No Cure for the Spring Fever

Kayleigh was folding clothes and laying them out into neat piles on her twin size bed. Her long hair was sloppily tied up in a bun and saturated with deep red hair dye. Kayleigh was a shirt, curvy-bodied girl with pale skin and a face dotted with freckles. Her facial features were relatively small and rounded, her cheeks and full lips both a soft shade of pink.
Suddenly, her phone rang. Her bright green eyes widened with excitement.
"Hi Steph!" she almost screamed into the phone. Stephanie's voice was very anxious on the other end,
"Are you packing? I don't know what to bring! I need your help!" Kayleigh had been waiting for this phone call. She loved when Stephanie came to her for help.
"I'll be over soon, just let me rinse out my hair and fold some more of my clothes," Kayleigh said as she dumped the rest of the freshly laundered basket of clothes onto her bed and hung up the phone.
Now carelessly folding her clothes, Kayleigh started to imagine herself in these outfits at the shows. Her eyes started to well up with tears as she imagined how amazing this experience was going to be. She rushed to finish with her clothes and ran downstairs.
"Mooooom... Mom.... MOM!" Kayleigh ran around frantically searching the house for her mother.
"I'm in the basement watching football with Dino," Jill shouted.
Jill was very young-looking for her age. She was 45 years old, but could easily pass for 30. She had medium length blonde hair, intense blue eyes, and a bright, friendly smile. She was a very intelligent woman, and was always supportive of her daughters.
As soon as Kayleigh came down the steps, Jill jumped up off of the couch and held her in a long embrace.
She pulled away from her daughter, and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Honey, are you sure you want to do this? You don't have to go. I'm going to miss you so much. And I'm so worried about you! Sweetie, please think about what you're getting your-"
Kayleigh cut her off,
"Mom, I know exactly what I'm getting myself into. We are going to be fine, and we'll both have our phones the entire time. We have plenty of cash, and our credit cards. We will be fine. And you know how exciting this is for me! Please don't ruin it," she said with a sigh.
"Ruin it? No, I'm sorry, I, I'm just, just worried, is all. You know how I get about you girls. I know you've been looking forward to this. I'm just concerned," Jill said with an uneasy look about her.
"I promise everything will be okay. I'll call and text you every single day. I'll even send you pictures. I love you, Mom. Thank you for worrying yourself sick over me, but I'll be fine. Now I'm going over to Steph's house to help her with a few things, okay?" Kayleigh smiled at her mother reassuringly.
"Okay. Dino washed your car for you and filled up your gas tank, by the way,"
Dino was Kayleigh's step father. He was a tall, stocky man. His tanned skin, large nose, muddy brown eyes, and thick brown hair were all a part of his Greek ancestry.
Jill and Dino got married when Kayleigh was just in kindergarten. The relationship between Dino and Kayleigh was more like that of a relationship between a brother and a sister. He was very protective over her, and they were always horsing around together.
"Thank you, Dino," Kayleigh said sincerely, as she made her way over towards him.
"Don't mention it, kid. I love you," he said and pulled her in for a quick, but loving hug. Kayleigh smiled at both of them and ran back upstairs to rinse her hair.
After Kayleigh got out of the shower, she scampered across the hallway in nothing but a towel into her bedroom. She got dressed in her favorite pair of jeans and an All Time Low tour shirt. She tied her hair up in a loose ponytail and pulled a hoodie over her head. A soft, persistent knocking came at the door.
"Who is it?" Kayleigh called out. The door slowly opened, revealing a tall, beautiful, young girl. It was Kayleigh's 12 year old half-sister, Emily. She had an athletic body type and dark skin like her father, Dino. Emily's long brown hair was always pulled back in a ponytail.
"Sissy, I'm going to miss you," Emily murmured.
"I know you are, and I'm going to miss you too. But I'm going to be back before you know it! You can call me or text me anytime you want. And maybe I'll bring you back something nice," Kayleigh said, kissing Emily hard on her forehead.
Emily's blue eyes lit up as soon as Kayleigh mentioned a souvenir.
"Thank you, sissy. Be careful, and have a lot of fun. I know how much you love those bands. You deserve this," Emily choked out, as she was beginning to cry. Kayleigh slid her favorite orange Vans on, grabbed her car keys, and headed out the door.
-----
When Kayleigh arrived at Stephanie's house, she practically jumped out of her car. She ran around the back of the house to the door, and banged on it until Steph appeared, with her small dog following behind her, barking loudly.
Stephanie was a modestly beautiful girl. Sadness resonated in her baby blue eyes, but she was sure to always keep a smile on her face. She had a thin and delicate figure, and was very small in stature. Her light brown hair was long and flowing with natural curls. The girls shared a long, tight hug.
