Summer of '07

Three Hitchhikers

Chapter 18

July 2007

~TRAVIS~

So, at first, the plan seemed like kind of a bust. Heather and I didn't really have all that much money, though apparently Elijah did, so at least we had that covered... but still, we had no ride to get us to where we needed to go. Elijah suggested that we should just walk and hopefully we'll be able to hitch a ride, but realistically that sounded like a bad idea. Heather had considered asking that 22-year-old friend of hers to just drive us to the nearest motel and get us some alcohol while he was at it, but he was "busy at the moment" according to her, so that wasn't an option... which sucked too, because we really needed some alcohol before we got down to business and we were all very well underage. The camp wasn't that far away from civilization anyways so we knew that walking there was the only option we had at that point.

On the morning of July 17th, we all ate breakfast super early before everyone else was even awake and when we were finished, we took our leave from camp without any of the dumb ass counselors even noticing. We spent the rest of the day walking through country roads and enduring the sweltering heat of the summer sun. Had we not been wearing sunscreen, we'd have all been pretty sunburned, especially Heather, whose skin refuses to tan and will only burn under sunlight.

By around one in the afternoon, the sun began to get too hot for us, and we had to take a break under the shade of one of the trees as we waited for a passing car to hopefully pity us and stop to pick us up.

While we waited, Heather brought up an interesting conversation topic that I hadn't really put much thought into before then. "Do you guys think we'll still be friends in ten years from now?" Having gone twelve years without having seen either one of them, that's a definite no... but hey, I didn't know that back then.

"I mean, yeah, I guess?" I said, obviously lacking confidence in that answer since there was no way to predict what tomorrow would bring.

"I don't know," Elijah said. Fucker knew the chances of the three of us all staying friends in ten years was extremely slim. I wanted to believe that I'd at least stay friends with Elijah, but I guess things don't exactly turn out the way you'd like them to... or maybe they do at one point or another. "Not to be a downer or anything, but ten years is a long time. Who knows where we'll be by then." Yeah, who knows... twelve years have passed and here I am, a boring old paralegal who just turned 29 and is hating every day of his life!

"I'll probably be dead," Heather joked... or at least I hoped that was a joke.

"What are your plans after high school, Heather?" I asked her. The last time we talked abut what we wanted to be when we grew up, she told me she wanted to be a legal assistant—which just so happens to be what I am now—but that was forever ago, surely her plans have changed.

"Well, at first I wanted to work in the legal system, but now I'm just like, fuck it!"

"So what do you want to do now?" Elijah asked her.

"I don't know... my grades are shit, my life is a mess... but at least I have one more year of high school to figure shit out. I'll probably just go to community college or something... get my associate's... and then just figure it out from there," she said under such a cloud of pessimism. Hey, community college is a good start... wonder if she actually went though. "What about you, Elijah?"

"I want to work in sports management..." Yeah, he actually ended up working at a bank so I mean, so much for that dream. Life doesn't always happen the way you want it to. Look at me, I wanted to become a lawyer and go to Harvard Law School but that never happened. Instead, I went to the University of San Francisco and became a paralegal. I wanted to stay friends with these guys over the next couple of years, but circumstances prevented it. Things change, close friendships can change. Nothing ever stays the same. Life changes in ways you wouldn't expect. I never would have expected that night to unfold the way it did. I never would have expected the ensuing drama that followed. I thought that after that night, our bond would have became stronger... but apparently not. Life is full of surprises.

Speaking of surprises, during our little break from hiking, an unfamiliar truck eventually pulled up next to us and a young man that I hardly recognized unrolled his window with a smile on his face as he stared at Heather. "Heather fucking Highsmith!" He exclaimed in a way that made me realize that these two knew each other.

"Jarred, what the fuck?!" Heather exclaimed back as she got up from her spot on the grass and headed towards the truck.

"What the hell are you doin' out here?" The dude, apparently named Jarred, asked her. Though I didn't know him, his face felt vaguely familiar and I knew that I had seen him from somewhere, but I couldn't put my finger on where I had seen him before. He looked to be about 24 or so, and so I knew it couldn't have been from school.

"Me and my friends are headed to the nearest motel," Heather explained.

"For what?" Gee, I don't know... hotels are usually for... getting a room.

"Um... I think you know..." she answered with a smirk.

"And you guys are walking to get there?"

"Well, we didn't really have any other ride," Elijah said from behind Heather.

"Where are you headed?" Heather asked him.

"I was just taking my girl, Kelly here, to the city tonight... we're gonna go clubbing," he replied, pointing out the pretty little blonde sitting next to him.

"Avoiding camp counselor activities?" Heather said, suddenly revealing where she must have known him from.

"Fuck yes! I need a break from that shit... you guys wanna hop in the bed and I can give you all a lift to the nearest motel?"

"Yeah, that would be awesome! Thanks so much, Jarred!" Heather cheered, tossing her stuff into the bed as me and Elijah made for the back of the truck. As we got in, I saw her lean in closer to Jarred and whisper something into his ear before she ultimately got in as well.

The three of us sat with our backs against the back window of the truck as we enjoyed the cool ride along the country roads, arriving at the nearest Motel 6 within twenty minutes. Yeah, no way we would have made it walking under the sweltering heat. I'm pretty sure one of us would have eventually collapsed from heat stroke... and by "one of us" I mean me!

While I expected him to drop us off at the motel, he instead drove past it and continued along the road until we finally reached a liquor store. Now I know what Heather must have been whispering to Jarred. Makes me wonder why she had to whisper though.

When Jarred got out of the car to head into the store, I finally asked Heather what the deal was. "Why are we here? I thought we were going straight for the hotel?"

"I asked Jarred to buy us some liquor and he said he would, as long as I paid him back for it," she answered.

"How do you expect to pay him back though? You don't have money."

She just smiled at me suspiciously, "I have my ways, Travis Tucker, I have my ways."

Wonder what that was supposed to mean.

When he returned, he carried with him several bottles of Bacardi and Svedka, as well as one bottle of Crown Royal. So yeah, it was definitely gonna be a night of hardcore drinking with some heavy liquors... and I couldn't wait to get started.

I turned to Heather who was smirking at me. "You excited?" She asked me.

"Fuck yeah!" I said with a grin, wrapping my arms around both Elijah and Heather. Tonight was gonna be a night to remember.

And it certainly was.