Eight.

Stacey

"Just ride with Kristy and Alan!" I exclaimed, looking at my watch. It's already nine. We were supposed to be on the road two hours ago.

Mary Anne wrinkled her nose. "But... what if they... want to do stuff?"

I rolled my eyes. Only pure, innocent Mary Anne could have such an imagination. "Mary Anne, you are not smoking in my car!"

"But I'll keep it out the window!" She whined for the six-hundreth time. She just doesn't want to ride with them because Kristy's back seat is tiny. For some reason, the option of not smoking is impossible. I don't know about this girl these days.

"No." I raised my voice. "Where is Alan? I want to leave already."

Kristy shrugged at me and Mary Anne walked away in a huff. Toward Kristy's car. Thank God. I glanced at Mallory, who gave me a small, relieved smile. She had not been looking forward to such a long ride sitting next to Mary Anne. It's understandable. Mary Anne is acting like a psycho. I mean, honestly, she's all but accused Mallory outright of sleeping with her ex. I happen to know she isn't. She told me.

A horn honked, and Alan Gray's truck appeared in the driveway. It's about time...

"Finally!" I ran to my truck, where Claudia and Dawn were both sound asleep in the back seat, Claudia still in pajamas and Dawn in a bikini top and sweatpants. They're just not morning people. Alan threw a duffle bag into Kristy's trunk and she handed him her keys. That's kind of cute, actually. How... couplish. Mary Anne made a big show of putting the passenger seat forward and squeezing into the back. Mallory rolled her eyes at me and slid into my passenger seat.

"When did Mary Anne turn into such a drama queen?" Mal asked me.

I shook my head. Mary Anne had never been a drama queen. She's also never been a smoker. I can't put my finger on what's different about her lately. When we were in school she was all about... well, school. Always with the homework and projects and clubs and studying. Maybe she's just letting loose, finally.

I started my car and glanced quickly at Mallory, wondering if she thought I was taking sides or something. That she had the guts to say something bad about Mary Anne to me, even something not that bad like calling her a drama queen in front of me, that worried me. Am I acting like I don't like Mary Anne?

Briefly I wonder if Mallory feels she needs a friend in me because of Logan, but I put that out of my mind. I had asked her outright, and she had told me outright. There was nothing going on between the two. Mallory isn't a liar.

We drove in silence for about fifteen minutes, and I got bored. "Mal, why didn't you bring any of your friends?"

She looked up from the magazine she was reading. Four years ago that would have been a book involving a horse of some sort. "Friends?" She asked, her voice a little strained.

"Yeah, the people you hang out with at school? You have a lot of friends, why didn't you bring one?"

Mallory frowned. "My friends are so immature. I prefer people who are a little older. Like you guys." She smiled, and something in that smile made me uncomfortable.

"Well, don't you have a boyfriend?"

"I don't want to talk about him."

We fell into silence, the only sound being a soft snore from Claudia. I briefly wished I had let Mary Anne ride along. Mallory the mysterious, Claudia the sleepy, and Dawn the addict were not fun company. I wonder if Dawn brought drugs. So help me, if she did, and I get pulled over...

My cell phone rang. The display says Kristy.

"Alan wants to stop and eat."

"We just got on the road! We're never going to get there!" I exclaimed loudly, persuading a "Shut up!" from the back seat. Not sure who said it.

"Stacey, chill, we've got two weeks. We're stopping for breakfast." Kristy hung up and I glared at my phone. She's so damn bossy.

I rubbed my neck, tempted to ask Claudia to take over driving. We were in Jersey, finally, but still have a ways to go. This is by far the furthest I've ever driven.

Claudia and Dawn were talking in low voices in the back seat. I had the radio on, so I couldn't really listen to the conversation. All I could see in the rearview was Dawns head bobbing when she nodded. Mallory had traded her magazine for her Ipod. I wonder how she got it. With so many kids, Mr. and Mrs. Pike weren't really able to treat their family to such expensive gifts. So I tap Mal on the shoulder.

"When did you get the Ipod?" I asked her when she removed one of the ear buds.

"Last week. L--" She stopped short. Alarms rang in my head. L? "It was a gift," She continued carefully. "From my boyfriend."

"Oh. That was nice of him!" It must have sounded so fake. I don't know if that was a simple stutter or a major slip-up, but Mallory has to know what I'm thinking.

