Everyone except Alice spent the entire day looking for Heather and asking if anyone else had seen her. Alice stayed with Laurie.
After a while of awkward silence, Alice had to ask the question, “Why? Why did you do it Laurie?”
Laurie just kept staring out the window while she responded. “I don’t know. I knew I should have told her. I was just afraid she’d get mad and not want to come down here. I thought I could just wait it out and that things might go back to normal when we got back. I know she doesn’t think much of my dad, but he’s really a decent person. I just didn’t think she’d understand the position he’s in and the position that I was in.”
“She deserved an opportunity,” Alice responded, trying to keep her voice in check. “I think she’s a lot more tolerant than you think.” She sighed. “And you should know that! For crying out loud, you’re the reason she’s become more tolerant.”
“I know,” Laurie whispered. “But I fucked up. I lied to her, I humiliated her, I insulted her and then I hit her. And now she’s not here and there’s nothing I can do to stop hurting. I want my Heather back, but I don’t know how to do it.”
Alice hugged Laurie’s head. “This may be something that you can’t do anything about. This time, Heather may have to work things out on her own.”
———— —————–
That evening . . .
———— —————–
Dinner was a much more somber affair than anyone in the house could remember. No one had been able to find Heather, and the general level of intoxication amongst most other spring-breakers insured that no one else remembered seeing her. Alice had actually called a non-emergency number for the police just to inquire as to their options. Apparently Heather would have to be gone for forty-eight hours before she could be labeled as missing, and even then there wasn’t much chance of getting help unless foul play was expected. Alice wanted to call Jane or Michelle or Freddie, but she remembered that they were in Dallas for one of Jane’s checkups, so it’s unlikely that Heather would have tried to contact them. Liz called her grandfather, but he hadn’t received any word from the young woman. She had simply vanished, and it was driving them all insane.
—————— ————-
That same evening . . .
—————— ————
Heather’s head was pounding like a pair of cymbals as she leaned against the glass of a Greyhound bus window. She still wasn’t quite clear in her own head how she had gotten there. She remembered leaving the house angrier than she had ever been and just walking. She hadn’t known where she was going, as long as it was “away.” Eventually and by sheer accident, she had wound up in front of a bus station, and the solution seemed so perfectly clear. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her vacation with someone who apparently thought so little of her. So she used some of her meager resources and bought herself a ticket back home. “That’s it,” she had said to herself. “I’ll go home, spend a few days and figure out how to move on without HER!” That sentence had been stuck in her mind for almost twenty-four hours for two reasons. The first was that she had initially had problems even bringing herself to say Laurie’s name. The second reason was that the concept of moving on with her life without the blonde girl caused her serious anguish. She had been successfully fighting back tears on and off since the previous night and she had succeeded, though she wound up giving herself an extreme headache in the process. She knew deep down that she should call someone and let them know what was happening, but hadn’t had the energy earlier. She fingered a piece of paper that she carried that had everyone’s phone number on it. She would make a call at the next stop.
—————- ——-
An hour later . . .
—————- ——-
Liz, along with the entire group except Laurie, was still sitting at the kitchen table when she heard her cell phone ringing. She ran into the bedroom, hoping beyond hope. Alice had gotten the same idea as her girlfriend and had followed Liz. The elder girl picked up the phone but didn’t recognize the number that was displayed. She answered it anyway.
“Hello? Hea . . . Heather? Oh thank God,” she whispered, placing her hand over her chest as if to calm her rapid heartbeat. “Where the hell are you?” she asked. By this point, Jenny, Mike and Mary had all come into the room, having heard Liz mention their friend’s name. “Mobile? Like the gas station or . . . Alabama?!? What the fuck are you doing in Alabama?” Liz went silent as she listened to Heather for a few moments. “No . . . I . . . I just wish you had talked . . . Okay. I won’t argue with you. Just take care okay? I’ll see you on Saturday. Please take care of yourself,” Liz said tiredly as she hung up her phone. Everyone was staring at her, breathlessly awaiting the news.
“Here’s the scoop,” Liz started. “She’s on a bus heading back home. She left last night. She’s really mad and needed time away from . . .” Liz glanced up and noticed Laurie standing in the doorway. The blonde girl steeled herself against more tears and ran up the stairs to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Alice pushed her way through the crowd and followed her friend.
Laurie was sobbing again, lying face first on the bed and gripping her pillow. As Alice sat down next to the girl, she noticed something shiny on the bed. It was the locket that Heather had given to Laurie over Christmas; the one that had both their pictures inside. Getting it had made Laurie as happy as Alice had ever seen her. Alice stroked Laurie’s hair, trying to find some way of comforting the poor girl.
