Explorers Club Ch. 14: Chasing Tail

Explorers Club, Chapter 14: Chasing Tail

* * *

Part A: Negotiations

Part B: The Pink Phone

Part C: Putting in the Effort

* * *

Day seven: Sunday, late afternoon.

Part A: Negotiations

I stepped out of Diane's van and shielded my eyes from the sun. It was late in the day, and the sun was blasting from overhead. The last twenty minutes in the dark car were quiet and sleepy as everyone recovered from the morning at the beach. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned. Fiona was watching me closely and smiling. A strand of red hair fell over her eye, and she still looked half asleep.

"Remember, love," Fiona said, with a bittersweet smile. "Your Jenny girl will appreciate whatever effort you can muster. You'll figure it out."

"Thanks for the advice," I said. "And for clearing my head."

Fiona gave me a wink and a wave. She turned to join the others.

I watched Frank walk with Diane and Lena towards the spa, still feeling as if he was walking off a cliff. But I didn't know what else I could say or do for him. So I turned back to head towards the lobby, and beyond that, the pool bar. Where hopefully, I could still find Hannah. And through her, I could talk to Jenny.

I went through the glass doors into the hotel and began making my way through the lobby when I heard my name.

"Perkins!"

I turned to see Tessa behind the front desk, waving me over.

"I saw your friends, by the way," she said as I approached.

"You saw Hannah and Jenny?"

She nodded. "That's the blonde and the short brunette right? Yeah, they were having it out in the lobby here about an hour or so ago."

"They were here?!" I said, cursing. "Maybe I shouldn't have gone with Frank..."

"About that..." Tessa's leaned closer to me and spoke softly. "How was your time on the beach with the Wicked Bitch of the West and her little cronies?"

"Yeah, it was uh... alright," I said, scratching my neck. "Diane's an intense woman."

"Yeah that's putting it mildly," Tessa said. "How did Franklin get mixed up with her, anyway?"

"Honestly I have no idea," I said, shaking my head. "I mean I get why he was drawn to her, but as for her... I think she's the kind of woman who knows when she can wrap a man around her finger."

"And she has Franklin wrapped tight?" Tessa said.

"Unfortunately, I think so," I said.

Tessa nodded, frowning.

"So what were Hannah and jenny arguing about?" I asked.

Tessa shrugged. "Honestly, I was mostly just focusing on getting them out of the lobby so they didn't disturb the other guests. I think one, or both, missed their flights. And there was some talk of a dick being sucked, but whose dick or who was doing the sucking, or what that had to do with a missed flight, I'm not sure. But it wasn't really an appropriate conversation to be yelled in my lobby, in any case, so I booted them. You wouldn't know more about that, would you?"

Tessa gave me a questioning, smirking stare, but I didn't bite and shook my head. "Do you know where Jenny went, though? The short brunette?"

Tessa shook her head. "They both split in different directions once I broke them up. I lost track of the brunette. But we're still watching the blonde."

"You're still watching her? What do you mean?"

Tessa beckoned me to join her on the other side of the reception desk. She pointed to a computer with security camera footage and I recognized the hotel bar.

"That's her, right?" Tessa said. "In the leggings?"

"That's her," I said, nodding.

Hannah was sitting on a stool at the hotel bar, swaying a little and gesticulating around her as she drank. She was wearing a loose T-shirt and tight black leggings.

Tessa tapped the computer screen. "I'll tell you what, if you can get Miss drunky drunk out of my bar, there's something in it for you. She's starting to bother the other guests."

"Why don't you just cut her off or kick her out?"

"Well we cut her off fifteen minutes ago. She just hasn't figured it out yet."

"What do you mean she hasn't figured it out?" I asked.

"Well... the higher ups frown on us explicitly cutting off guests except in extreme cases, so I'd prefer if my staff weren't responsible for kicking her out of the bar. They're terrified of bad Google reviews," Tessa said, sighing in annoyance. "But we've been giving her soda water for the last fifteen minutes, and as far as I can tell, she hasn't noticed her drinks have been virgin. But she's becoming a menace and she's getting handsy."

