butmom
If liking one of your boyfriend's friends that's the biggest player and has a girlfriend of six months isn't hard enough, but actually going on a road-trip with said guy and his girlfriend?---now that's just a one way ticket to heartbreak highway.
Mara's boyfriend invites her (pleads----the gets down on one knee kind of plead---is actually more of the word) to join him and his mates (and yes, their girlfriends---who only have one expression the: sneer---too) on a road-trip she has no choice but to say yes (ahem, he went down on his knee, mind you).
And if the whole road-trip with your boyfriend, the guy you have a thing for and his girlfriend isn't torture enough, because of lack of funds they have to stays on crappy motels, run out of gasoline a few times, get lost and live of off convenient store bought food too.
But after all these, at least, Mara learns a couple of lessons. One, there's always more beneath the surface and Two, don't count on crappy motels to have hot water.