I glance in the rearview again and wish Claudia were the one sitting next to me. I don't know why she went to stay with the Spiers all of a sudden. She didn't say much when she did, just threw her stuff into her bag and said she'd be staying with Mary Anne for a while. I didn't argue with her. It's kind of nice having my room to myself. I enjoy my privacy.

Dawn bursts into laughter, and again I wonder about drugs. What if she's high right now?

I turn down my stereo. "Hey, Dawn?"

She meets my eyes in the mirror. "Yeah?"

There's no polite way to ask, so I just do it. "You don't have any drugs with you, right? Because if I get pulled over..."

Dawn looks shocked. From beside me, Mallory's mouth forms an "O" as well. I can't see Claudia, but the next thing I hear is her voice.

"Stacey, just drive the car and shut up, you tactless bitch."

Stunned, I glance at Mallory, who is now looking away from me. In the mirror, Dawn is still staring at me, challenging me to have a comeback.

I say nothing. I don't know what I possibly can say. Claudia and I have had our tiffs, sure, but she had never, ever spoken to me that way before. I have no idea why she would, especially for Dawn, of all people. It was a simple, and may I add, logical question. Dawn was an addict and had been for some time. Mary Anne had said so herself.

I opened my mouth to say this, then thought better. We all had to live together for two weeks, there was no sense in fighting. So I plastered a smile on my face and met Dawns eyes once again. "I'm sorry, Dawn. I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I don't know what I was thinking. I think maybe my blood sugar is a little low or something."

Dawn gave me a weak smile but said nothing. I wish I could see Claudia.

I looked forward and drove. The car was silent for a good ten minutes, until the tinny sound of the Beatles filled the void. Claudia's cell phone ringing.

"Hi, Pete!" She exclaimed into the phone. I raised my eyebrows. Pete? The only time I have ever had a negative thought about Claudia is when it comes to Pete. He says jump, and she goes to bed with him. They've been doing that for two years now. I disapprove because Claudia is letting herself be used, and not only does she know it but she seems to like it.

"Tomorrow?" Claudia is saying. "That's awesome! How long are you staying?"

I clench my jaw, stopping myself from butting in to the conversation to ask what's going on.

"No, no, it's totally cool. You can sleep with me, hahaha! Okay, Pete, I'll talk to you tomorrow.. Okay. Bye!"

Oh my GOD I want to know what that was about. Is Pete coming to Sea City? I strain to listen as Claudia and Dawn resume their low talking, but I cannot hear them. If Pete is coming, what am I going to do? I'm the one who's known for always having a guy on her arm, and I'm going alone, but Claudia and Kristy are bringing men? Not that Alan Gray is or ever will be a man...

My only hope is that we end up next door to a house full of hot guys.

I see our exit coming up, and move up to pass Alan so I can lead the way into town. Mallory is the only one who remembers how to get to the house. As I pass, I smile, because Kristy is asleep with her face plastered against the window, mouth open. I point this out to the girls and everyone laughs. The mood in the car lightens. We're almost there!

"Okay, make a left." Mallory says as we exit the freeway. "You're going to drive through downtown."

I did as she said and was instantly hit with a wave of nostalgia. I haven't been here in four years and remember it as being magical. The sidewalks are thick with tourists, all in bathing suits, all smiling.

I love this town.

I find the house easily, and it's just as I remember it. Right on the beach, huge, adorable. I pulled into the driveway and look back at Dawn and Claudia. They're grinning widely. Good. I hope our little fight is forgotten.

We all scramble out of the car even as Alan is pulling up behind us. Kristy is still knocked out against the window. Mary Anne squeezes out of the back seat and lights a cigarette. I watch her silently as she makes her way across the driveway. Next door, is a house that is much smaller, where the Barretts once stayed. A guy, maybe twent-two, is standing on the porch with a cigarette in his mouth. I can't hear the conversation but Mary Anne starts talking to him. Mary Anne talking to a guy she never met in her life. Wow.

"Oh my lord!" Claudia exclaims. "This place is exactly the same! Remember when the hurricane came through..."

I tune out, watching Mary Anne. She is now approaching me, a huge smile on her face.

"Stacey, guess what!" She exclaims giddily. "That guy I just talked to, he and his friends are here for, like, a month. He said it's him and four other guys. His name is Trent. Anyway, he said they're having a barbeque tonight and that we should all come! Isn't that cool? We made friends already!"

I glance over at the house, at Trent, who is shirtless, muscular, and tan. Hot.

A house full of hot guys.

I smile at Mary Anne. "That," I tell her, "is awesome."