"The plan in undeniable." Rose told me. She wanted us to go to Tijuana this weekend.
"I'll deny it." I quipped. I personally thought it was a terrible idea.
"We have my mom's Range Rover and a perfect alibi as I go to this convention every year." She explained. I couldn't believe that Kirsten was still letting her drive her car. "We also have my entire life of never doing anything wrong to convince my parents to trust me."
"And why would you want to risk that?" I questioned. "Do you really want to risk your parents' trust for Summer, scantily-clad girls and body shots? How dumb are you?"
"Is that a rhetorical question?" She asked. "You don't get it, Rhiannon. On the last weekend before school, one goes to Tijuana. It's tradition."
"It doesn't sound like your tradition." I pointed out.
"What happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico." She replied.
"That's Vegas." I corrected. "Do you even know what happens in Mexico?"
"I want to find out." She replied.
"I don't want to lie to your parents about it." I said. As much as I didn't want to go, I knew that letting her go without me was an even worse idea.
"I can respect, so I will lie to them." She said. I couldn't help but sigh.
"Why can't we just go to Comic Con?" I questioned. It sounded like it would be more enjoyable than scorching temperatures and wild parties where something was found to go wrong.
"Because Comic Con is a bunch of pathetic virgins ogling some porn star dressed as Catwoman." She replied.
"I thought you went every year." I responded with a smile. "Besides, you've never been as a girl. We could wear some sexy costumes and watch some early screenings of movies. It could be fun."
"Listen Tijuana is a big town. You probably won't even see Marissa or Luke?" She stated.
"I don't care about Marissa and Luke." I replied. Though, I was kind of embarrassed that she had seen my boobs.
"Therefore you shouldn't have an excuse not to come." She reasoned.
"You do realize that Summer is going to be too busy with Marissa to hang out with you, don't you?" I questioned.
"She'll probably be too busy screwing Luke to have time for Summer." She replied. I grimaced as those images came to my mind. It was not something I wanted to think about.
"Hey, are you two excited about Comic Con?" Sandy asked as he entered the kitchen. I would be excited if we were actually going. "Rose has been going since she was 10. It's the highlight of her year."
"Highlight is a bit much." Rose replied. She then noticed how he was dressed. "What's with the suit?"
"I've got a meeting with a private law firm today." Sandy explained as he grabbed a bagel.
"Are you suing them?" I questioned. Did defense attorneys sue people?
"I've got a job interview." He said as Kirsten entered the kitchen.
"Which he'll never take." She said. "They like to flatter him every year."
"I go for the free meal?" He explained. Was it really good enough to string them along over?
"But you're still going to be a public defender, aren't you?" I asked in concern.
"After fifteen years, he'd never sell out." Kirsten assured us.
"It'd have to be one hell of a meal." Sandy quipped. "So, how soon are you leaving?"
"That's a good question. When are we leaving, Rhiannon?" Rose asked.
"Tomorrow." I answered as I poured myself a bowl of Apple Jacks. Maybe I should see if I can get some input into the cereal in the house sometime.
"Don't you mean mañana?" Rose asked. I wanted to slap her.
A little later, I was preparing to see my Dr. Carter before I had to work. I had just come out of the shower when Rose put a sombrero on my head. She was not good at subtlety. Plus, she needed to stop stereotyping Mexicans."
"You need to learn Español." She told me as she handed me a Spanish phrasebook.
"May I please see a ladies' worsted bathing suit?" I asked, reading from a random page. Why would anyone ever need to ask that question. "I already know a lot of Spanish. My next door neighbors were originally from Mexico. What's this other thing?"
"An itinerary." She explained.
"This is 12 pages and we're going for two days." I explained before I headed to my appointment. I decided to talk about the first thing that I wanted to talk to her about.
"So I'm just glad that she's gone." I told her.
"What would you do if you saw her again?" She questioned.
"I really don't know. I want to talk about something else." I declared.
"Well what did you want to talk about?" She asked.
"If I tell you something, will you promise not to say anything about to my parents?" I replied.
"As long as you're not thinking about hurting yourself or someone else." She replied.
