Chapter 43
March 2008
Charlotte
Fucking humid.
That’s my very first thought as I deboard the plane. Florida air is thick and wet. And smells weird. Like mud. And bugs. And gator shit. With just a spritz of fish.
I miss my crisp Alaskan air. My hair is already frizzing up, and I’ve been in the state for seventeen seconds. How am I going to last a whole week?
When Savvy tried to convince me to spend spring break in the Sunshine State, I almost told her to shove it. But I need the break, and I miss her something fierce. Besides, no one says no to Savannah Nova Mitchell. She was having no part of any excuse I tried to come up with.
She was oddly persistent. I tried to convince her to come to Alabama, but that was an instant no from her. She was pulling every hat trick out of her ass to get me on this damn plane.
I swear if she bails on taking me to the theme park like she promised, I’m going to punch her right in the tit. Hard.
When I make my way out of the gate, a tram pulls up in front of me. I guess I’m supposed to get on this thing. The signs are a bit confusing, and there are people everywhere, shoving and hip-checking me left and right.
I get onto the speeding bullet death trap and hold on to the disgusting, fingerprint-laden pole to keep myself from falling on the lovely foreign family speaking their native language in rapid-fire succession at my back.
Finally, I make my way to baggage claim after fearing for my life in the shuffle of bodies. I eagerly watch as my zebra-printed suitcase comes across the conveyor belt.
The black-and-white stripes curve around the bend, and I begin to reach down when someone snatches it out of my hand. “Hey! That’s mine!” I shout at the body next to me, my suitcase firmly in their tight grip.
The sparkling brown eyes of my bestie light up as she gives me a look at the pearly white of her dazzling smile.
“Finder’s keepers. Love the hair.” She whispers as we embrace and nearly knock each other over. Grumblings from other passengers trying to get their bags sound from around us, but fuck all of them. I haven’t seen my best friend in person since just before I left for Alabama.
She had come home to see Mary and help me pack and prepare to leave for AU. A week before she arrived, Mr. Seymore passed away, so we made it a point to attend his funeral. In true Savvy fashion, she made that a spectacle.
We lock arms and walk up to the open casket. Poor Mr. Seymore. I know he was an old man who lived a full life, but death is always difficult, especially when it’s unexpected. As much as a heart attack in your eighties can be unexpected.
Looking down at the sweet man, his face is frozen in a slight, serene smile. “That’s a little creepy.” Savvy whispers. I bump her hip with mine, “Savs! You can’t say shit like that. He’s been stuffed or embalmed or whatever. Would you have rathered he had a scowl for all eternity?”
She shrugs her shoulder, “I’m just saying. Sending him off like the Joker to the afterlife seems kinda like a dick move.”
“It’s not that dramatic. Stop being an ass. Do you have any final words for our dear, sweet Mr. Seymore?”
She leans down, whispers something to the man, and tucks something between his arm and his side.
As we turn and let the next set of folks come to say their final respects, I lean to her and whisper, “What did you just do?”
Savvy shrugs a shoulder and, as if it’s the most normal thing in the world, says, “I wanted him to have something to remember me by. ”
“So…” I coaxed.
“So I tucked my panties in the coffin so he goes to the afterlife like a pimp.”
“For fuck’s sake, Savannah. You brought an extra pair of panties with you to a fucking funeral? What is wrong with you?” I chastise in a hushed tone.
“Oh no, I took them off right before we came in here when I went to the bathroom.”
“You put used panties in that man’s coffin?!”
“Well, yeah, he wouldn’t have bragging rights if they were new. Use your head, Charls. Now, let’s get out of here. Funerals give me the creeps.”
“Fancy car, Savs.” I compliment the sleek, black convertible as we pull onto the turnpike. The wind is flowing through my ever-frizzing hair, but sitting next to my best friend, I couldn’t care less.
She’s worked so hard academically that Mary and my dad got together and decided she deserved her dream car. So, due to their busy schedules, they surprised her with it for Christmas, virtually. They had the dealership drop it off at her dorm, with a giant red bow on it and everything. I wish I could’ve seen her face when she realized what it was.
“So, what’s the plan?” I ask. Savvy never has a shortage of plans. I’m sure she’s got the whole week mapped out to the minute. But I need it. After the year I’ve had. Shit, after the last several years I’ve had. I need to be able to just let loose with my best friend. She can take the reins and just tell me where and when to be.
“Oh, a little of this and a little of that.” She answers. Is she being obtuse on purpose?
“Okay. You know I hate surprises, Savs. You don’t have to give me a detailed itinerary. Just a general idea of plans is sufficient.”
“Don’t be a buzz-kill, Charls. We are going to drop your stuff at my dorm. Thank God Cuntasaurus Rex is in Mexico for spring break, so we don’t have to worry about her during your trip. Then I figured we’d go to this little cantina on the beach and get dinner and maybe a daiquiri. Is that sufficient enough for you, princess?”
I cock a brow at her sass, “I’m a fucking queen, and you know it. Sounds good. I just need to shower first. I’m fucking pitting here already. I thought Alabama was humid. This shit is on a whole new level.” I whine as I hold my arms up straight in the air, basking in the cool breeze that flows through my hands and my pits.
