"Uh oh," Rachel remarked, startled Chloe from her intense gaze out the truck window, "Chloe Price is thinking again. And they don't look like happy thoughts either," she finished quietly.
"Wha-? Naw, no. I'm fine, Rach. Really," Chloe turned in her seat, feeling her seatbelt dig into her shoulder as she gave Rachel the sincerest smile her facial muscles could allow.
"If this is about what we were talking about before we left-"
Chloe felt her heart cut in half, "You need to keep reminding me about that, bitch?" she snarled. And considered for the fourteenth time abouut asking Rachel to pull over and just let her out. Dismissed it once more.
The vehicle hummed beneath them, the wheels on the pavement filling the tense gap in their conversation. "I'm sorry Chlo," Rachel murmured, "You know I still want to be friends with you, I just-"
"You don't... yeah," she shrugged lamely, reaching for their shared joint in the center console, "I get it, okay? So I fell for a straight girl, like that's a big deal," she rolled her eyes as lit up and took a long drag. But it didn't calm her nerves like she thought it would. Something else was on her mind.
"So...," Rachel tried again. Chloe shot a glare at her, trying hard not to focus too much on the details of her friend's profile. Because that's what she was. Only a friend. Chloe took another pull, holding the smoke in her lungs as she waited for Rachel to continue. "There's something else on your mind, then."
"Astute as ever," Chloe rolled her eyes again, snubbing the joint out in the ashtray, leaving the rest for Rachel once they got to their next rest stop. "I should have realized that agreeing to ride with you to the campground was a bad idea."
"Not like you had anyone else who would be willing to let you bum a ride off of them," Rachel quipped back, to which Chloe just flipped her off in response and tried to keep her heart from jumping when Rachel's laugh like music rang out in response.
"You like reminding me that you're the only friend I've made since my dad died, don't you?" Chloe sneered, and she was half-joking.
"Chloe... not at all you big moron," Rachel replied, her gentle tone only marred by her teasing. "But, yeah, I care about you and I know when something's going on in that big ol' blue head of yours. Spill," she commanded.
As if she could resist a direct order from someone so blindingly perfect. "I can't," Chloe admitted honestly.
"You are so lucky I'm driving," Rachel drawled, "Or I'd be turning my puppy dog eyes on you in full force right now."
"I mean it!" Chloe protested, "I can't explain what's going on in my head right now. I... feel like... something's different."
"Like different in that 'I just discovered girls are smoking hot' kind of way?" Rachel shot back, but there was genuine interest and concern in her tone.
"And you would know," she snapped back, "Made out with any hot girls who aren't me lately?"
"Chloe, stop that," Rachel admonished, "Or I will take you up on the threat you made at the beginning of the trip to ditch you on the side of the road."
"You're gonna blame a girl now? I told you that I loved you!" Chloe nearly shouted, but her sudden outburst didn't even seem to phase Rachel, other than the obvious whitening of her knuckles around the steering wheel.
"And I love you too, Chlo," she replied evenly, uncurling her fingers from the worn grip of the wheel, leaving her palms braced. "It's not the same, I'm aware of that," she cut in before Chloe could even open her mouth otherwise, "But it still means that I care a hella lot about you, alright? And that's what you need to know right now. I care about you, and if there's something going on in your life that you can't figure out, you need to know that you can absolutely talk to me, alright?"
Chloe humphed, crossing and uncrossing her arms as she tried to look anywhere but Rachel. An impossible task, given that the landscape that streaked out past their windows had not changed for the last two hours, and that Rachel was the only thing of interest that was worth looking at. "Whatever, fine," she eventually gave, before swooping dramatically across the middle of their two seats and snatching up the joint in the ashy tray once more. "Then if you really care about me, you'll let me have the rest of this thing," she grumbled, lighting up once more, "I'm sure you'll be able to pawn some off of your best buds up at the campground. Since everybody loves you too much and they can't stop themselves."
Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe caught Rachel clenching and unclenching her jaw, the fingers of one hand throttling the wheel while the others tapped out a restless beat. "I don't understand why I keep you around sometimes," Rachel muttered, loud enough for Chloe to hear, and had intended for her to hear.
Chloe couldn't even be mad at that. It was only a matter of time before Rachel left her too, anyways. So she replied back, just loud enough as well, "Yeah me either." She rolled down the window, flicked the smoldering remains of the weed out onto the pavement, and watched as the glowing ashes vanished into the distance.
"I'm going to stop up here, okay?" Rachel gestured to a seedy roadside stop just ahead of them. Chloe grunted from her precarious sleeping position against the truck window, and blinked slowly a couple of times just as Rachel parked the vehicle. "Do you need to get out at all?"
Of this life, sure, Chloe frowned at herself. "Hmmhm," she hummed a dissent, but rolled down her window before Rachel shut off the truck and hung her body half out of the vehicle.