I watched Hannah leaning over the bar, reaching for the bartender.

"With the bartender, or with guests?"

"Both."

"Alright," I said. "I need to talk to her anyway, and if I can get her away from the bar, I will," I said. "I need to talk to Jenny, and I know Hannah can reach her."

"Well thanks for offering to get into the line of fire, Perkins. If you can get her out without pissing anyone else off, I'll owe you a favor."

"Hm..." I said, thinking. Then, a kind of light went off in my head. "Hey, would a 'favor' involve comping us a trip to that Turtle Island place you were telling me about?"

"Comping the whole trip? For all of you? Are you serious?"

I shrugged and looked at her, hopefully.

"Oh don't you try to give me puppy dog eyes," Tessa rolled her eyes. "As if multiple free nights in a suite hasn't been enough for you all?"

"Just saying, if you want my help with Miss Disruptive..."

"You're quite a negotiator, aren't you?" Tessa scoffed and shook her head. "Why don't you deal with Hannah, first, then we'll talk. And I think you need to be quick, she's starting to gesticulate wildly."

"Alright, I'll do what I can," I said.

"Thank you, Perkins."

* * *

Part B: The Pink Phone

Finding Hannah was not difficult. Her loud, brash laugh carried far out from the bar, and she was clearly too drunk or high to care who heard. She was sitting at the bar in skin-tight black leggings and a loose crop top T-shirt, just barely exposing her midriff. She wore high-heeled black leather boots and dangled her legs as she leaned forward, flirting with the bartender.

I was pretty sure he was the same bartender who was bartending at dinner last night, a muscular Hawaiian man with a shark tooth necklace.

"See I KNEW you liked me!" Hannah's loud, drunken voice squealed just up ahead. She leaned forward, trying to touch the bartender's arm as he pushed another drink to her.

"It's my job to serve drinks, ma'am," he said, annoyed.

I took up a bar seat beside Hannah. She turned to me and scowled as she looked me up and down.

"Oh. It's you."

"How's it going, Hannah?" I said as friendly as I could, hoping to start things on a good note. "I was hoping I could call Jenny with your phone, if that's alright."

"Hey, this is... pervert number two!" Hannah announced to everyone, and to no one in particular. She wobbled in her chair and slurred a little, but she mostly intelligible.

"Ma'am please!" the bartender said in a harsh, low voice. "If you don't keep it down, I'll need to call security!"

Hannah gave the bartender a look that was a strange mixture of a scowl and a wink. The bartender moved to the opposite end of the bar and talked to two other patrons that seemed like friends of his. I glanced to see a camera subtly placed behind the bar, disguised inside the island-y décor. I'm sure Tessa was still watching.

"Alright," Hannah said, eying me suspiciously. "What do you want, perv-o? Did you come here to whip out your dick again?"

"Again? What are you talking about?"

"Oh my god I've seen it so many times!" Hannah said. "Like at the beach after our first night here..."

"Okay look I wasn't like showing you per se, it was a complicated situation-"

"... and then again in the hotel room..." Hannah counted on two fingers.

"Look, I didn't realize you were there, actually Gracie kicked me..."

"And then I saw it on the beach under your towel..." Hannah held up a third finger.

"Okay that was your fault, you pulled up my towel!"

"Excuses, excuses," she said, sipping her soda water from the straw. She glanced down at my lap as she drank. "So, did you come here to show me a fourth time?"

"No of course not... what's got into you?"

Hannah shrugged. "I guess I just had my little pre-flight breakfast and I'm feeling a bit antsy."

"What are you talking about?"

Hannah tapped the counter four times, as if counting four invisible items in front of her. "It's one grapefruit. One yogurt. One cup of coffee. And one half a pill of molly." She turned to me and smiled, squeezing her fingers. "Just a liiiiiiiiiitle half. Otherwise, going through the airport is so boring."

"You took ecstasy? And alcohol? And coffee? There's no way that's good for you. That's entirely too many... brain altering things."

"Oh what do you know, perv boy?" Hannah scoffed and slapped my shoulder with a loud thwack. "I said I only took a half!"