"No, it's not that." I stated. "It's just that Rose wants to go to Tijuana and I don't want to go because I think it's a bad idea."
"Have you told her that?" She inquired.
"I don't think I can talk her out of it. I also think that she would go with or without me, so I should probably go with to make sure that she doesn't get into any trouble." I explained.
"Well you might have a good time." She suggested.
"I think I would have a better time at this Comic Con that we're using as our cover." I told her.
"Is there something positive that you want to talk about?" She questioned.
"Well, I have a girlfriend." I replied. "I even had sex with her the other night."
"In what way?" She responded. I supposed it was a valid question considering how I was. It still wasn't the most comfortable thing to talk about.
"With my tongue." I stammered. "I don't want to do anything else until later probably after surgery whenever that is."
"Well since you're a minor, that's up to your parents. I would personally recommend being on hormones for a year before you start thinking about it." She declared.
After I was done there, I went to work. As soon as I got there, I gave Kaitlin a kiss.
"I don't want to go to Tijuana." I told her. "Rose is making me go."
"Well my mom is taking me to see my grandma." She said. "Do you know anything about emancipation."
"No." I replied.
"Well my dad is moving out this weekend." She responded. "I don't want to be forced to take a side. Marissa doesn't even know."
"At least you know your dad loves you." I remarked.
"It felt good what we did the other night." She replied.
"I'm glad. It's too bad that I can't feel what you felt." I told her.
"You will. It'll just take a while." She assured me.
I then found Rose at the bar. She was staring at Summer.
"She's playing hard to get." She said. "She wants to pretend that she didn't kiss me."
"There were no witnesses. I didn't see it." I pointed out.
I then noticed that she was eavesdropping.
"So, it seems like Marissa is not going and Summer needs a ride." Rose declared. As I was going to the bathroom, I couldn't help but notice that Luke was flirting with Holly. I knew it. I knew that he was cheating on her, but I couldn't say anything about it.
The following day, I was wearing an unbuttoned red, white, and blue plaid shirt with a white crop top underneath and a pair of jean shorts that started just below my bellybutton. I supposed that I was ready to go, even though I still didn't want to. Rose was wearing a sleeveless dress with a black bodice and tartan skirt.
Sandy was basically hovering. I was pretty sure that it was the first time Rose was going anywhere on her own. As we stepped outside, we noticed Summer. Rose was quick to get her bags.
"Hey, Summer. I didn't know you were didn't comics." He replied.
"Comics, ew." Summer replied.
"She goes for the movies." Rose lied. I was still hoping that I could convince her to actually go. Summer would probably have fun too.
"I'm gonna say goodbye to Coop. Don't touch my stuff." Summer remarked,
"This is going to be awesome." Rose remarked.
"She's hot stuff, Rose." Sandy stated.
"And now it's ruined." Rose replied. From what I understood, Marissa wanted to spend time with Jimmy. I wouldn't question it because it would be less awkward without her.
However, it seemed that fate didn't want it that way, because Summer returned with Marissa.
"Vamanos, we're going to TJ!" Summer explained once we were in the car.
"Yay." I deadpanned. I couldn't wait for the car ride to be over and we were just leaving.
I looked outside the window. I didn't really want to talk to Marissa and I didn't want Rose or Summer to know what she had seen.
"We should be there in three hours." Summer declared.
"GPS says three and a half." Rose corrected. It was that I realized that I had forgotten my AirPods.
"That's only for people who drive like old ladies." Summer said.
"I'm going 70 in a 65." Rose pointed out.
"80 is the new 70." Summer retorted. "You just got passed by a van full of nuns, Cohen."
"Well they have God on their side, Summer." Rose replied. I felt like I needed God. "I'm not going to beat Jesus."
"I'm gonna call Holly to see how far ahead of us they are." Summer stated. I didn't know when Holly left. I got a bottle of water out of the cooler and then offered one to Marissa but she declined. "God this is a nightmare. I'm dehydrated, my hair is frizzing out, we're going ten miles an hour and I'm listening to this…music."
"Do not insult Death Cab," Rose ordered. I was starting to think that they would never work as a couple.
"It's just one guitar and a lot of complaining." Summer told her.