"Okay, I'll just be right back," Rachel clipped as she slammed the door shut, before coming alongside Chloe's dangling torso. "Please don't do anything stupid while I'm gone?" she tapped Chloe's nose, her tone light, yet her eyes dark with concern. Actual concern. Chloe perked up slightly. That was something she hadn't seen in awhile from anyone.
"Scout's honor," she saluted lackadaisically, her arm swinging on the pivot of her elbow after she dropped the gesture. The weed was definitely in full effect now.
"You're ridiculous," Rachel laughed lightly, tipping forward minutely to brush a kiss against her forehead. "Back in a flash!"
"What've I told you about doing that?" Chloe muttered to herself as she watched Rachel disappear into the convenience store. "You know what it does to me," she shook her head, "Why are you so.. so easy to want?" she moaned, deciding on a whim to go out and join Rachel. She could use some snacks, after all. Plus, she could give Rachel a piece of her mind. Or.. a piece of her... something. Chloe laughed a little to herself as she dropped out of the truck and made extra certain that she shut the door behind her.
"A piece of my something," she snickered under her breath as she entered the little shop, before stopping and glancing around. For a small, middle-of-nowhere convenience store, it had a lot to offer. Chloe was only interested in the snacks though. She wandered off to the right in search of their snacks, her cravings oddly specific as she found herself passing by the little ice cream freezer box, as well as the cookie isle. "Why isn't there anything good," she whined a little to herself, catching herself as the clerk shot her a glare. She waved a little, and quickly retreated to the back of the store to hide.
"Okay, so I bought us some more snacks because I know you're going to be-" Rachel called out as she approached the truck, only to stop a few feet short when she noticed that the truck was empty and the passenger door was slightly ajar. "Chlo?" she raised her voice, "Chloe? Shit," she huffed to herself, opening the door fully and throwing the snacks into Chloe's vacated seat before slamming the heavy thing shut and turning on her heel to march back into the store. Girl, I swear to god if you're doing anything crazy...
Chloe took in the clothing selection in front of her in confusion. "What kind of convenience store sells underwear?" she asked herself in disbelief as she prodded around at the wide variety of designs of men's and women's undergarments laid out haphazardly on a rickety folding table.
Gum popped behind her. "A well prepared one, if you know what I mean." Chloe whirled, felt a little dizzy. The clerk was standing there with her arms folded. Now that she wasn't standing behind the till, Chloe could see that she was a heavier set woman, with misproportioned hands and a fat, almost frog-like kind of neck that sagged and added to her double chin.
"I don't know what you mean. Now would you mind?" Chloe snapped harshly, decided to just forget about snacks and get out of this rathole. Rachel will probably have bought snacks anyways. She's always thinking about me like that...
"Chloe!" an angelic voice chorused out.
"Think of the devil, she doth appear," Chloe muttered to herself, trying her best to keep thoughts of Rachel her angel, Rachel her savior, to a minimum. She told you at the start of this trip that she'd still be your friend. That's enough right?
"Hey, there you are, you bitch," Rachel laughed and pulled Chloe by the neck into an awkward side-hug. "We should get going, I managed to get cell reception for a few minutes and got a hella lot of texts from the girls. They're already at the site."
"Yeah, right, the girls," Chloe muttered, allowing herself to be dragged along. "Let's go. Any of your friends-"
"Stealing is a criminal offence," a voice called from behind them. The clerk. She continued in an amused drawl, "But since there ain't many police officers able to get their well-dressed asses down here, I'll have to just sit on you two until one or both of you give up."
"Stea-"
"Hey, Chlo! Why didn't you ever tell me that you were a boxers kind of girl?" Rachel raised an eyebrow over at the slowly reddening girl that she still had in a loose headlock.
"I didn't even mean-" Chloe started spluttering, shoving the pair of black boxers with a cartoon rooster on the center with the word "Cocky" underneath it back at the clerk. "I didn't.. I wasn't even going to-"
Rachel laughed, plucking the underwear out of Chloe's hand, dropping her arm from around her neck as she nudged her playfully with a shoulder. "It's on me Chlo. I think these just totally scream you, don't you think?"
Chloe was left to splutter and fume as Rachel chatted animatedly with the clerk, leaning over the counter. Her thoughts wandered from her indignation to Rachel's long legs, the way they carried on for miles before disappearing into her white jean shorts, to her smooth, tanned arms and hands with long fingers that could-
"What a nice lady," Rachel remarked as she suddenly appeared at Chloe's side, popping her fantasy bubble with reality. "Ready to go Chlo?"
"I.. right," Chloe swallowed weakly, "So ready..."
Rachel took her arm and led her out of the store before opening the passenger door and sweeping the snacks from Chloe's seat, "After you, sir," she said dramatically, but there was a twinkle in her eye that made Chloe think that Rachel was currently one step ahead of Chloe. Which she usually was, with those legs and all...