I sighed.

"So... what are you over here for? You trying to fuck me?" Hannah raised her eyebrows and sipped her drink.

"Wha- no... Hannah, I told you, I want to use your phone to call Jenny. She blocked me."

"Jenny?"

"Yes, you remember her? Your friend?"

Hannah frowned. "Why would I help you talk to her?"

"Look... what if I buy you another drink, and you let me call Jenny from your phone, please?" I offered as nicely as I could. "It won't be long. Just a minute or two. That's worth a drink, right?"

Hannah continued to eye me warily. "Why do you care about Jenny, anyway?"

"I just want to ask her why she left so abruptly."

"No, I mean... what's there even to like?!" Hannah said, gesticulating dramatically. "I mean Jenny's like... not even pretty."

I growled, trying to control my anger. "Hannah, that's not true, she's absolutely pretty-"

"Oh my GOD, are you dumb?" Hannah said, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Everyone knows Jenny is the smart one: I'm the pretty one." Hannah leaned back and cupped her own breasts over her shirt, jiggling them to prove her point.

"Hannah, that's not... I disagree..." I tried to focus.

"Anyway," Hannah said, smirking. "I don't see why you, of all people, would care about the smart girl."

"What do you mean 'me of all people'?"

"Well, you see, Perky, or whatever the hell your name is... you're a moron," she said, as if it was an obvious fact. She sipped her drink dramatically and gave me that cruel smile that comes naturally to these kinds of sorority-girl types. "And only smart boys care about dating smart girls."

I sighed and put my head in my hands. This was going to be more difficult than I thought.

"Hannah, that's nonsense."

"It's not! Dummies like you get intimi... intimated... intimaded...." Hannah stumbled over her tongue. Even if she was drinking soda water like Tessa claimed, she was clearly still quite impaired.

"Are you trying to say 'intimidated'?" I asked.

"Yes," Hannah said, nodding. "Inti-mated. So don't even bother. You two are simply not compatible. Just forget her."

I sighed and clenched my fist under the bar.

"Is she still in the hotel?" I said.

"How should I know?" Hannah shrugged.

"Because Tessa said you were arguing with her in the lobby like an hour ago."

"Who the fuck is Tessa?!" Hannah scoffed and slurped her empty glass of ice. "Uh-oh. Out of vodka!"

"I'll buy you another, just let me call her from your phone."

Hannah turned to me and narrowed her eyes. "Tell me the truth, and I'll consider it. Why do like Jenny?"

I sighed. "Fine. Well... despite what you think, she's actually very cute. And she's easy to talk to. I just like being around her, and I thought we had something-"

Hannah made a loud sound like a buzzer at the end of a basketball game.

"WRONG!" Hannah said, laughing. "You just want her to pay for your stupid turtle island trip!"

"That's not-"

"That is the only reason you want to talk to her! So, for lying to me and answering incorrectly, you cannot use my phone."

"You don't know what the fuck you're talking about, we got to know each other better than that-"

"You don't know her at ALL. Believe me, I know all about your ridiculous 'sugar momma' arrangement. And you know what? It was fucking brilliant," Hannah said, laughing. "You know it was all bullshit, right? Jenny was never going to pay for anything. She made it all up. Honestly, I wish I had thought of a trick that good. But then again, I don't need to use tricks like that because I can just, you know... get boys to fuck me the normal way."

She winked and shrugged her shoulders at me in a way that made her tits jiggle a little under her loose crop top.

I sighed. "Look, I figured out that the sugar momma thing wasn't real..."

"About time!" Hannah said, swirling her empty glass of watery ice. "How did you fall for it, anyway?"

I shook my head. "I dunno, she just said her dad had this fancy gold credit card..."

"The credit card!" Hannah cackled. "Her dad's a fucking schoolteacher! And that card is for emergencies! I know because she accidentally used it to buy a cheeseburger once and she had to call him and apologize. For a cheeseburger! As if she was going to pay for your fucking vacation with it. Your vacation... with another girl!"

"Alright, alright," I said, hands up. "Make fun of me all you want-"

"Thank you, I will," she snickered.

