Hey, Darling.

It was hot.

That was the first thing I noticed about Arizona, and I was sure it wasn’t going to be the last. The heat hit me the second I stepped out of the car, staggering my breath and seizing all movement. It didn’t get this hot in Northern California. It didn’t get this humid either.

I attempted to take a deep breath, but the warm air that I sucked in seemed unfamiliar in my lungs. I wanted the cool, fresh, ocean breeze that I was used to. Instead, I was in the middle of the desert.

“Holy shit,” Mia wheezed. “Let’s get back in the car.”

“We can’t,” I said. “Trust me. Mom will just drag us back and then glare at us for not acting enthusiastic.”

“Damn you for being right.”

I attempted a chuckle, but everything that I did seemed to make me break out in a sweat. I wondered idly how I was going to attempt the fifty steps from the car to the house. It didn’t seem realistic. I’d much rather climb back into the car and sleep there for the entire summer.

“Come on, girls,” I heard my mother say, already seeming adjusted to the heat as she gathered some bags from the trunk. “Your grandma is anxious to see you.”

“I bet,” Mia muttered darkly. We both secretly knew that our grandma was dreading this almost as much as we were. We were never her favorite grandkids. We didn’t go to private school and we didn’t already have our positions at Harvard Law set up. Mia’s plans for school ended the second her name was called across the gym stage and I was still undecided.

“Let’s go,” I told her, gripping my tote bag tighter on my shoulder. I stared at my moccasins as we walked, feeling the air around me. I was thankful for wearing light, cotton shorts, but my tank top felt heavy and sticky on my skin. I wanted something thin and sheer.

I made the trek up to the front door successfully, but I felt even sweatier than before. The door was left open and the blast of air conditioning hit me almost as hard as the heat had. This change in temperature, however, was welcomed. Mia sighed in relief.

I could see my mother’s bright red ponytail bobbing around in the living room and I slowly made my way there. I stopped in the entryway, slightly shocked to see ten people gathered around the small sitting area. From an outsider looking in, it was kind of obvious that we were all family.

Each and every once of us had the infamous bright red hair, right down to my baby cousin Charlotte, who was sleeping peacefully in my aunt’s arms. If I looked at everyone through squinted eyes, it looked like the room was on fire.

“Molly! Mia!” My grandmother shouted delightfully, her tone almost as transparent as the sliding glass door behind her. “How good it is to see you.’

I smiled politely back at her and nudged Mia to do the same. The shift of tendons in her face seemed more like a grimace than a smile, but my grandma was lucky that she got anything other than a glare at all.

Mia was more resentful about the summer plans than I was. She had planned to spend the next eight weeks sitting at home, playing copious amounts of Rockband 2 and flirting with boys via MySpace. Her entire vacation was ruined when my mother dropped the bomb that we were going to Arizona for the summer, to visit family and to give her a break, though the last part was unspoken.

I didn’t mind so much. Tempe wasn’t that bad, and from what I had learned from Google, there were a decent amount of thrift shops and a well stocked library.

I smiled and waved at each and every one of my relatives before glancing over at my mother and trying to discreetly signal for her to get us out of there. She owed us that much, I thought. She stuck us in the car for three days, only stopping to let us pee and get another Slurpee. Some alone time would be nice.

She seemed to get the hint and quietly excused herself.

“Girls,” she said. “let me show you where the bathroom is so you can clean up.”

I smiled once again as I followed my mother out of the living room and into a hall. I only had faint memories of this house, as I had only been here once before when I was little. I guess I should get used to it, considering that this was my new residence for the next two months.

“Your bedroom is up the stairs. For now, Molly can use this bathroom and Mia, you can wash up in the one at the top of the stairs.”

She used both of her hands to first gesture towards the door in front of her, then at the one at the right of the stairs. We both nodded silently and she turned and started making her way back through the hall.

I looked over at Mia, who just looked back at me dejectedly. She looked like a kicked puppy. She really was taking this hard.

I just attempted another smile (my cheeks were going to be aching by the end of the day) and patted her on the arm. “Don’t worry about it,” I said. “We’ll find a way to have fun.”

Then I turned back to the door in front of me and opened it cautiously. The bathroom was of an average size, not too small but not overly excessive, with an old-fashioned toilet and a claw-foot tub. I set my bag down on the counter before staring at myself in the oval mirror. My face was slightly flushed from the heat and there were eyeliner smudges underneath my eyes. My red hair had curled from the humidity and was started to poof up slightly.

I took a deep breath and attempted to release some of the tension in my muscles. Then I took out my contacts and washed my face thoroughly. I combed my hair out and plaited it at the nape of my neck, letting my bangs fall over my eyes. I slipped on my glasses and adjusted my shirt. I attempted to stall more time, but I didn’t have to pee and there was only so long you could spend in the bathroom without being suspicious.

Finally, after ten minutes, I opened the door. Mia was already waiting for me, her arms crossed as she leaned against the stair railing. She had changed out of her dress into a pair of cut-offs and a white v-neck. Her hair was down, her curls falling down to the middle of her back. She had always been the one to get away with effortless beauty, while I had to strain over getting a measly pretty.

“You ready?” She asked with a turn of her head. She uncrossed her arms and looked at the end of the hall.

“Yup,” I nodded. “Might as well get it over with.”

She nodded as well, but didn’t made any effort to move. I rolled my eyes.

“Let’s go,” I said impatiently, and then I tugged on her arm and made my way down the hall.