Pretty Follies

I woke up to a soft crackle and pop of a new day’s fire outside in the distance and hushed voices of the girls in the tent next to us. I laid in the same position I had woken up in for a couple minutes, just taking in where I was and getting used to the atmosphere. The air in the tent was dense from mine and Lorrain’s breathing and it was hard to breath comfortable in the think air. The more I laid, the more I adjusted though and when I did, I unburied my limbs from the nest I had made myself in the sleeping bag. My body rolled over from my stomach to my back with a flex of my arm muscles and I tucked my hands behind my head and stared up at the tent ceiling. The top of the tent was only five feet above me, so it didn’t leave much room for my eyes to drift, but I let my mind wander.

I thought about the most random of things; the kind that you have no idea how your mind got on the particular subject and honestly, it scared you to even think about how you got there. My mind had settled on a picture of a forest that had hung in a hotel bathroom our band had stayed at a year ago. I remember Matt telling us a stupid fact about how the ratio of trees to land indicated the depth of a forest and in that case, the picture was taken right on the edge of the forest because trees were sparse. But what I remembered the most was Jack and Rian drawing an innocent woodland creature being molested on the frame.

I chuckled softly at the memory, but soon the smell of breakfast made my stomach growl. I sat up, causing the covers that were on my torso to fall off. An unfamiliar air hit my bare arms but I ignored it as I tried to decide if it was my brain playing tricks on me or if breakfast was really cooking outside.

Breakfast was definitely being made.

I looked over at the sleeping body on my right. The string bean was blocking my path to the tent door.

Soft snores emitted from her mouth every time she exhaled but they were muffled from her head planted on her pillow in an uncomfortable looking position. I attempted to crawl over Lorrain’s peaceful body, but she was making it hard with her limbs sprawled everywhere. I crept on my hands and knees, stepping wherever I thought there wouldn’t be a body part lying.

I saw her shift slightly and I looked at her face quickly to see if I woke her. Her hand had moved to lie on it’s side and her soft snores had become louder, but her serene figure was still asleep. My panic faded, but quickly I back tracked. It was Lorraine. I held back a little grin as I accidentally let my arm “slip” and I went crashing down on her stomach. I landed with an “oomph” and felt her hip bone jab into my stomach, but it was worth it.

Not much time after, I saw her strawberry blonde head lift up from her pillow. Her hair was everywhere, some covering her eyes, strands not parted on their right side and what looked like a tiny knot at the end of one piece. It took her a second to take in her surrounding but, quickly her eyes pinned me down. I stared into her brown orbs and smiled sheepishly.

“Oops.”

“Fuck you.” Her voice was groggy and cracked from sleep coating her voice box. She kicked her legs madly to try and get me off of her.

“Goddamn. Calm down, Johnson.” I chuckled and pushed myself off of her, holding the rib she hit with her boney kneecap. Not wanting to waste anymore time, I left the tent and Lorraine to go back to bed.

“Morning mom, morning Cheryl,” I greeted sleepily while stretching my tightened joints. They both greeted me at the same time and went back to whisking eggs. The morning wasn’t warm yet and just like in the tent, there was a small chill nipping at my bare arms and calves but it felt nice.

I sat down at the cheap table that we brought and watched the two women bustle around the grass. We made small talk, but mostly the chatted amongst the two of them. They somehow managed to build a rack to put over the fire so they could fry eggs. I watched them scramble a couple eggs for Alyssa and Kate, who had been giggling in their tents all morning and laughed as they attempted to make toast.

Once Kate and Alyssa were fed, it was my turn for breakfast. At their instructions, I walked to a cooler that supposedly held more eggs for them. “Um…mom?” I picked up the dripping carton and held it away from my body, watching the gooey, yellow pastel liquid drop into the blades of grass. “We have a problem…”

Just as expected, my mom fretted over the eggs with Cheryl for a couple minutes. They just could not believe that the eggs broke. They were supposedly supposed to last the week. You would have thought the president was shot or their dog died by the way the fussed about the leaking eggs.

“I can go find a convenient store and get some eggs if you would like?” a soft voice piped up from behind me. I didn’t even have to turn to see who it was. I rolled my eyes at the idea.

“Oh wow, our first day here and you already can’t last and need to go to the store.” I turned to look at Lorraine. She had already dressed herself in loose blue jean shorts and a KISS T-shirt. Her caramel hair was wavy and hung off her shoulders.

Usually at the comment, she would think of an even more snarky comment to say back, but instead, she walked up to me and pinched my cheek. “Someone’s not a morning person.” She used a baby voice at me and I swatted her hand away, irritated.

I hated when she pretended to joke around with me like a friend and I also hated when she sucked up to the parents. But of course, my mom smiled and agreed that it would be great.

“I really, really want to go,” she said again. Sweetness coated her voice, but I saw her eyes flick in my direction. Despite the little show she put on for our mothers already this morning, the irate in her eyes let me know I was already on her bad side today.