"-but I just want to know why she blocked me."

"Oh well, I can tell you that!" Hannah said, but gave me a big, exaggerated frown. She held up her empty glass. "But I think I'm too thirsty to answer."

"Fine," I said, sighing. "What are you having?"

"Vodka soda. But watch out, he makes them strong."

"Does he?" I picked up her near-empty glass. I sniffed it, and could smell no alcohol from it, but I could definitely smell it on Hannah's breath from her drinks earlier.

"Yeah, that's strong," I agreed.

"See?" Hannah said.

"I'll buy you another if you tell me why Jenny blocked me and then let me call her."

"You'll buy two, and I'll think about it. Otherwise, you can forget about me telling you fucking anything."

"Two? You need two drinks?"

"One for me and one for you," she said. "You're not going to let me drink alone, are you?"

I sighed and raised a hand to bring the bartender over. He approached us, warily.

"Two more," I said, pointing to her glass. "Of the exact same thing."

The bartender caught my meaning and nodded.

Hannah leaned forward and reached out a hand for the bartender's arm. He pulled back just as she brushed her fingers against it.

"Lady, stop trying to touch me, please, I don't want to have to tell you again," the bartender said.

"Oh come on, just a feel?" Hannah said. "But you're so muscly!"

"The last guy sitting next to you had to leave because you kept doing that," he growled.

"Well he was a pussy," Hannah said, scoffing. "And probably gay. Definitely gay."

The bartender went to prepare the drinks. He used the gun to put fizzy soda water into two glasses and then make a show of flipping the vodka bottles around before putting limes on them. It wouldn't have fooled a sober person.

"So," I said, drawing Hannah's attention away from the bartender, "why did Jenny block me?"

"Well, because I told her she should, of course!"

"Why?!"

"Ugh isn't it obvious? She's a sensitive girl. I just told her it was better to cut it off clean as opposed to dealing with the boy she likes getting mad at her and yelling at her. That kind of conversation just is not worth it."

"Why would I be mad at her or yell at her?"

"God, are you not even paying attention? She lied to you, dummy!" Hannah leaned forward and tapped my forehead like she was tapping a fishbowl with my brain was the fish.

I frowned and thought about it. If Jenny really thought I was going to be mad or yell at her... then I really had to speak to her. The idea that Jenny's memory of the last few days together was going to be tainted by Hannah's nonsense just felt awful. Even if Jenny was gone, I decided I needed to tell her that I didn't hate her. Maybe she did put me in a shitty position with Gracie and Hale with this trip, but... I couldn't bring myself to be mad at her. I owed her enough that I had to tell her that, at the very least. And then... if she was gone, well, that was up to her.

The bartender placed both glasses in front of Hannah and me. I began to give him my room number to pay for the drinks, but he shook his head.

"It's on the house. Just... keep her under control," he mumbled, nodding to Hannah. I nodded in response.

"See? Not even charging me. He's obsessed with me," Hannah said.

She took a big sip and so did I. I made a face, pretending it was strong.

"Man, that's strong," I lied.

"See?" she said, winking. She took a big gulp, likely trying to impress me.

"Look," I said, putting down my soda water, "I just need her to know that I don't hate her, okay? So can you let me call her please? It won't take long. I bought the drinks."

"Hmmm..." Hannah said, slurping. She moved her tongue around the rim of the glass. I realized she was trying to be sexy. She leaned forward and slid her hand over my thigh.

"How about you whip it out, Indiana Jones? Then you can have my phone." She gave me a big, obvious wink.

"I thought you didn't like me," I said, suspiciously, as I pulled her hand off my thigh.

"Oh, I don't," Hannah assured me. "But Jenny would not stop talking about it. I was like oh my god, please stop saying the word 'girthy' for fucks' sake! So just let me have a good look."

"I thought you bragged about seeing it already like three times?"

"Well those weren't good looks," Hannah said.

"Sorry I'm not going to... whip it out at the bar."

Hannah eyed me warily. "You and Jenny. You two never went... all the way?"

"We fooled around..."