"I"m freaking out," Stephanie said as she pulled away from Kayleigh, "I just don't know what to pack!"
Kayleigh trailed behind Stephanie as she walked to her bedroom that appeared as if a tornado had just hit.
"Excuse my mess. I was freaking out. I have no idea what to pack. I want to look cute at every single date. How often are we gonna find a laundromat to wash our clothes? Because I don't know what to bring. How many bras should I pack? Should I bri-"
"STEPHANIE! Take a deep breath. Please," Kayleigh giggled, "I know how you're feeling, trust me, but you just need to breathe. Everything is going to be fine and we're going to have an awesome time!"
Stephanie found herself irritated by Kayleigh's laid-back attitude. She often found herself envying Kayleigh's carelessness, and Kayleigh envied Stephanie's attentiveness. The girls' personalities were very different from each other, but they somehow managed to be the best of friends.
Stephanie tried on a variety of different outfits, asking Kayleigh's opinion on each one. It was practically a personal fashion show.
After an hour or so of this, Kayleigh stood up from Stephanie's floor.
"Are you hungry? We should go get something to eat," Kayleigh looked around pensively.
"We should just order a pizza," Stephanie suggested and grabbed her phone to call the local pizza place.
After placing the order, Stephanie continued to pack outfits for the trip. When the pizza came, the girls stuffed their faces until all of it was gone.
"It's getting late. I should go home now. But I'll call you when I wake up, and then we can decide what time we're leaving. The drive from here to Tulsa is about 15 hours, and the show is-"
"IN TWO DAYS!" Stephanie squealed with excitement.
Stephanie walked Kayleigh out to her car, and waved as she drove off into the night.
As soon as Kayleigh got home, she finished packing her bags, plugged her phone into its charger and laid down in her bed. She passed out almost instantly.
-----
Waking from her deep sleep, Kayleigh rolled over to check her phone. It was 10:42 am, she had a missed call from Stephanie, and a text from her 36 minutes ago that read:
"Text me when you get up..."
Kayleigh replied:
"I'm up, sorry. Let me say goodbye and then I'll be on my way over."
Kayleigh changed into a t shirt and sweatpants, brushed her hair and teeth, and stumbled down the stairs.
Waiting in the kitchen were her mom, step dad, and sister, with breakfast cooked for her.
"You guys! What is all this?" Kayleigh started to tear up.
"We figured that you should a nice, big, breakfast before you leave," Dino said as he pulled a chair out for her. The family sat down and enjoyed their meal. All three of them repeated the same things that Kayleigh had been hearing over and over for the past few weeks; be careful, have fun, stay safe, stay out of trouble, blah blah blah.
When she finished eating, her family helped her load all of her bags into her little red truck's trunk and then she left for Stephanie's house.
Arriving at Stephanie's, she honked her horn repeatedly. Stephanie came out with a bunch of bags, and Kayleigh got out to open the trunk and help her. The girls loaded all of Stephanie's belongings into the car, and walked back towards her house to say goodbye to her mother, who met them at the door.
Stephanie's mom, Sue, was a very pretty woman. Stephanie looked a lot like her mother, only Sue's hair and eyes were darker, and her features were much fuller than Stephanie's.
Sue was in tears. She hugged her daughter for a few moments.
"Please be careful girls. Be very, very, very, very careful. I know you are smart, but there are a lot of strange people in the world. I don't want anything to happen you either of you," Sue said, pausing for an occasional sob.
"I love you, Mom. We'll be very careful. I promise. I have my phone and my money. I love you," Stephanie repeated.
"I love you too, Steph. Have fun," she said, and turned away, back into the house. Stephanie looked at Kayleigh to her side and grinned from ear to ear, "So... I guess this is it?"
Kayleigh grinned back, "Yes. This is it. Let's go!"
The girls ran back to the car, and put in Collide With The Sky. They both giggled as they created different scenarios in their head of what could possibly happen during this month.
"I really want to meet Tony," Stephanie said with an unbreakable smile on her face.
"I want him to know how much I love him,"
"Don't even lie, you want to hook up with him," Kayleigh said with a giggle, "You should try though. I think you could."
"Do you really think he'd go for me? I'm so average compared to every other girl he could have. Think about it. Tony fucking Perry. He could have any girl he wants," Stephanie sighed.
"Quit it! You're perfect. You're absolutely beautiful and you know it. Tony's a fool if he doesn't pounce on you like a wildcat," Both of the girls howled with laughter as Kayleigh drove her car up the ramp and merged on to the highway. The excitement radiated on both of their faces as they sang along to the CD and traveled down the highway to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the first night of Spring Fever.