Lorraine went to go off to find the keys to our car but she halted mid-step. “Alex,” my mom spoke up tentatively, “why don’t you go with Lorraine.” It wasn’t a suggestion, it was a request.

My jaw dropped and even though Lorraine’s back was to me, I knew she had the same expression. “She doesn’t need me,” I said confidently, the same time Lorraine boldly said, “I don’t need him.”

“That would be for the best,” Cheryl agreed with my mom. “It’s not safe to go alone and I don’t know where your dad will be back with Jim.” I knew protesting wouldn’t be for the best in this situation, so I let my shoulders slump and I turned to the tent to get dressed.

See? What did I say. Always paired together.

After I slipped on some short and a white T-shirt, I grabbed a hoodie and my phone and met Lorraine out at the car. A scowl was present on her face when I stepped in her line of vision. “Don’t keep your face like that too long, Laney. It might stay like that. It’s unattractive,” I said as I walked passed her and hopped in the passenger’s seat. I didn’t get to hear her retort because I slammed the door shut and waited for her to join me.

As we drove, I texted away on my cell phone, happy we got spotty service once and a while. Lorraine complained once and while about having to drive my car again, me being along and not paying attention to where we were going and anything else that popped in her head. I simply ignored her.

We were both doing what the other hated. Lorraine blabbered about useless topics, that I knew she really didn’t care that much about, and she knew I knew that too, but she did it anyways. She knew that would drive me insane. Shooting back was easy though. All I had o do was ignore her and not say anything, appearing like I was not listening and she goes insane.

I had to say though, I liked when we were silent. Usually Lorraine didn’t speak if we didn’t need to; the car being a perfect example. But today I had already pissed Lorraine off and I had a feeling she was angst-y to bug me back.

I wasn’t sure how we got to the little convenience store, but Lorraine managed. I dragged my heels behind her as she walked around the store to get eggs and I mumbled about picking up some more ice and fun food, her rejecting the later.

Just as quickly as we arrived, we left. It was a great waste of my morning; spending an hour in the care with a girl the drove me up the wall.

“I still don’t see why you needed to come with,” Lorraine said annoyed. We hadn’t talked most of the trip home, so it was only expected she would say something. “I don’t need your help. I’m not a helpless little girl.”

I didn’t say anything, naturally, and kept my glance out the window.

“I’m not,” she defended, thinking my silence meant I was disagreeing. “I did this okay without your help. You just followed me around and texted.”

“Did I object to your opinion?” I spat. “I know you don’t need my help, Lorraine. I know you’re perfectly capable.” I shook my head but kept my eyes glued to the road that was quickly passing.

She went quiet again, probably thinking about what I had just said. It was coated with venom, but nonetheless, it was a compliment. I never gave Lorraine compliments, it was only criticism. But it was true. Lorraine could hold her own. She beat me half the time in our fights and could outsmart me easily. That was one think I could honestly say didn’t bother me all the time about her. She wasn’t a prissy, clingy girl. That was probably the majority of our problem wrapped up in that one generalization. We both tried to overpower the other. If one of us would have been just a little more of a push-over or less of a stickler, we wouldn’t have this problem. But being confident was what Lorraine was good at. The only reason I had to be with her was because our parents made us. If they didn’t, believe me, I wouldn’t hang around Lorraine and she sure as hell wouldn’t need me to.

I took out my phone to see if I would get any signal, but there was completely none. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw light smoke floating out in front of me. I glanced up to look around but there was nothing in front of us, nothing on the side of us or behind us. The sky was completely clear and there was barely a breeze.

Then the care started to bump and it became clear from where the smoke was coming. Soon the car started bouncing along the road and making strange noises.

“Oh shit, shit, shit!” I yelled as Lorraine started to turn the steering wheel to the right and park. “Pull over, Lorraine!”

“What does it look like I’m doing, dickhead?” She quickly shifted the car in park and we ran out to where the smoke was leaking. I felt around for the hatch and finally popped the hood. As the hood rose, the smoked bellowed out, sending us into a coughing fit.

We both stared in awe at the parts inside as the smoke cleared. “Well…” Lorraine trailed off, not sure what to do or what she was looking at.

“Do you know anything about cars?”

“Do you think that I know anything about cars, connoisseur?” I made a face at her sarcastic name and turned back to look at the inside. “I pretty much know how to check the oil land refill the coolant.”

I thought back to the day before and the warning my dad gave me on the phone as we drove here. “It could be the coolant…” I muttered. Even if we did need more coolant, we would need to go to the store and buy some and driving wasn’t much of an option right now.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“Haven’t you ever taken an autos class or anything?”

“And you think I paid attention, better yet, retained that information?”

She looked at me distrustfully, like she was studying if I was joking around with her. Finally deciding I wasn’t pulling anything, she rolled her eyes, “You’re a useless ignoramus.”

“Gee thanks, Laney.”