Find a Penny, Pick Her Up

Chapter 14

Feeling nervous was an understatement. I made Jess pull over twice because I thought I was going to throw up.

"Why didn't you let him drive you again?" she asked, flicking her blinker on.

I held my stomach, putting the window down and letting the breeze hit me in the face. "Element of surprise." The window suddenly went back up.

"I'm not letting you mess up what I worked on for hours," she said. "Fix your hair." I huffed, looking at myself in the mirror. Sparkly eyeshadow accented my eyes, along with the brush of blush, bronzer, and coat of foundation Jess had applied. I fixed a strand of my hair, which Jess had curled slight beachy waves through it. I shifted in the seat, unable to keep still. I was comfy, dressed in ripped jean shorts and a light blue hoodie.

"Pull over," I said, feeling bile rise in my throat.

"You're fine," she deadpanned. "We're almost there."

I swallowed the rising vomit. "Your fault if I throw up in your car."

"God, I'm having such fomo." Fear of missing out? Was she kidding?

I looked at her. "Wanna take my place?" She pulled into the driveway, the tires crunching the pebbles and sand. Immediately, the smell of fire drifted through the car. I peeked at the beach, red and orange and yellow fire reaching the dark sky and crackling.

We sat there in silence for a few moments, until she turned to me and said, "You can do this."

I looked at her with crazy eyes. "What if Hampton isn't here?"

"He probably is," she said. "Do you see his car?" I looked around, but it was too dark to tell for sure.

"I don't know," I said. "I can't tell."

"As much as I'd love to sit here for a few hours," she said, and I shot her a look, "I have to get to my brother's recital. You can do this."

"And if I can't?" I asked. It's not like I could've called her. Or my parents, because I needed to prove to them I didn't need Dr. Yao. Maybe I could walk back. It wasn't too far...just a few miles.

"You can," she said. "Boss-ass-bitch, remember?" I nodded, unconvinced. "You look great." I took a breath, pulling open the door and stepping out. She gave me a thumbs up, pulling out of the parking lot and leaving.

I turned toward the beach, taking what felt like my one hundredth deep breath of the night, and started in the direction of the bonfire. The closer I got, the thumping music grew louder and clearer. And so did the faces of every person standing around the fire. The first person who looked my way was Aaron. He had a beer in his hand, but seemed less intoxicated since the last time I saw him.

"Party Penny! We meet again," he said, a smile on his face as he started toward me.

"Hey," I said, my stomach soothing a bit. Aaron was a good person to start with.

"I've been seeing you out a lot lately." The look on my face made him swallow his swig of beer quickly, shaking his head in reassurance. "I don't mean it in a bad way. Just..I'm happy you're back."

I nodded. "Thanks."

"You want a drink?" He pointed to the cooler. "We've got beer, seltzers.." Aaron winked at me, wiggling his eyebrows. "But if I know you, you'd want the harder stuff. C'mon," he waved in the direction of his car, "I have some liquor in my car." Liquor. Car.

"Oh, no thanks."

He stopped, looking surprised. "Party-Penny doesn't want vodka? What happened?" My stomach returned to its nervous state, jumping uncomfortably.