senior skip day

“I know!” Austin’s giggle was cut short by a sharp pain in her temple. “Ow! My head is suddenly pounding, you got any aspirin?”

“Let me look.” Macey fished her mom’s knock-off, designer purse from the back seat and dug around in it. “Got em, how many you want, three?”

“Yeah, that should be good.”

Macey handed her the pills and the bottle of vodka. “Maybe you should like, chug as much as you can with the pills. You might need the liquids or something.”

Five big gulps made the girl cough and sputter, but she got the pills down and handed the bottle back to her friend.

Taking a couple swigs too, she placed her hand on Austin’s forehead. “Nurse Macey to the rescue. “

“Nurse Macey my butt.”

“I know, like, why would anybody want to go to more school after graduation? I’m gonna be an influencer. I already got over 500 followers.”

“Yeah, that’s cause you got 600 cousins.”

They both had a chuckle at that.

“Nurse Macey says your skin doesn’t feel hot. Really, it feels kinda cool.” She put her hand to her own forehead for a few seconds. “Cooler than mine really. So that’s a good thing, right?”

“I guess, but why do I feel so bad? And so tired?”

“Looks like we’re gonna get a hotel when we get to Vegas for sure. Maybe you got the flu or something.”

“Hotels cost a lot of money.”

“Well, my mom gave me her credit card. In case of emergency. I’ll call her when we get someplace where our phones work and I bet she’ll say it’s okay.”

“You think somebody will be by soon? I don’t feel so good.” “It’s a road. People go down roads all the time. You just close your eyes and try to take a nap. Dream about that big hotel pool we’ll be swimming in soon – and meeting somebody famous.”

“Ok. Thank you for taking care of me Nurse Macey.” She reached out and held the other’s hand.

Ten minutes later, Macey whispered, “Austin, you awake?” After receiving no answer, she uncoupled her hand from the other and took a big gulp from the near-empty bottle.

“You know I love you girl,” Macey muttered softly, “but I think maybe you got me sick too. I’m achy and have a headache now too.”

Four aspirin were counted out and washed down with the last of the lemonade flavored vodka. She tilted her seat back and decided a nap did sound like a great idea.

“Oh wait.” Feeling around on the floorboard, she grabbed the keys. Reaching over to insert the keys into the ignition, Macey grabbed the steering wheel for balance. “Ow! Motherfucker.”

The afternoon sun had been advancing slowly through the windshield, heating the dash and steering wheel to an unbearable degree. Stretching, she inserted the key, turned on the battery power, and cranked the AC.

Smiling, she took a selfie, nestled on her side in the reclined seat and let the phone fall between the seats. “We gave the AC a rest, Austin,” she whispered. “I bet it will be putting out cold air real soon.”

Then she closed her eyes.