"No I mean like..." she put her finger through another circle she made with her thumb and forefinger. She raised her eyebrows, not unlike Frank.

"No," I admitted. "We never did."

"Interesting..." she said, grinning wide. "So you came to fuck me, instead? Bold of you, since I'm so far out of your league, perv."

"No, I came to use your phone so I can call Jenny!"

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Oh my god, that again?"

"Yes, that again!"

Hannah pulled out her phone from her pocket at her right hip. It was a big phone in a sparkly pink case and she waved it temptingly.

"Okay, whip it out here at the bar, and I'll let you have it."

"I'm not going to..." I got control of my anger and lowered my voice to a whisper. "I'm not going to whip my dick out at a bar!"

"Why not?" Hannah asked, as if genuinely unsure.

"Because... lots of reasons! I mean what on Earth is wrong with you?"

Hannah threw her head back and laughed. "Oh my parents wanted to know the same thing, but they never could figure it out. They paid for enough doctors though!"

"Hannah, you're actually crazy."

She shrugged. "I know. I just decided if I was going to be crazy, I might as well be hot and crazy, so at least I can get away with it."

I put my fingers to the bridge of my nose and sighed.

Hannah leaned forward and slid her hand over my thigh. "So you going to fuck me or what?"

I was about to yell but lowered my voice at the last second as I moved her hand off my lap. "I'm not here to fuck you Hannah!"

"Oh bullshit!" Hannah said, shaking her head. "If I wanted you, I could have you like that." She tried to snap her finger for emphasis but only succeeded in awkwardly moving her fingers around each other. "Anyway, wouldn't it be funny if after all of Jenny's lying and sneaking around you fucked me, instead of her?"

"What? No, I wouldn't do that to her."

"Why not?" Hannah said, as if I was a moron. "She left, didn't she? What do you care? She's not your fucking wife."

I sighed. "Hannah, I'm just not going to fuck you."

"Then why the hell did you come over here?"

I blinked, amazed. She sounded sincere.

"Did you just ask me that question again?"

"Oh right! You want the stupid phone!" Hannah laughed.

"Yes! What will it take for me to call Jenny?"

"I told you the price already, Indiana Jones!" Hannah said, winking.

"Why do you keep calling me Indiana Jones?"

"Ugh because he has a whip, obviously!"

I sighed.

"I literally need your phone for like... a minute," I insisted. "Can we like negotiate..."

"NEGOTIATE?! What is this, the United Nations?"

"Yes, let's figure out-"

"UGH what is it?!" Hannah yelled as she turned to look at her phone.

I realized she wasn't yelling at me, she was yelling at her phone that must have vibrated some kind of notification at her. She held the pink phone in front of her face, and it unlocked with Face ID. I realized if I could get it, I might be able to just unlock it the same way.

"Well, I have a new flight," she said, shrugging.

"Did you miss your old one?" I asked.

"Yeah, because of you," she grumbled.

"How is it my fault you missed your flight?!"

She rolled her eyes as she placed her phone back in her pocket. I saw she slid the phone at her right hip, in her leggings on the opposite side of me.

"It's your fault," she began, "because I was waiting for Jenny, we were going to take the same shuttle, but she took all day sucking on your dick! Maybe you should have cum faster! I should have just left her."

Hannah was being way too loud and I could tell others were starting to turn in our direction, including the bartender.

"Keep it down, please," I whispered.

"... and then we got into an argument, and she was crying and blah blah blah... that girl has so many fucking EMOTIONS! I was like, get over it! It's not my fault she had to come up with some crazy lie just to get a loser like you to look in her direction. Like... it's just not that hard to get boys interested. I mean like, you would fuck me in a second if I just asked."

The bartender glanced at us from the other end of the bar, and I could tell we didn't have much time before security would come to kick us out. And once they did that, who knows if I would be able to keep Hannah's attention? She would probably just try to fuck one of the security guards.

"Hannah, for the last time, I'm not going to fuck you," I said. "And can you keep your voice down, please?"

"Oh yeah? I'll prove that I'm right." Hannah said, grinning.