"Right," Chloe gulped again, trying desperately to pull her thoughts away from that path. It so wouldn't help her tonight, not when she would be crammed into close quarters with the other girl, with only a sleeping bag separating their bodies from-
"Okay, Chlo, I get it, I'm hot," Rachel snickered as she encouraged Chloe towards the vehicle with another shove of her shoulders.
"Hu- what? What are you-?" Chloe started spluttering again. This day had just been full of suave seduction on her part.
"Chloe, come on," Rachel continued seriously as she buckled herself in and started the engine.
"Come on what?" Chloe challenged, "Can't a girl space out in peace?"
"Sure sure," Rachel nodded easily, waving a hand airily, "But, come on, I know your face by now Chlo. And don't think I haven't paid attention to where your eyes go when you get that particular expression, then you must've lost a few brain cells during that dye job."
"Shut up," she flushed in response, folding her arms and staring out the window, like the scenery was suddenly more interesting than it was two seconds ago.
"Here," Rachel rummaged through the plastic back and threw the pair of underwear at Chloe's face, causing her to squirm indignantly yet again.
"Give a girl a-" she started to huff before Rachel cut her off.
"Put them on."
Chloe's jaw dropped open and she stared in shock at Rachel's smug profile. "Excu-"
"Yeah, you heard me. Put them on bitch! I wanna see Chloe man up!" she grinned, reaching one hand over to punch Chloe's arm.
"How did you-?"
"Know?" Rachel filled in, then shrugged, her tone softer, "I told you Chlo-bear. I care about you, okay? And I've been noticing things. I've been wanting to help, but... never found a good time. Now, with this road trip, and your subconscious finally kicking you in the right direction..."
"Uh.. okay well, I'll just.. change in the back then," Chloe blinked a couple times before clambering into the backseat before wiggling out of her jeans. "You better keep your eyes on the road," she tossed into the front, her sass returning.
"I'm pretty sure I've seen prettier asses than yours, Price," Rachel snarked in return, "Mine, for instance,"
"Bitch please," she shook her head as she hesitated at the waistband of her panties before those were swiftly done away with as well. "Your ass is as flat as I hope my chest is gonna be one day."
"Gotcha," Rachel called back happily as Chloe froze. "So you're thinking about binding too?"
"I.. I don't... know where that-?"
"Keep it in your pants and put those things on before I get pulled over by the cops for having a prostitute in the backseat of a truck that doesn't even belong to me!" Rachel laughed, catching Chloe's red face in the mirror as she slipped the boxers on, the elastic settling low around her hip bones.
Chloe sat heavily back down on the camp-gear cluttered bench and took her lower half in. An odd sight, to see herself pretty much wearing shorts. But there was an opening at the front that Chloe nudged a few fingers through, feeling slight fuzz from her three-day old shaving job.
"That's where the penis comes out when guys need to-" Rachel quipped, another laugh bubbling out of her throat as Chloe whipped her hand away and glared into the rearview mirror like she had been caught doing something shameful.
"I told you not to watch, perv!" Chloe exclaimed, before turning her attention back to getting back into her jeans. "Besides, I know how boxers work, moron. I've had a couple boyfriends too you know."
"None of them were as hot as me though," Rachel smirked, returning her eyes to the road, noting the sign that denoted that they were just a half hour outside the campground.
"Of course not," Chloe grunted from the back, not really taking in Rachel's comment as she focused more on not dying while she zippered and buttoned herself back up. "There," she breathed as she slunk back up to the front seat next to Rachel.
"How does it feel?" Rachel asked.
"It feels...," Chloe shrugged, tilting her head this way and that as she looked down at herself. "I don't like the way my chest looks right now," she finished quietly, cranking the central rearview mirror around so that she could look at her slouched position. Despite that small confession, something settled in her as she caught sight of herself with her hand halfway disappearing into the waist band of her boxers, a posture that she had come to associate with something that she had sometimes wanted to be. She let a small grin drift onto her face at the way the waist band of the boxers, her boxers, peeked out in a thick, bold black line from the top of the waistline of her jeans.
"We can find a solution for that too, Chlo," Rachel assured her.
"And I really don't feel all that... great in these.. this.. thing. It's a kinda too loose," Chloe mumbled in embarrassment, picking sheepishly at the fabric of her jeans, imaging maybe more of a bulge there one day. But she wasn't entirely sure if that image sat well with her either. "This is so confusing," she groaned as she repositioned the mirror and smacked a palm over her forehead.
"Identity never seems to be, no," Rachel offered quietly, resolving to be there for her friend no matter what confusion she went through. "Tell you what," she chirruped, bouncing back brightly, "When we get back, we can go shopping for real. And I'll buy you your first pair of real boxers. The nice ones. That famous people wear. Maybe like, Armani or something."
Chloe smiled to her lap, to the black material sticking out from her jeans. "I'd like that."