Tommy and Laura in Dinner in the Temple of Slime

Tommy didn’t really know what he was doing here.

Laura asked him to come to this party, but instead of having fun he was reminded how lonely he was. Hell, he couldn’t even find Laura. Where was she anyway? He made his way through the crowd on the lawn, sipping from red solo cups with various levels of intoxication. People yelled and stumbled around as he walked past them, looking for Laura.

He bumped into someone and as he apologized, they grabbed his arm. Tommy realized it was Jess.

“Tommy.” she said sharply.

“What, Jess?” asked Tommy. This was the first time they had really talked face to face.

“Where’s Laura?” asked Jess.

“Why the hell do you wanna know? I’m looking for her right now but I haven’t seen in her a long time.” snapped Tommy.

“No need to be rude.” replied Jess. Tommy’s face relaxed as he realized she was right.

“Look, I don’t even wanna be here. Laura asked me to come over here. Sorry I snapped at you.” said Tommy.

“Well, I was just wondering if you guys knew anything about this.” said Jess. She held up a jar filled with slime and set it down on a wooden table. Tommy touched it with his fingers and realized it was incredibly cold.

“What the hell?” asked Tommy.

“It was in my locker and a lot of other people’s too. I dunno what it is but it seems like something you two would deal with, right?” asked Jess. Tommy nodded as he watched Jess put the jar back in her purse.

“As soon as I can I’ll discuss it with Laura.” said Tommy.

“Thanks... “ said Jess, trailing at the end of her sentence as she suddenly looked behind her. People screamed and shouted as they huddled near the house. Tommy turned and saw someone on the roof.

“Oh god damn it!” said Tommy.

“What is it?” asked Jess. Tommy didn’t have time to answer as the person staggered on the roof, cursing loudly and swayed her arms to the left and right, looking as if they would lose their balance at any minute. And then they fell.

Tommy jumped over the heads of two boys and landed on a wooden table, the force of his landing causing plastic cups of beer to spill. He made a flying leap to the plaster wall of the house and jumped off, catching Laura as he propelled himself off the wall. He landed on his feet with a drunken Laura looking utterly confused by what happened. Then she threw up.

She laid in the back of the car as Tommy drove to her house. “What the hell was that?” asked Tommy. Laura just nodded, obviously not understanding him. “I don’t even know! Maybe it was a good thing that you invited me over so I could stop you from falling off some dude’s roof!”

“Stop yelling!” she shouted, covering her ears. She looked as if she was about to vomit again.

“Holy crap, how much did you have?” asked Tommy.

“I dunno, I forgot how to count by the third one...” she said as held out her hands. “...just don’t tell my mom about it…”

“Laura, as your friend, I’m not going to do that. But we’re not also going to these parties anymore.” said Tommy as he swerved to the left.

“We’re not going to these parties anymore, sure.” groaned Laura.

“I mean it too, Laura. You could have died.” said Tommy.

“No I wouldn’t. I’m… I’m... a monster hunter. I can’t die.” burped Laura. Tommy thought back to the time he jumped off the roof and slammed into the rock during the vampire castle fight and realized maybe she was kind of right.

“Why would you wanna jump anyway?” asked Tommy, slightly relaxing his angry tone.

“I dunno why I did it.” said Laura quietly. The conversation stopped and the car filled with awkward silence. Tommy stopped the car at the curb of her house.

“Do you need someone to help you in?” asked Tommy. Laura didn’t say anything. Tommy opened up the driver’s door and realized she was passed out. He curled his lips into a straight line and picked her up and carried her to the porch. He set her down on the patio chair and looked for a key under the mat and opened the door, picking Laura back up. He looked around for a couch or anything to set her back down on and found one in the living room. He shut the lights off and headed out.

He pulled out of the driveway in silence. He didn’t know what to say or think. Laura obviously did something wrong here… but there was nothing else he could say beyond that.

“Ugh… I have such a massive hangover.” groaned Laura as she clutched the side of her head. Tommy glared down at his desk as Laura sat to the desk next to him.

“Hey Tommy, cool save!” said a boy that Tommy had never seen before. Tommy watched as the boy sat down at a desk at the way back. Laura looked at him.

“Cool save?” asked Laura. “What?” Tommy said nothing. “Well?”

“Laura, you fell off the roof last night.” said Tommy.

“What? I don’t remember being on a roof.” said Laura.

“Well, I’m pretty sure there’s a video of a drunken Laura staggering off the top of a roof shouting the f-word.” said Tommy.

“Well then what was the save?” asked Laura.

“Me. I grabbed you when you fell and then took you home.” said Tommy.

“That’s how I got home…” distantly said Laura. “...thanks.”

“We’re not doing that any more.” said Tommy, firmly.

“Yeah, we’re not doing it. I’ll still be going to the one next week.” said Laura.

“Laura, no.” said Tommy.

“Oh, so what, I had a little too much to drink? Now I have to be babied by you?” asked Laura.

“Maybe,” said Tommy. Laura gave him a stink-eye. “Also, Jess asked if we could investigate something.”

“Jess? When the fuck did she get so involved in our lives?” asked Laura.

“Well, she knows about us being…” said Tommy.

“Right… what’s her deal?” asked Laura.

“Slime. She showed me a jar of the stuff and that shit was colder than a corpse in dry ice.” said Tommy. “Gross,” said Laura. “Guess we have to check out it then? Where is it?”

“She said it was in her locker. I dunno if it’s still there or not but it’s clearly somewhere in the school.” said Tommy.

“Well, I guess we check it out then.” said Laura, getting up from her seat as she slung a backpack over her shoulder.

“Well, we have class to do first…” said Tommy.

“Oh yeah, right...” said Laura, sitting back down.

More to come...