"I don't think you will-"

"Give me your hand," Hannah said, as she arched her back. She pulled my hand down and yanked it over her ass. Her hand held mine, forcing me to grip her left butt cheek. She didn't seem to be wearing anything under the leggings, and her butt jiggled under my hand.

"What is this proving?" I asked. "Except that you aren't wearing underwear?"

"You're noticed, huh?" she said. "I knew you were a perv."

Hannah leaned forward to whisper to me. As she did, I let my hand slide right, across her other butt cheek, curling around her ass.

"How about this..." she whispered, leaning further. "You come to the bathroom and fuck me senseless, and then I call Jenny and tell her allll about what it was like. And then I'll give you the phone, and you can tell her whatever you want."

My fingers searched, finding the outline of her phone and where it poked out of her side pocket.

"Getting a little handsy back there, perv?" she teased.

"How about you invite the bartender," I said, nodding behind her. "Two on one?"

"Ooh, good idea! I knew you weren't as pathetic as I thought!" she said and whirled around. She stood up a little as she turned away from me. I gripped the phone, trying not to make it obvious.

"Hey, muscly arms!" Hannah said, waving to the bartender.

The bartender walked over to us, frowning.

"Ma'am I'm going to have to call security if you keep talking like that-"

"Do you know what an Eiffel Tower is?" Hannah asked the bartender. She leaned forward to let her boobs bounce under her shirt. The bartender stammered, lost staring at her bouncing chest as I slid the phone from her pocket.

"Ma'am please..." the bartender said, hands up.

"Please what? Do you want front, or back..." Hannah hiccupped loudly and pointed to her mouth. Then she hiccupped again, more intensely this time, before burping.

I glanced down at the phone and saw it was trying to use Face ID unlock.

"Well what about you, perv, front or back? Or want to switch off?" Hannah said, turning around to look at me.

I quickly held up the phone to her face and watched her face register what happened as the phone unlocked.

"Bye, Hannah, I'll leave the phone at the front desk," I said, and left the bar.

"You FUCKER!" she called from behind me.

* * *

Part C: Putting in the Effort

I ran in no particular direction, as I was more focused on avoiding running into other hotel guests as I searched Hannah's phone for Jenny's contact info.

As I searched the phone, I saw that nearly all the contacts were given nicknames. Nobody in the contacts was actually named 'Jenny.' So I scrolled through recent messages, but most were nicknames of some variant of 'bitch.' I tried to make sense of it as I ducked and weaved through other hotel guests.

"Give back my phone... you... *hic*... pervert fucker!" Hannah yelled.

I turned and saw Hannah wobbling after me. She wasn't very fast and she was clearly struggling. So I stopped and I held up the phone.

"Is Jenny in your phone under "Short bitch", "Black hair bitch," or "Bitch two"?

Those seemed like the most likely options based on recent conversations.

"She's... in... as... fuck your own face!" Hannah yelled.

She was hiccupping and gagging, and she stopped to put her hands on her knees as she caught her breath. I checked the phone.

"Nope," I said, shaking my head. "Nobody under that name."

"That's... going to be... your name... pervert!"

"Well I'm definitely not giving you my number!" I yelled back.

"Fuck... you!" Hannah flicked me off with both fingers then gulped as if she was eating air. The exertion seemed to be taking a toll on top of the alcohol and the drugs in her system. It seemed to take all her energy to walk forward, and she could barely do that.

"HEY!" Tessa yelled from behind the front desk.

"He... he stole... he stole my-" Hannah pointed accusingly at me and began to sway. Her eyes widened and she bent over. I knew what was coming.

"Oh no, not in my lobby!" Tessa yelled.

Hannah began puking on the floor.

"Ramon!" Tessa yelled. "Cleanup in the lobby- quick!"

Guests groaned in disgust and fled the scene as Hannah puked, and puked again. Tessa ran over to her to deal with the Hannah situation, and I ducked around a corner to get a better look at the phone.

It was soon clear from the texts that 'short bitch' was indeed Jenny. It looked like Hannah had been convincing Jenny that she had no other options but to leave, while Jenny was hesitating. I called the number and let it ring.

