September

A few handfuls of Advil and seven coffees after I woke up, I was driving to Los Angeles.

I’d singularly decided to just move along and not hike. We’d seen the Grand Canyon and now we were getting close to our destination. I’d also packed the car by myself, checked out by leaving the key on the counter, and dragged my friends into the car.

Brendan and Cora were stretched out in the backseat, a blanket covering them both. Andrew had woken up around 8 for a half an hour, talking to me about how he missed his dad a little bit. He fell back asleep when I handed him the Harry Potter book.

It was a quiet drive. I rolled down my window and let the cool morning air blow through my hair. When it started getting hot, I turned the air conditioning on lightly. It gave me a lot of time to think, which was good.

I had to talk to Brendan pretty immediately. I hated to admit it, even to myself, but I was falling for him. My glances to the backseat whenever he mumbled in his sleep or moved made that much obvious. It was near pathetic.

Thinking about Brendan usually consumed my mind. It was something that just took over my brain, confusing it. I finally understood what that whole ‘honeymoon period’ was about. I didn’t want any of it. I hated being obsessed.

With that final thought, my mind wandered to my parents. My threat to my father wasn’t empty and my temper was something most people knew to keep away from. My dad wasn’t exactly stupid but he obviously wasn’t smart. If he was, he wouldn’t have gotten caught.

Then again, if he was really smart he wouldn’t have cheated in the first place. Honestly, as much as my mom and I didn’t get along, she was a pretty fantastic lady and he was just a dumb fuck. I didn’t know how my mom would react to the news but I was hoping she wouldn’t be very forgiving.

When my mind went to more meager things and then eventually focused on my surroundings, time flew by. I noticed how the traffic changed, every yellow car, the air conditioning on my bare legs, and the quiet, muffled sound of sleep coming from all three sides. Seven hours in silence seemed to be so much less.

Andrew was the first to wake up. He glanced outside confusedly, stretching and groaning. He sighed lightly, rubbing his eyes and staring out the window at the bright sun. His eyes seemed to blink at a hundred miles an hour.

“There’s Advil in my bag Drew,” I said quietly, throwing him a smile. He grimaced and started digging in it. He took a drink of the water I’d bought when I’d stopped back in Barstow.
“Where are we?” he asked, shaking his head gently.

“About to pull into a rest stop right outside of Los Angeles, California,” I sang happily. It was true; I was pulling into a rest stop off the highway. There were a few palm trees outside of it.

“You’re fucking me right now.”

“No, I think Cora might kill me if I was fucking you right now.”

“Too true,” Cora said groggily. I stopped the car and looked back at her. She was rubbing her eyes and then combed her fingers through her bright red hair. We all looked like a scene and a half.

We simultaneously got out of the car. I cracked my back and my neck before opening the back door. I crouched down and started shaking Brendan gently. He woke up slowly.

“Baby,” he said in a sleepy voice. I let my heart beat wildly in my chest. I pressed a kiss to his lips gently before standing up.

“We’re in Los Angeles motherfucker.”

His eyes snapped open at that. I laughed and walked over to Cora, who was bending over a water fountain, brushing her teeth. I rolled my eyes and went to the vending machine for a Sprite. As I took a sip, Andrew threw up in one of the garbage cans.

I put another dollar in for a ginger ale. When he was done spitting on the ground, I handed it to him and he drank in little sips from it. He shook his head lightly. Brendan seemed to be fully recovered, as he was strutting around happily.

Cora pulled up her hair and started rubbing Andrew’s back. He seemed fine enough though when he stood up straight and started screaming and whooping into the air.

“We are in LA mothafuckas! We made it! Yeah, buddy!”

When he started dancing I rolled my eyes and sighed. He always recovered quickly. In fact, if I wasn’t present when we drank and he hadn’t just thrown up, I wouldn’t even have known he’d been drunk.

We all took turns using the bathroom and brushing our teeth. Cora and I were jumping excitedly around each other. This was real, we made it.

“Okay, we’re taking pictures with the sign!” I screamed, handing my camera to Brendan. Cora and I posed crazily in front of the sign and then Andrew came flying onto my back. It was a hot mess.

Brendan came to take pictures with us next, throwing Andrew away from Cora and I. He swept me into a kiss and Cora and Drew made fun of us for a few moments. We were laughing and breathless as he looked down at me through his eyelashes, holding me tightly to his body. He left a butterfly kiss on my nose.

I was too happy to realize the danger and destruction coming. I was too blind and stupid.

*

“Finally!” Cora exclaimed, falling back on the fluffy bed, “A nice clean hotel with Wi-Fi!” I rolled my eyes as Cora pulled out her laptop. She’d been talking about this for days.

“Give me your camera Rae, I’ll upload all the pictures to Facebook,” she said, holding her hand out expectantly. I huffed, fishing through my bag for it. She always held onto the cable for me since I had a ghastly tendency for losing everything.

I tossed it to her and she caught it, glaring at me. She never could really catch anything. I lay back on the bed and curled up, letting the air conditioning float gently over my body. I was seriously tired.

I felt someone lay next to me, and turned to see who it was. Brendan smiled gently and kissed my temple. I settled down and sighed contentedly as he wrapped an arm around my waist.

“Brenny,” I breathed. He nuzzled his nose in the crook of my neck. I let myself relax, the TV on quietly and Andrew and Cora talking about the pictures. Sleep came easily since I was so comfortable.

