Summer Vacation, Part 9

Summer Vacation
by Dromedary Jone
Part Nine

Sara sat in the restaurant with her mother, chain smoking Virginia Slims as
they talked about the events of the summer. 

"So, you going to quit smoking now that the summer is almost over?" asked her
mother.

"Only if you quit," said Sara, laughing. That had been sort of part of the
plan to begin with, but it seemed so much different now.

"Do you want me to quit?"

"No," said Sara, taking a drag off the Virginia Slim, "I hope you don't
quit."

"I can't believe you and Claire have totally changed this summer. I mean,
Claire took her boyfriend to the Bahamas with her and you're messing around
with your boss."

"Well," said Sara, "I really don't have any regrets."

"How about your other friends?"

"I don't know," replied Sara, "I don't know if they will still want to be my
friends."

"Have you talked to them?"

"I've talked to Tonya and Kayla a few times on the phone this summer. They
started with the religious shit so I played along and pretended I was still
into it all."

"What about Rachel?" 

"I don't know. She went on some religious mission to Guatemala. I'm almost
afraid to see what her reaction is going to be. I've gone to her father's
church since I was in elementary school."

"Perhaps you and Claire should come clean."

"Perhaps," said Sara, trying to change the subject, "What movie are we going
to see tonight?"

***

Sara sat in the theatre with her mother and prayed the movie would end soon.
It was the kind of movie with a complex plot that older adults would
appreciate, but which the average teenaged girl found boring. Sara wanted a
cigarette, but more than that; she needed one.  This movie is longer than the
Godfather, thought Sara, as she whispered to her mother that she was going
outside for a smoke.

"Hurry up," said her mother, "The good part is coming up."

"Sure," said Sara, who had lost interest in this epic film an hour earlier.

Sara went into the foyer of the movie theatre and opened her purse as she
made her way to the exit. She spotted a girl who seemed familiar and looked
again. It was Tonya.

"Oh my God," said Sara, looking at her friend who had recently been made
over. Sara always thought Tonya was somewhat of a dork, but this was a much
sexier Tonya.

Sara didn't take the initiative to give her friend a hug because she was
conscious of the smell of smoke on her clothes. Strangely, Tonya didn't
really make a move to give her a hug either. Normally, the girls would have
given each other a hug after not seeing each other for a few days.  They
hadn't seen each other in almost three months; yet they both seemed very
standoffish towards each other. Perhaps Tonya had already heard that Sara had
changed that summer.

"Just went outside to get some fresh air," said Tonya.

"Me too," said Sara and then feeling the need to clarify added, "It can smell
so popcorny in the movie theatre."

"Yeah."

The girls stood there awkwardly for a moment.

"Hey, Tonya," said a voice behind them, "I left my cigarettes in my car. Can
I get one of yours?"

Sara turned around and saw it was Kayla. 

"Oh shit," mouthed Kayla without actually saying the words out loud.

The three girls looked at each other and Sara wasn't sure how to react now
that Kayla and Tonya appeared to be smokers. Finally she opened her purse,
looked inside, and said, "Well, if you're going to let Kayla have one, you
might as well let me bum one off you `cause I left mine in the car."

Tonya slowly opened her purse and pulled out her pack of Marlboro 100's. She
extended the pack to Sara and then to Kayla before retrieving one for
herself. She got her lighter out to light everyone up, but saw that Sara and
Kayla already had lighters in their purses, so she just lit herself up.The
girls stood smoking in silence for a bit before they all busted out laughing.

"Claire know you smoke?" asked Kayla.

"Oh my God," said Sara, "Claire smokes a lot more than me. She's like a
fuckin' chimney." 

"Did you just say `fucking'?" asked Kayla, "I don't think I've ever heard you
say `fuck' before."

"Don't think I've ever heard any of us say `fuck' before," said Tonya.

"Yeah, it's fuckin' weird," said Kayla as everyone laughed.

"Well," said Sara as she took a drag off the Marlboro 100, "Since we're all
saying the word `fuck', I should let you both know I am fucking my boss."

Tonya and Kayla looked at each other.

"We've both lost our virginity this summer," confided Tonya.

"Wow," said Sara, shocked that her friends Tonya and Kayla seem to have
matched Claire and her in the "bad girl" department.

"Claire?" asked Tonya curiously.

Sara double pumped the Marlboro 100 and said, "Well, she's got a new
boyfriend. You remember that guy James who had a major crush on her our
sophomore year? Claire is probably riding his pony as we speak."

Tonya and Kayla laughed at their friend's colorful speech.

"Has anyone talked to Rachel this summer?" asked Kayla.

Sara took a last drag off her Marlboro before replying as she exhaled, "No,
she went on that mission to Guatemala or some shit like that. Can't get in
touch with her."

"We're all supposed to have Bible study in two days," reminded Tonya. They
had all agreed when to resume their Bible studies when they had gone their
separate ways at the beginning of the summer.

"Yeah, I know," said Sara, "we should meet before then and talk about things.
I'll tell Claire."

"Let's meet in our usual place tomorrow night," said Kayla, "without Rachel,
of course."

The girls finished their cigarettes and gave each other hugs before going
inside to finish watching the movie.

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