"Hannah I'm not fucking talking to you right now," Jenny said quickly, and sniffling. "I've heard everything you have to say, and maybe you're right, but you're still a bad friend and you made me miss one flight already..."

I realized I was hearing the voice from two places at once. I turned to the glass that separated the lobby from the driveway outside. Jenny was just outside the glass doors talking into the phone and walking towards an airport shuttle. She was at the back of a line of people with bags.

I tossed the phone to the receptionist. He was in the middle of a call to someone at housekeeping and looked at my phone, confused.

"Lost and found," I said.

"What name should I put it under?"

"Indiana Jones," I said, and ran out through the glass doors, into the driveway.

Jenny blinked and stopped talking into her phone.

"Perky?" she whispered.

Jenny's eyes were red and she looked like she had been doing a lot of crying. But it really was a relief to see her. She opened her mouth to say something, and I just leaned forward and gave her a hug. She sniffled on my shoulder and pressed her body against mine for a moment before gently pushing me off.

"Miss, are you going to airport?" asked a man loading bags into the airport shuttle. He spoke in a thick Indian accent in poor but understandable English. He was already holding two bags and nodded to her suitcase.

"One moment," Jenny said, and turned back to me.

"It's good to see you, but... I thought you were at the airport already," I said.

"I... was going to, but we missed the shuttle, then I got into an argument with Hannah, and then I had to re-book the flight, and... well I was a little worried I'd run into you, honestly. But I didn't know where else to go."

"I was down here," I said, looking around. I pointed. "I sat right on that bench. Right after you left the room."

"Really?" she said and wiped her red eyes. "I was probably crying in the bathroom. Where did you go?"

"Frank roped me into one of his adventures," I said. "But why did you block me? I only went with him because you didn't pick up your phone."

Jenny looked away, sniffling. "I'm sorry about that. But Hannah said you'd be mad at me if you learned about... well..."

"I told him... everything... bitch!" Hannah stumbled through the glass doors behind us.

Jenny stated at Hannah, wide-eyed. Hannah's hair was a disaster, and she had vomit on her boots.

"What happened to you?" Jenny said.

"I told him all about your lies, about the sugar momma crap, all of it!" Hannah said, tossing her arm dramatically.

Jenny turned to me and looked pained.

"Everything?" Jenny whispered.

"Yes, but it's okay..."

Jenny shook her head. "No, it's not."

"Miss? We must go!" the shuttle driver said, urgently. He picked up Jenny's bag.

"I... I should go, Perky. I'm sorry... my parents are already mad I missed one flight..." Jenny bit her lip and turned away from me. She nodded to the driver of the shuttle who took her bag to the van.

"By the way, he nearly fucked me," Hannah said, pointing to me.

"What?!" Jenny said, whirling.

"By that she means she tried to fuck me, and I declined," I said. "She spent at least the last half hour at the bar trying to fuck anything with a penis."

Jenny turned to Hannah and scowled. "Hannah, you're a bad friend! Go away and fuck off!"

"Yeah, well I will fuck off! Maybe I'll just go fuck the bartender who is about a hundred times hotter than that loser!"

Hannah flicked us both off and turned to stomp back into the hotel. She quickly began arguing with security staff inside.

"Yeah, that bartender is not going to be happy to see her again," I said. "But I suspect she won't make it that far."

Jenny snickered and wiped tears from her cheeks as she smiled.

"Hey, I got a laugh out of you," I said.

She smiled and looked up at me. "Did she really try to fuck you?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, she's really not a good friend."

"And you said no?"

"I ran as soon as I could," I said.

Jenny leaned forward to hug me.

"What's this for?" I said, laughing.

"I don't think a boy has never said no to her, and yes to me," she said, and sniffed. "I just wish I hadn't ruined it first."

"I mean you lied, but you didn't ruin it."

"Yes, I did..."

The driver cleared his throat loudly. "I'm sorry, we must go now! Already late!"

"O... okay," Jenny said. She looked to me and looked away quickly. "I'm sorry Perky. I just hope that one day you can forgive me."

"Jenny, hold on!"

