Josh zipped his bag shut, and flipped off the TV, which had been running on CNN. He sighed and shouldered his backpack, made sure he had his car keys, and picked up his duffel bag. He glanced at the phone one more time and waited a moment, willing it to ring. It didn't, so he turned and went to the door. He opened it with a free hand, and in the early evening light, saw a figure coming toward him in the parking lot. He was puzzled, and then he realized who it was.
"Sam?!" he shouted through the rain. "-the hell?!"
Sam jogged up to him, soaking wet, and huddled under the modest shelter that the motel roof canopy made. "I thought – I wanted –" he was out of breath.
"Did you walk here?" Josh asked him.
"Yeah." Sam nodded, the water dripping off his clothes and hair.
Josh looked at him. "It's raining." He stated.
"It wasn't when I left," Sam replied, attempting to dismiss the conversation with a wave of his hand. "I wanted to catch you –"
"But –" Josh was clearly puzzled. "…the sky was cloudy when you left, right?"
"It's Southern California!" Sam shouted. "It doesn't matter!"
Josh looked at his flustered friend. He knew why he had come all this way in the rain, but he had to ask anyway. "Sam?" Josh continued to search, and as Sam stood there, half-drowned in front of the motel room, his face broke into a wide grin. Josh returned the smile. "Shake my hand." Sam did, and Josh pulled him into the room, slapping his back and spraying himself with water as he did. "We gotta move. I've already talked to the DNCCC –"
Sam stopped him, holding up a hand in protest. "You didn't know if I'd say yes."
Josh smirked. "Sure I did."
"Well," Sam wasn't sure how to respond. "Okay."
"Come on." Josh grinned all the more broadly and went to the bathroom to grab a towel. He handed it to Sam, who gladly accepted it. "I need to get to the airport, but you can come with me; we need to talk about the Governor's Mansion."
Sam stopped him again. "You know California doesn't actually have a Governor's Mansion, right?"
"What's the house in Sacramento?" Josh's eyebrows were crinkled in confusion.
"No governor has lived in that house for 40 years, Josh." Sam told him.
"Oh. Well… alright." Josh replied. "I'm… you know… I'm gonna learn some stuff." Josh defended. "Donna bought a book."
"Yeah?" Sam looked skeptical.
"Yeah." Josh led his friend to the door. "A California book. A big book. It's huge." Josh gestured with his hands, indicating that the book was indeed huge. "She's making index cards." He added.
"Alright." Sam answered, then grinned. "I can give you fast facts on the way to the airport."
"Fast facts?" Josh cocked an eyebrow.
"Yeah." Sam grew excited. "The state flower is the poppy. The state animal is the grizzly bear. Did you know the highest and lowest points in the continental United States are found in California?"
"Oh, god." Josh muttered.
"Mt. Whitney and Death Valley, respectively." Sam spouted off.
"Tell me you don't-" Josh began, "Sam, tell me you don't know how high and how low-"
"14,995 feet, and 282 feet below sea level." He interrupted.
"Why?" Josh asked him. "Why do you choose to know these things?"
"It's fun." Sam answered.
"Let's go." Josh said, opening the door and running out to the car.
"There are about 500,000 detectable seismic tremors every year in California!" Sam kept going, shouting over the rain while Josh unlocked the car. Josh quickly slid inside, followed by Sam.
"Did I tell you Donna bought a big book?" Josh asked, brushing the water off his coat and out of his hair.
"Yeah." Sam replied, "but you can learn now, too."
Josh absentmindedly rubbed his temples. "How far is it to the airport?"
Sam looked at his watch. "It'll take about an hour, with traffic."
"Ah-kay." Josh started the car.
"Over twenty professional sports teams. Baseball? You've got the Angels, the Dodgers, the Giants. Basketball, of course you got the Lakers…"