"You know who else does a lot of complaining: you Summer." Rose said. "Rhiannon, Marissa, say goodbye to Summer because I'm leaving her on the side of the road."
I wasn't sure if she was kidding or not, but Summer didn't think so and then a fight broke out for the wheel and we then off the side of the road and to a ditch. I had a feeling that she wouldn't be driving Kirsten's car ever again after everything that had happened.
We had to go to a motel until the car was repaired.
"Ew." Summer declared as she looked over the room. Ew was right.
"This is only for one night until the axle's fixed." Marissa pointed out.
"I cannot stay here." Summer replied.
"Well unless you feel like hitchhiking again…" I replied. I wondered if Uber would drive from here to San Diego. They probably wouldn't. Comic Con was looking better and better.
"We're lucky that guy stopped for us." Marissa pointed out.
"Well we'd be luckier if Danica Patrick here hadn't driven us off the road." Summer remarked. It was her fault too.
"Can we try to be positive here?" Marissa requested.
"Well I'm positive this is Summer's fault." Rose stated.
"And I'm positive I'm leaving this place with a rash." Summer said. I was positive I wanted to be anywhere else. She then went to the bathroom. "Ew. This bathroom is so…ew."
I decided to call Kaitlin to see how she was doing. I hoped that she was having more fun than I was at the moment.
"Hey. How's Tijuana?" She asked. I had the phone on speaker because I didn't like holding it up to my ear.
"I don't know. We had car trouble. I don't know if I ever want to go anywhere with Rose and Summer ever again." I explained. "I haven't really talked to Marissa at all."
"Well can you please not tell her that my dad is moving out this weekend?" Kaitlin asked.
"What?" Marissa interrupted.
"Is that Marissa?" Kaitlin replied.
"You kind of just told her." I responded. "I gotta go. Bye."
"So, what, you two knew about this and you didn't think to tell me?" She asked me.
"Kaitlin didn't want to tell me." I told her. I really wanted to go home.
"Now, Kaitlin knows what's best for me and you're her little bitch." She declared. Now I was getting angry.
"Look, neither of your parents told Kaitlin. They were probably going to tell you on their own." I defended. "By the way, you could have knocked."
"I was looking for my sister and I didn't expect you to be hooking with her." She remarked.
"Well I was. I like Kaitlin and she likes me and I'm sorry if that's weird for you, but you'll have to deal with it." I replied before I headed back to the room. I hoped that Rose and Summer wouldn't be having angry sex in there, but I doubted they would.
I found them asleep. I got on the other bed and took my shorts off. I didn't feel like getting changed.
In the morning, I was awoken by the sound of the car. Marissa was leaning against me.
"So, looks like the car's fixed. Do you wanna go home?" I asked. I wondered if we could still go to Comic Con.
"I wanna stay here." She replied as she got out of bed. I realized I needed to get dressed. "I think I'm going to take a shower."
As she was showering, I couldn't help but wonder if I should call Kaitlin again. I also couldn't help but wonder where Rose and Summer were. They seemed like they would have a very toxic relationship. Of course, Rose did say Summer kissed her and why would she lie about something like that?
"They came back as I was making the bed. They had coffee.
"Where's Coop?" Summer asked.
"Shower." I answered.
"I hope she's wearing shower shoes." She retorted. Something told me that those weren't something that she would think to bring unless she expect the hotel in Mexico would suck.
"We brought breakfast and the car is fixed. Are you ready to go?" Rose asked.
"I'm not sure that we're going." I explained. "Kaitlin accidentally spilled the beans over the phone that her dad is moving out.
A second later, Marissa came out with wet hair, but fully dressed. Summer hugged her.
"Coop, we'll do whatever you want to do." Summer told her. "But if you want my advice, you do not want to be at home right now. I have been where you are and it is not going to be pretty."
"We could go to Comic Con." I suggested.
"No, this is our last chance for freedom. We need to do something fun." Summer said. Comic Con could be fun. "We'll be back to school soon and it'll be hell. You need an escape."
"I think Summer's right." Rose opined. "I never thought I'd say that."
She glared at her.
"Right rage blackouts. I'll be in the car." Rose replied. Did I miss something?