She rushed towards the van, but the driver blocked me from following her.

"Are you going to airport? You have no bags," the driver challenged, looking me over.

"No, but I just need to talk-"

"This is airport shuttle ONLY," he insisted.

"No you don't understand," I said, "I just need to-"

"No YOU do not understand! Shuttle to Airport. ONLY!" the driver said, waving his arms in a 'No way' motion. He turned and stomped back to the van and took his seat. I went up to the van but the door shut quickly in my face.

Inside the van, I saw Jenny make her way to the back and take a seat by a window close to me. She had big headphones on and looked up to me with red eyes. She raised a sad hand goodbye.

I saw there was an open window beside the driver. Nobody was sitting there, and it just had a bag of personal belongings, probably the driver's. I pointed to it.

"Can I sit there?" I yelled inside.

"No! Only airport!" the driver insisted and started up the van. It began to move, and I realized I was out of time.

I turned to Jenny and cupped my hands over my mouth, yelling.

"Jenny, I'm not mad at you!"

She was bent down looking in her bag for something, but still had her big headphones on. I doubt she heard me. And the van began to pull away from me, down the driveway. Jenny pulled her head up and gave me a last wave as the van began to move. Once the van finished rounding the curve it would go down a hill, and then to the Maluhia entrance. After that, it would hit the road, and then it would be gone.

I remembered Fiona's advice as I watched the van pick up speed as it rounded the driveway.

"Effort, huh? Fine..." I grumbled to myself. I kicked off my flip flops. "Well, fuck it."

I began to run.

I ran, feeling the hot pavement burning on my bare feet. I could hear the 'thwap-thwap-thwap' of my feet hitting the pavement over and over, and I winced at the pain. That would be a problem for another day.

The van was moving slowly in front of me, and I don't think the driver saw me as I began to pick up speed and follow it. I caught up to the van just as it finished rounding the corner.

Through the window, Jenny was looking down at her phone and wiping her eyes with a tissue and didn't see me.

I didn't really know what my plan was until I saw the open window on the front passenger side. If I could just catch up a little bit more I could jump onto it, and yell inside. That might be good enough for Jenny to hear over her headphones.

I pushed myself, letting my muscles burn. It felt like my feet were getting torn up by the pavement. But the van pulled ahead and started going downhill.

I followed downhill, letting my legs windmill as I let gravity carry me faster. My legs were spinning of their own accord. If they stumbled at all, I was going to bite it hard. But I kept going.

I wiped hot sweat out of my eyes as I ran. I was soaking wet through my T-shirt and my feet were killing me, but I had finally caught up to the passenger side window. The driver indeed had no idea I was there.

I leapt.

My body hit the side of the van with a rough crash as my arms went inside the window. The force nearly knocked the wind out of me and I held on through the window for dear life as I caught my breath. The driver turned to me and his eyes went wide with panic.

"NOT SAFE!" the driver yelled. I could feel the van swerving left and right. "NOT SAFE!"

I heard mumbling and concerned shouting from other passengers int the car. Multiple people were standing up and staring at me from the back, and I saw Jenny's head pop up with them.

"Jenny I don't hate you!" I yelled. However, as I yelled, the van let out a loud honk, drowning me out.

"NOT SAFE!" the driver screamed at me. He tried to shoo me away with one hand as he held the wheel with the other.

The van swerved right, then left.

"Perky!!?!?! Oh my god!" Jenny yelled from the back. I caught her eye and smiled. Her headphones were on her shoulders, and she was staring at me, wide-eyed.

I took a deep breath and yelled.

"JENNY, I DON'T HATE YOU!"

Her eyes were wide and she covered her mouth with her hand as she stared at me. I smiled and took a breath, satisfied. At least I said it, and she heard it. That was enough.

"NOT. SAFE!" the driver roared.

The van swerved hard left.

The swerving was so hard that it felt as if an invisible hand was yanking me backwards. My arms slipped out of the open window and I flew. For a brief moment I remember appreciating the cool, refreshing breeze as my body was hurled through the air like a rag doll. And then I felt searing pain, everywhere at once. And then, nothing.