September

Being in the car with a hangover was one thing.

Being in the car knowing you have at least five hours left in the car with a hangover as bad of a bitch as mine and sitting next to someone you previously hated but was now on speaking terms with because you spilled about your cheating father to him the night before was another.

I stared out the window miserably as Andrew sped down I-70. Feeling nauseous was an understatement of how I felt right now. Someone had decided to get an early start, which meant that I had barely any time to piss let alone cure my hangover.

It was probably better this way anyway. At least now I was suffering and getting somewhere, instead of just curled up in bed wanting to shoot myself.

A folded-up square of paper fell onto my lap and i grabbed it, looking up. Cora wasn't looking at me so I glanced at Brendan who had a meaningful look on his face. I unfolded the paper to see Brendan's small scrawl.

How are you?

I huffed and rolled my eyes, something I'd been doing the whole ride, and reached a cautious hand out for a pen. When I felt it in my hand I glanced at Cora before spreading the sheet on my leg to write a response.

Vomiting my stomach up sounds like a good idea right about now.

I folded it again and flicked it into his lap along with the pen. I bit my lip when I saw the grin on his face as he read the paper. It felt weird being friendly with him again but somewhat peaceful too.

Andrew and Cora hadn't noticed anything yet. I wasn't sure what they would do though, when they noticed that we were speaking again. It would be rather hard to explain, considering the state I'd been in after finding everything out.

The note landed on my lap again and I opened it, nearly laughing out loud. I cast him a dirty glance and reached for the pen and wrote underneath his sentence of, Well, princess, is there anything else I can do for you?

Yeah, buy me a new book. That'll make me happy. And shut up, please, let me sleep.

I let my head rest against my sweatshirt, which was bunched up against the window. I heard him crinkling the paper and the window being rolled down before I closed my eyes. There was so much for me to think about but my head was still pounding.

"Y'know, littering can be up to a 2,000 dollar fine Brendan," Cora said matter of factly.

"Sue me," Brendan countered.

I shook my head and snuggled into my sweatshirt. I started feeling drowsy and the pounding in my head was pushed back as sleep overcame me.

*

"Wait, where are you two going?" Cora asked Andrew.

"We're wandering I guess, I dunno."

For full effect, he put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. She kissed his cheek and then stepped back next to me.

We were in Salina, Kansas and just stopping for a break. I'd slept a good part of the way but in the last hour it had become increasingly obvious that Brendan and I were friendly again. We made conversation and didn't fight (at least, not more than we used to) which led to quizzical looks from our two friends.

Now we were in search of a coffee shop, or Cora and I were at least. Brendan and Andrew were off to explore no one knows what. I was impatient to see what Cora would say.

"Can we go already? They have cellphones, we can always call," I reminded her in a huffy tone. She rolled her eyes and linked her arm with mine.

A few streets down we found a coffee shop called 'Over The Moon.' It was small and smelled nice on the inside and was seemingly busy. It was cute though, and they topped my vanilla latte with a thick cinnamon flavored foam and cinnamon sticks. It was a nice touch.

"So you and Brendan seem to be on, um, good terms," Cora prompted awkwardly. I felt my chest deflate even though I'd been expecting this topic to come up. With my eyes on my coffee, I shrugged my shoulders.

"i got really wasted last night and he helped me out, that's all. Apparently I was dancing with some really gross guy and he rescued me. I can't really remember."

That was a lie. I remembered everything from last night. Ryan had been really hot, not disgusting and I had broken down in front of someone I was supposed to hate, bringing him back into my good graces.

"I saw the guy you were dancing with Rae, trust me, he was the opposite of really gross," she gossiped, brandishing her cookie at me. I shrugged again, trying to act innocent. Luckily, my phone buzzed at that moment.. Unluckily, it was my father.

"Hold on, my dad's calling," I said, standing up and walking outside before answering. Cora looked at me quizzically before I left. Usually I would take the call in front of her. I wasn't sure what my dad wanted and I didn't want to let on that something was wrong.

"Hello?" I asked, leaning against a parking meter outside.

"Hi Reagan, how are you?" my dad's smooth voice came through.

"I'm fine Dad, how are you?"

"Oh, I'm pretty good. I was just wondering where you were in the world."

Now I understood the reason behind the phone call. He was trying to see how long he had to tell my mom about his affair. I bit my lip and considered lying to him.

"I'm in Kansas, about an hour away from Topeka," I said honestly.

"Okay, well, I want you to reconsider telling your mother sweetie. I did pay for your trip out, remember? And those two homeless kids to get to North Carolina."

"Corey and Bryce went to South Carolina and I'll pay you back when I find a new job. I can't keep your secret anymore. What you're doing is wrong and I'm done lying for you," I said, trying to remain calm.

"I wish you would think about my happiness in this."

"I wish I had a different dad. Tell mom because it'll be better if you tell her and not me," I said before hanging up. I shook my head to clear out the emotion before going inside.

Think of his happiness? What about my mom's? I still tried to forget about it as I walked back in to Cora. She was on her way out though, carrying both our bags and coffees.

"Andrew called and said we have to meet them at the car and leave immediately but he didn't say why," she said. I took my bag off her shoulder and coffee from her hand. I pictured the two of them getting in trouble with the police and hiding in the backseat of the car.

We walked quickly back to the street where we'd left them. Brendan was sitting in the driver's seat and Andrew was leaning on the passenger door. They didn't look like they'd gotten in trouble but both had huge, cheesy grins on their faces.

"What's up?" Cora asked.

"Get in the back ladies, we have a deadline to meet," was all he said.

Cora and I glanced at each other as he got in the car. Brendan honked the horn and we both jumped, getting in the car. As soon as the door was shut, Brendan started driving and took the turn onto I-70, a road I was all too familiar with.

"Why are we in such a rush?" Cora asked.

"Yeah, what deadline are you talking about? Topeka's only an hour away," I piped in.

"Well, too bad we're not going to Topeka then," Andrew said, glancing at Brendan. I didn't like how happy they were or the look they shared. I nudged Cora's knee with my own and wrinkled my eyebrows.

"Where are we going then?" Cora asked.

"I guess you could call it a detour," Brendan said sarcastically, reminding me of a night in Texas we'd had a long time ago, when I'd asked him to sleep in the same bed with me. I smirked and rolled my eyes.

"A detour? A motherfucking detour?" I quoted, rolling my eyes, "A detour to where, may I ask?"

"Chicago."

"Chicago?" Cora asked.

"Chicago, Illinois?" I clarified.

"Yes, Rae, the Chicago in Illinois," Andrew chuckled.

"Why are we going there? What's there that we need to make a deadline?" Cora asked.

"What the fuck?" was my articulate, well thought statement.

"Shut up you two, we have an 11 hour drive and the surprise of a lifetime."