“I’m sure everything will be alright,” she started. “She just needs some time to cool down, that’s all.”
Laurie sniffed as she finally quelled the tears. “You didn’t see her, Alice. You didn’t see her face. I hurt her and now she hates me.”
“I don’t think she hates you,” Alice said, albeit a little unsure of that claim. “She’s just angry. When we get back on Saturday, you can talk things over with her and . . .”
“Do you think she’d actually want to talk to me?” Laurie asked. “After everything I said to her and did to her?”
“Do you want to give up then?” said Alice a little bitterly, and that bitterness made Laurie cringe. “You spend a year trying to win her, but now she isn’t worth fighting for? Do you actually THINK that she isn’t good enough anymore?”
“Of course not!” Laurie said. “I mean, I don’t think that . . . not . . . not the other part.” Laurie sighed. “Maybe I’m not good enough for her,” she muttered, picking up the locket and running her fingers over the smooth, cool surface.
“Oh bull-poop,” Alice said. “Just answer this one question. Did you actually mean to hurt her?”
“NO! I just didn’t know what to do so . . .”
“Stop,” said Alice. “If you weren’t trying to hurt her, then there’s a chance she’ll forgive you. But you’re going to have to figure out what you’re willing to do to hold on to her.” Alice realized there was no point staying mad at the blonde beauty. Laurie was probably beating herself up more than anyone else possibly could, and it was another situation where she had made a bad choice, not a malicious one. Admittedly, insulting Heather’s background and physically hitting her had probably not helped her case. Of course Heather had apparently said some things that were uncalled for, but Alice was surprised it hadn’t gotten worse. She knew Heather’s temper. “Listen,” Alice said a little more gently, “why don’t you take a shower and get some sleep. Tomorrow we can just go lie on the beach. Give Heather some time.” Then Alice closed Laurie’s hands around the locket, kissed her on the forehead and left the room.
Laurie was alone again. She knew Alice had been right, and she appreciated her friend not railing on her like she could have. But Alice really wasn’t the angry type. Heather was. And now Laurie had to find a way of appeasing the fire-breathing singer. She thought back to what Alice had told her. “What am I willing to do?” She looked around for her cell phone. When she had located it, she picked it up and hit one of her speed-dial numbers.
“Hello honey,” came the voice on the other end of the line. “It’s a little late, but what can I do for you?”
“Hi Dad,” Laurie said, summoning all the strength she could muster. “We need to talk . . .”
———— ———————-
The next day (Friday) . . .
———— ———————-
Things, albeit quietly, made a slow start at returning to normal the next day. It was generally agreed upon that people should go out and try to enjoy their single remaining day in Fort Lauderdale. They all spent time on the beach, including Liz getting involved in a pick-up volleyball game, where Alice got to watch her lover kick some serious ass. They all got invited to a big BBQ bash down the beach complete with large amounts of alcohol, and they all accepted. Even Laurie took her first step outside since Wednesday night, though she showed little interest in going further than the front porch. She just sat on the old porch swing, wearing a conservative outfit, at least it was conservative for Laurie, and let the sun warm her skin. She had mostly recovered from her series of crying fits. Alice was almost annoyed at how good she still looked. If anyone BUT Laurie had cried that much, they would look like a wreck. But Laurie was beautiful no matter what she did.
At one point, Jenny wandered up and had a seat beside Laurie on the swing.
“Hey,” Laurie said absently.
Jenny looked like she was trying to think of how to phrase something. Without any warning, she hugged Laurie, patted her back as she did so.
Laurie was confused but strangely comforted. “What was that for?”
“I’ve been wanting to tell you guys something for like the longest time,” Jenny said. “I’m really happy you and Heather and Alice let me be a part of all this.”
“A part of what?”
“Everything!” said Jenny excitedly, then blushed a little. “My whole life, I was never part of the ‘in’ crowd. I can’t complain. I mean, I always had like friends and stuff, but never the really good friends. You know, the ones you’re still talking to years and decades after you graduate? Those kind of friends. My life was just kind of like . . . well, medium. Then you guys came back from the ranch and you had changed so much. It was like you weren’t a group of people anymore. You were like . . . like a power! I could tell that you three were going to turn into something special. When Heather walked into the restaurant that one time and asked for my help . . . well, I realized then that I had like an opportunity to be part of whatever it was y’all were becoming. I got to be part of the group that the other groups were always talking about. I got to be in the band rather than in the audience. After hearing about what happened on the ranch and what you and Heather were always doing . . . after that, Mike and I started having better sex.” This caused Jenny to blush outrageously. “The kind that you normally hear OTHER people whispering about. I got to come to spring break instead of just hearing about it. And I know it’s like kind of selfish, but I don’t want it to be over.”