I didn’t dream but my sleep was light. I was always somewhat aware of what was going on. When I woke up hours later, Brendan was gone and Andrew and Cora were stretched out on the bed next to mine, watching TV. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, blinking the sleep out of them.

“Oh, look who’s finally up. Now we can get dinner!” Cora said, leaping from the bed. I got up and stretched, my shoulders popping. I yawned loudly and shuffled over to my flip flops.

“You’re fucking hilarious. Let me take a piss. Where’s the idiot?” I asked, crossing the room without waiting for an answer. Of course I found the answer when he walked out of the bathroom. I blinked once and then passed him to piss.

When I was done, we left the hotel and started our hunt for food. It was surreal walking past palm trees with Cora. We linked arms as we chose an outdoor café.

“I feel so fucking famous right now,” Cora said as we sat street side, flipping through the overpriced menu. I agreed though. Everyone hear looked very natural in their environment. I felt somewhat out of place.
“I think I’m getting a hamburger,” Andrew said, shutting the menu and dropping it on the table. I still wasn’t sure what I wanted and resorted to staring at the people walking by.

I didn’t realize the waitress had taken everyone’s order until Brendan nudged my leg gently. I jumped and looked up at her, smiling sheepishly. I picked the first thing I saw, which was some chicken dish.

“Is that…is that Perez Hilton?” Cora asked, pointing discreetly to her left. I glanced skeptically and then took a double take. Six hours in LA and we were already seeing celebrities.

“Holy shit.”

Perez Hilton was sitting in the table next to us, ignoring his food and scrolling through his Blackberry. I smiled at Cora as she watched him some more. I tried to ignore him but she just couldn’t stop.

“You’re so obvious Cora,” Brendan whispered, leaning forward and looking at her meaningfully. She was being obvious and I just placed my head in my hands. It wasn’t until I heard a very high-pitched, snippy voice speak in our direction that I looked up.

“Take a picture honey, it’ll last longer.”

With that sentiment, Perez Hilton walked away, bumping into Cora shoulder as he went. Now, everyone knows about my temper, especially when it’s in use for my friends. Brendan placed a hand on my knee.

“Hey fuck you! I wouldn’t want a picture of your fat ass even if it would wipe my dog’s ass,” I yelled after him.

He stopped and turned, raising an eyebrow. I smirked at him and leaned back in my chair. He grinned and raised his Blackberry, taking a picture and then walking away, typing something.

I rolled my eyes as my food was placed in front of me. I hated people so intensely. Andrew had his head down on the table and was banging his forehead against it every so often. I just rolled my eyes and started to eat.

“How much money would you like to bet that you’re on that piece of shit he calls a blog right now?” Andrew asked when he was done slamming his head on the table. I shrugged.

“I don’t give a fuck. Someone rude is someone rude, no matter how famous they are.”

We ate and talked about what we would do while we were here. Our appointment for our tattoos was the next day and Cora tried to make me divulge my secret. I’d finally made my decision, driving this morning.

We finished eating and paid, wandering the streets. There were a lot of strange people and fashionistas, all with some place to go. Brendan laced our fingers together as we walked and I smiled up at him. He grinned down at me and I leaned my head on his shoulder.

We picked up ice cream from a stand on the street corner and I shared it with him. Cora, Andrew, and Brendan all joked around, screaming and laughing but I stayed quiet. It was moments like these that I loved the most.

When we got back to the hotel, I went out on the balcony. Today was seemingly one of those days that I wanted to reflect and be alone. I wasn’t alone for long, as Brendan came out and wrapped me in a hug.

I leaned up and kissed him. He deepened the kiss, one hand cupping my face and the other gripping my waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck, my fingers threading through his hair. I could kiss him like this for weeks without end.

“Holy shit Rae! You’re on Perez Hilton!”

I pulled away from Brendan and very nearly fell off the balcony in excitement. I launched myself into the room and tackled Andrew for the laptop. When I righted myself, I looked at the website.

It was the latest update on the page. The header read, “Perez loves snippy little bitches.” Underneath it was a picture of me, my eyebrow raised and a smirk on. Beneath that was a small paragraph:

“Today I was trying to eat lunch and this girl couldn’t stop gawking at me. I told her off and her friend flew off the handle. You know there’s nothing I love more than a sassy bitch with a temper. I’ve never seen her around but if she stays, I’m more than willing to share the limelight.”

“Oh my fucking god!” I screeched, wrapping my arms around Andrew and jumping on him. Brendan took the computer to read the entry. Cora was on top of my in a second as we yelled and screamed indiscernible words.

“That’s fucking crazy,” Brendan mumbled. I sat up, my hair a mess and a huge smile on my face. I couldn’t even believe that Perez Hilton, though I hated his blog passionately, made a post about me, let alone a positive one.

I called Mallory to tell her to look at it and listened to her scream and promise to make a post about it on Facebook. After the complete high wore off, I took a shower and got ready for bed.

I crawled under the covers next to Brendan, who wrapped an arm around me. I pulled my laptop off of the bedside table and checked my Facebook, going through all the notifications of people who commented on the status about me being on Perez.

There was one though, from a girl in my grade who I’d never really talked to before. It was a picture comment. I was slightly confused as she was nowhere near the friend circle I ran with but clicked anyway.

It was the picture of Brendan and I kissing under the Los Angeles sign. Hers was the only comment, “Are you two dating?” Five people had liked the comment, all of them friends with her. I looked over at Brendan and then back at the screen.

That’s a really good question.