“Jesus, Charls. Do they not have deodorant in Hicksville?” she teases, pinching her nose like I’m stinking up the open-air car. Wait, do I stink? I not so discretely lean my head down to my armpit and take a whiff. Coconuts .
I pop her lightly in the arm, “Liar! I smell amazing.”
An old school ballad comes on the radio, something about how true love won’t desert you, and he still loves her even though they touched and went their separate ways.
I reach over and turn the knob up. We spend the rest of the drive singing to 80s hits at the top of our lungs.
A breathtaking facade of sleek lines and glass expanses greets us as we pull into the main campus lot. The building resembles a presidential estate more so than an institution of learning. The windows stretch toward the heavens like eager arms embracing the light. With the sun radiating across them, you know that they reflect the brilliance of day and the stars of night.
Savvy whips into a parking spot and holds down a button to close the convertible’s soft top.
Some students mill about the campus grounds, but clearly, many of its inhabitants have fled for more trendy pastures for the break.
It’s a picturesque campus. Complete with tall palms placed around the area. Students seek the slight shade they give from the unforgiving sun. A couple of frat boys toss a football back and forth, trading insults and challenges. Iced coffee is being sipped. Gossip is being spread. This is the American dream right here, in living color.
“Jesus, Savs. No wonder you got them gams on ya. This is a hike!” I whine about the trek from the parking lot to her dorm building while simultaneously giving my bestie a prop for her hot legs.
It’s like a mile longer than mine. Okay, that’s probably an exaggeration, but it’s far, and my legs are burning almost as bad as my lungs are burning from sucking in the humid air.
Florida is trying to suffocate me. I’m certain of it. Fuck you, too, Florida. Once I see Mickey and friends, you can kiss my ass with your heavy weird air.
Savvy strolls ahead of me with her athletic body, clearly not struggling nearly as much as I am with the unexpected cardio.
“What’s the rush?” I huff out between struggles for breath.
She simply turns and winks at me, “Pick up the pace, sister. We’ve got shit to do. I know you’re short, but put them little stumps in overdrive. Go, go, go!”
I flip her off but try my best to pick up the pace. The sun is frying the delicate skin of my neck. My hair has always been long enough to cover the area, so I’ve never had to worry about burning it the fuck off. Guess I’ll need to pick up some sunscreen after all.
We enter the large building, and an instant wave of cool recycled air hits my face, and I damn near faint from relief.
Eyeing a water fountain to our left, I make a beeline toward it. “Ugh, what the hell? Why does the water taste so weird? It’s like rotten eggs or maybe Swamp Thing’s nuts! Fuck, I hate this place.”
Savvy tuts at me and leads me away by the elbow like an insolent child throwing a tantrum. To be fair, that’s kind of what I am and what I’m doing. She’s never embarrassed, though. She still struts through the place with her head held high, dragging me behind her.
She stops in front of a large set of stairs that makes zig-zags upwards for what seems like forever. I glare at her in disbelief. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. There’s no elevator?” I demand, a little entitled even to my own ears. But good lord, I haven’t had this much exercise in like… ever.
“Nope. Get to it, toots.” She says as she shoves me towards the stairs and gives me a little pat on the ass for encouragement.
Four floors later, we burst through a door, and I collapsed on the floor. Panting for air. My heart is racing at dangerous levels. It’s kinda like the one time I took five caffeine pills and swallowed them down with an energy drink. I was pretty sure I was going to go into cardiac arrest that day. This is much like that.
“Are you done?” Savvy questions from behind me.
I turn my head and press my left cheek against the carpet of her hallway. Her golden sandal is right in my face, but just past that, I see a metallic rectangle.
“You are a fucking asshole.” I fume through bouts of breathlessness. That metallic rectangle is a very real and very in-service elevator. I know that because a set of students just walked off of it and are now giving me very judgy looks as I lay here fighting off the cold breath of death.
If I had any energy, I would flip them off.
Savs bends down and boops my nose, “Come, come. Things to do, remember?”
“I hate you,” I grumble as I pick up my exhausted body from the floor and begin to follow her down the never-ending hallway.
“No, you don’t. You love me.”
“Mhmm. Ask me tomorrow when I can’t fucking walk.” I lob back at her.
Undeterred by my tude, she giggles. “You trust me, right, Charls?” she asks over her shoulder as she continues walking.
“Uh-huh,” I respond.
“You trust that I always have your best interest in mind?”
“Yes. Savs. Why are you being so weird? You’re the only person in this world I can trust wholeheartedly. I know you would never do something to hurt me.”
She stops walking, and I assume we are now in front of her room. She looks at me with a soft, loving gaze. Her finger comes up to move a piece of my hair that has smashed against my sweaty forehead and was dangling in my eyes.
“I’m so glad you put it like that, Charls. Keep that in mind.”
I don’t get time to respond to her weird comment before she flings open her door and shoves me through it. I stumble and catch myself before I completely biff it.
I turn around, ready to open the door and give her a tongue lashing for shoving me, when a throat clears behind me. I slowly turn, and the stuttered breath I was already struggling for is snatched from my body.
“Hey, Sweets.”