you can only see how much time is left of the song go to (1:21)
“Turn here,” Eshe said, pointing at a road that didn’t look like it led anywhere in particular.
“There’s nothing—”
“Turn here, Nia.”
Nia turned.
Eshe had taken over the aux cord somewhere around exit fourteen and had not relinquished it since, singing along, one arm out the window, fingers surfing the wind.
She was loud. She was off-key. She didn’t care even a little bit.
Nia kept her eyes on the road and let herself glance over anyway, just for a second, the late sun catching the side of Eshe’s face, and thought, not for the first time today, that she didn’t know how someone could make chaos look this much like joy.
She’d known Eshe Adeyemi for eleven hours.
It felt like it should be illegal to like someone this much this fast.
“Okay,” Eshe said, sitting up suddenly, the song forgotten mid-lyric. “Park anywhere here.”
Nia parked. Stepped out.
Salt air.
“You drove me to a beach.”
“I navigated you to a beach,” Eshe corrected, already kicking off her shoes, already moving toward the water.
Eshe didn’t look back to see if Nia was following. She just waded in, jeans rolled to her knees, arms out for balance, laughing at nothing, at everything, at the cold.
Nia didn’t hesitate.
She toed off her shoes and walked straight in after her, fully clothed, not even thinking about it, the water hitting her ankles and then her shins and she didn’t care, she just wanted to be standing where Eshe was standing.
“Look at you,” Eshe said, grinning. “No hesitation. Who even are you.”
“You clearly can’t be left alone near water.”
They stood there a while, knee-deep, the sky doing something soft and orange behind them, the day finally slowing down enough to be felt instead of just lived through.
“Hey,” Nia said. “Thanks. For today. I needed it. To smile.”
Eshe looked over at her, and for once, there wasn’t a joke loaded behind her eyes.
“Yeah,” she said. “I noticed. Glad I got your mind off it.”
Nia’s stomach dropped a little. “Off what?”
“You were sitting on your car looking so dejected. I figured I’d take a shot at fixing it.” A small shrug. “Worked, looks like.”
Nia looked back out at the water.
“I got a picture this morning. My ex. With one of my friends. They planned to spend the day together.”
“Shit.” Eshe’s jaw tightened, instantly, fully on Nia’s side. “They’re pieces of shit.”
A laugh surprised its way out of Nia, small and real. “Yeah.”
She let the silence sit for a second, then asked the question that had been circling since the parking lot, since the candle, since the rooster.
“How did you even notice me? We’ve never talked. Not once.”
“I always notice you,” Eshe said, like it was obvious.
“What?”
Eshe opened her mouth like she might explain that, and then visibly changed her mind about how to explain it.
“I might have a little crush on you,” she said instead. “Have for a while, actually.”
Nia didn’t say anything.
She couldn’t quite find words.
Because suddenly every moment from the day rearranged itself.
The way Eshe had spotted her.
The way she’d refused to leave.
The way she’d kept finding reasons to make Nia laugh.
The water kept moving around their legs. A gull somewhere. The ordinary sound of waves not caring about either of them.
“Okay,” Eshe said, after a beat too long, already retreating, already reaching for a joke to climb back behind. “Forget I said that, I’ll just—”
Nia kissed her.
For a split second, Eshe went still, caught completely off guard.
Nia felt Eshe’s surprise for the briefest second, a tiny pause of breath and stillness, and then the tension between them gave way.
Eshe kissed her back with a soft, startled laugh caught somewhere in the motion, her mouth warm against Nia’s, like the whole day had been leading here without either of them naming it.
The kiss was soft at first, tentative only because neither of them seemed to quite believe it was actually happening. Nia could feel Eshe smiling against her mouth, feel the tiny hitch in her breath as surprise gave way to something warmer.
The salt air clung to them. The wind tugged at loose curls and damp hems. Nia could feel the faint pressure of Eshe’s hand at her waist.
When they broke apart, it was only by inches.
Neither of them seemed willing to move first.
Eshe stayed close enough that Nia could still feel her breath, close enough to see the grin starting to form on her face before it fully arrived, like she was trying very hard not to look too pleased and failing completely.
Had this idea since mid-last year, except at the time it was straight and involved a gangchase and more snark and fake marriages.
Then pride month rolled around and I had the bright idea to make it sapphic and rebuilt it around that.
Bottomline, this song had to be written to with the same whimsy I feel when I listen to it.
Also pretend I posted this June 30th. Graciasss
When next will y’all see me? I’m honestly not sure. I have stories I’ve scrapped so maybe I’ll pick up one of those later down the line.
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