Chapter 61
And am I just as horrible to want to find out what that was?Dana wondered. To want to rush in there and pick up the pieces, kiss her tears away, make her feel better?
She hoped not.
Plus, Bethany herself had said there was no one else she’d rather talk to than Dana. How could Dana refuse to come up after hearing that?
“Let me pack a few things,” she said, “and I’ll leave here by 10:30. How’s that sound?”
Bethany sighed with relief. “Oh, thank you, thank you! This is why I love you, you know that, don’t you? You’re the best.”
* * * *
At first, Dana’s mother balked at the idea of her heading out so late at night to visit Bethany. “Can’t it wait until morning?” she asked.
But Dana had come downstairs already dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, a duffle bag slung over her shoulder, and there was little argument her mother could make that would persuade her to change her mind. Bethany had suggested she bring enough clothes to stay the week, which was fine to Dana—a vacation from her summer vacation sounded like just what she needed at the moment. If she played her cards right, she might even end the week with a girlfriend on the rebound from a bad relationship…
Can’t think that way. She’s my best friend. I can’t take advantage of her when she’s vulnerable like this. But if shecomes onto me, I’m not going to be the one to say no now, am I?
Dana mentioned Bethany’s breakup with Terrance, embellishing it to make it sound as if she were on the brink of depression and simply neededa shoulder to cry on—she had no one else in the entireworld to turn to, surely Dana hadto go to her. Surely her mother understood? And while she was up there, Dana might take a look around at job opportunities in the DC metro area, since she hadn’t had any luck so far back home. “I can’t earn enough to pay back my student loans working at Walmart,” she pointed out. “Bethany said the paper where she works might be hiring…”
Finally her mother conceded defeat. “Alright, fine. Go and have fun. But call me when you get there, no matter how late it is. I’m not going to fall asleep tonight until I hear from you.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Dana pecked her on the cheek and hurried out before she could change her mind.
On the phone, Bethany had given Dana directions to her apartment, which seemed to be right off the interstate. The prospect of a late night drive was exciting at first, and Dana didn’t even stop for a cup of coffee to fuel her trip before hitting the highway. Let’s do this!
But after an hour of driving, with the dark tarmac rolling out in front of her headlights and tractor trailers leaving her in their wake, the edge began to wear off a little. Dana felt her eyes droop and her energy sag. The clock read 11:30, and the night pressed in against her windows like cloth, suffocatingly close. Even with her air conditioner at full blast, the summer heat leached in around her, making her drowsy. She should stop and get some caffeine, but she didn’t dare—it was too late, and she didn’t want to drag the trip out even longer than she had to.
She turned up the radio, blaring it to try and wake her up some, but past Fredericksburg the stations she was familiar with turned to static. She had to rummage through the tapes scattered on the passenger seat, looking for something good. Without turning on the overhead light, she grabbed a tape at random and jammed it into the tape deck. It turned out to be a mix tape Bethany had made for her last year, full of angsty indie female singers they’d discovered at college together. “How can you notbe a dyke?” Dana wondered out loud. Then she cranked the volume even louder and sang along.
Sometime later, she passed the exit for the school. “Love ya, losers!” she cried out, blowing a kiss as she drove by. Anything to keep herself alert and focused but God, she missed classes already.
No,she corrected silently. I miss campus life. Screw classes. If I never see the inside of a schoolroom again, I’ll die happy. But I’d give anything to go back to rooming with Bethany.
She’d only told her mother The Washington Postwas hiring to make it sound as if there was a realreason to let her run off to visit Bethany in the dead of night, but she had no interest in working for a newspaper. With a literature degree? Please. She’d be better off at the Library of Congress…I’ll have to look into applying there,she thought, making a mental note. Now that would be the perfect job.