"Let's go to TJ." Marissa said with a smile.
I still was pretty sure that we were making a mistake. I had an inkling that something was going to go wrong. I had no idea what, but I had a feeling that it wasn't going to be good. This trip hadn't been going well so far and I didn't feel like it was magically going to turn around. Maybe I was just being cynical, but I had a feeling that going to Mexico would be a mistake.
Once we got there, there was a sign in English saying that we could be arrested. That wasn't exactly the best welcome. As long as we didn't do anything illegal, we would probably be fine. We then went to check into our hotel. This time we got separate rooms.
"I don't understand why we needed to get two rooms." Rose remarked. "I'm going to leave you a key in case you get lonely."
"Or in case I want to smother you with your pillow while you're sleeping." Summer quipped.
"So, everyone's probably going to be at Boom Boom." Marissa declared. That was a terrible name for a club. Did the Mexicans really not know what that was a euphemism for?
"Let me run to the pharmacy." Summer said. "You can get pretty much anything you want without a prescription here."
"Rose, I don't think you should get a certain kind of pill. Wait until your doctor says you're ready." I declared.
"I wasn't even thinking about that." Rose responded. Oh. "But I do need to get an antihistamine for my allergies."
"You don't have to come with us if you don't want to." Marissa declared.
"I'd rather not be alone in Mexico." I told her.
"Well as soon as we get there, I'm going to find Luke." She said. I was not sure why she felt the need to tell me that. It wasn't like I liked her or anything.
That night, we went to what appeared to be a clothing-optional club. Fortunately, the nudity was mostly from the girls.
"I love authentic Mexican culture." Rose commented. I was pretty sure that was the part that Mexico wanted to forget about along with the drug cartels. We headed to the bar to get some drinks. I decided to stick with soda because I felt nothing good would come out of getting drunk in Mexico. We decided to go with Marissa as she looked for Luke. We found him alright and he was kissing Holly. Marissa looked like a train was about to hit her and she couldn't move.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Marissa asked. I realized that she wasn't looking at Luke. She was looking at Holly. Was she dating both of them? I did not see that coming.
"What you think you can just date both of us?" Holly asked.
"You're such a douchebag." Summer told Luke.
"You think I'm the only other person she's been with?" Luke challenged. "She's a slut."
"Is that true?" Marissa asked her.
"You know it is." Luke replied. I decided to kick him in the groin to shut him up. Summer then looked at Holly. Marissa ran off.
"Her parents are getting divorced you slut." She told her. Rose tried to drag her away. I knew that I needed to find her because I had a feeling that Kaitlin would be mad at me if I lost her sister in Mexico.
"You need to stay here." I told Holly.
"She shouldn't be alone here." Holly pointed out. I already knew that.
"Well she doesn't want to be with you." I argued. "I'll find her. I don't know what's going to happen, but you should probably never talk to her ever again."
Summer went to check the hotel while Rose and I were going to check the streets. I was feeling scared.
"I really hope that she went back to the hotel." I stated. "It would be really easy for her to be raped or murdered around her. We need to find her quickly."
"We'll find her." Rose promised. At that time, Summer sent me a text saying that she was at the hotel. That was good news. That was really good news.
We headed back to the hotel, I knew that we should just go back home. Things would probably be better there. We got there, we found Summer and just Summer. The look on her face was unsettling.
"Bad news. I lost her." Summer explained.
"What?" Rose asked.
"She also took the stepmonster's painkillers." Summer added. "Should we split up?"
"No, we need to stay together." I declared. She wasn't answering her phone. I hoped that she wasn't going somewhere to kill herself. I was scared right now. This place reminded me too much of Chino except for the fact that the people seemed to have more money. I was terrified that we would find her dead in an alley somewhere. I was trying my best to keep it together. We should have gone home instead. We began to call her name hoping she would respond.
We did find her in an alley. She wasn't breathing but her heart was still beating. I managed to pick her up.
"We need a doctor." I stated. "She's still alive."
We definitely should have gone to Comic Con.
So the big news here is that Marissa was dating both Luke and Holly. Also Rhiannon didn't get to go to Comic Con. How will things go when she tries to get into school. Please don't forget to review.