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Bea opened an eye as dawn shone in through Mae's window, but differently than it did in her room. Mae was sleeping on her back, the covers thrown back and with one arm and one leg dangling over the edge of the bed. Probably due to Bea's presence in the far-too-small bed. Somehow, what her friend lacked in modesty she made up for in raw innocence. Bea didn't want to hurt her, though probably she would have to in the end. Yet as attractive as her friend was, she couldn't help but remember Casey and how she'd felt with him.

She'd come to a conclusion though after Casey. Even if a relationship was doomed to failure, that wasn't a good enough reason not to have that relationship. She'd learned a lot from Casey, and she was already learning a lot from Mae. And who could predict the future anyway?

She reached out and touched her friend in a most inappropriate place.

Mae smiled and opened her eyes.

“Hey Bea," she croaked. “Good morning."

“Good morning Mae. You still going with me to the bank this morning?"

“Sure. Just… give me a few minutes okay? We stayed up pretty late last night."

“No problem Mae. Tell you what, I've got to go home and get the check anyway. Why don't you meet me at the car behind the Pickaxe in about an hour. THat'll give me time to clean up and change too."

“Mmm" Mae murmured, closing her eyes again with a smile on her face.

Bea climbed over her and pulled her dress over herself, strapping up her boots and stuffing her underwear into her bag without bothering with it. She really needed to get a new outfit, she thought. This was pretty dated for a new college freshman.

She crept out of Mae's silent house and out of the door, heading back to her apartment. The sun was still fresh on the horizon and dew sparkled on the grass of the houses. She'd never noticed that before - not since she'd been little. There was a bit of a chill in the air from the night still, and it made her wish she'd put her bra back on after all. But nearly no one was out at this hour on a Saturday morning, and she made it back into her apartment without getting any embarrassing stares from the few people she did see.

She bathed and dressed quickly, put the check in her bag, and headed out without waking her dad. Then she went to her car and waited.

And waited…

She looked at the clock on the dashboard. It was already nine am. Gregg and Angus would meet at the car at ten. She sighed and got out. Mae had overslept obviously. She walked back to the Borowski house and rang the doorbell. A few minutes later, Mae appeared, her eyes as big as saucers.

“Sorry Bea! Sorry sorry sorry!" she said at the door. “I'll take the fastest shower ever! Wait for me?"

“Sure," Bea said, but vaguely annoyed.

To be fair, Mae did make good time, but as they walked back to the car, Bea knew she wouldn't have time to go to the bank. But with Mae's incessant apologizing, she couldn't make a big deal out of it. The bank would have to wait till Monday.

They'd just gotten back to the car when Gregg and Angus showed up with suitcases in tow.

“We'd better get moving," Angus said as they stowed the luggage into the trunk. “We're supposed to meet Gregg's cousin by three so we have time to check out the apartment."

“Shouldn't be any problem," Bea assured him.

They stopped at a gas station near the interstate, and Angus paid for a whole tank, which Bea was grateful for. Gregg and Mae came out of the store with arms full of bad snacks and drinks - which Bea couldn't help but consider probably cost more than the gas.

“Gregg!" Bea admonished him as they got back into the car. “You work at the Snack Falcon. Don't you get sick of that stuff? What have you got there anyway?"

“But Bea," Mae interrupted in defense of her friend, “It's a road trip! You gotta have junk food when you're on a road trip!"

“There will be no vomiting in my car this time. You hear me? You feel sick, you tell me and I'll pull over!"

But Gregg and Mae were playing catch-the-cheese-fish-in-your-mouth between the front and back seat already and didn't pay her any attention.

“Angus?"

“I'll let you know when to pull over," he smiled back at her.

She did accept a few sour gummy worms though on the way though.

But the day was getting hotter, and the air conditioner was broken. Bea pulled over and the boys shed their shirts. Mae convinced her to take off her boots and dress, but fortunately she'd anticipated something like this happening and her underwear was pretty much indistinguishable from a bikini.

“Oh my god, Bea! That's adorable!!!" Mae said after she'd pulled her dress over her head.

“What?"

“You have a little ankh on your bottoms!"

Bea looked down, rather proud of that little touch.

“Got it online. Hard to find things like this anymore. The ankh-fad is well and truly over."

“Lemme see!" Gregg cried.

As awkward as it was, she turned enough to let him see the white ankh on the front of her panties.

“That's awesome Bea! You are the Ankh-Goddess!"

“Aw, thanks Gregg. Now let's get going before we get too late."

The miles ticked by, and by the time they got halfway to Bright Harbor Gregg and Mae had exhausted all sources of entertainment that could be had without risk to life or limb, and had worried Bea when they began discussing those that did.

“Mae, I didn't even protest when you and Gregg started mooning passing truckers, but I swear if you try and stick anything out of the window I'm going to stop right now!"

“We got them to honk their horns though!"

“You're going to wash those windows after we drop off Gregg and Angus you know."

“I already did, Bea," Angus said in his best stoic voice. “I always carry wet-wipes."

“Oh that's just gross," Bea said, but there was a note of levity in her voice too. It was a little bit fun to have the whole gang together again - so long as no one got permanently maimed.

And then they topped the last hill before the whole vista of Bright Harbor came into view. Even Bea had to admit that the city was beautiful, with the sun shining off the bay waters beyond.

“Wow. No wonder you want to move here," Mae said.

“You've never been here before?" Gregg asked.

“Not since I was little. I remember the beach though."

“I remember the beach too," Bea remarked. “Bunch of tight-bodied roller skaters as I recall."

“Yeah," Angus and Gregg said in dreamy unison.

They followed Gregg's directions and stopped outside of Gregg's cousin's house.

“Hi Jen!" Gregg said when she came out, introducing Angus, Mae and Bea."

“Wow! You guys just come from the beach?"

“Na. Bea's air conditioner doesn't work."

“Ah… I guess that explains Angus' tighty-whiteys. Well, get your stuff out and get your pants back on. I'll take you over there now. Thanks for bringing them Bea!"

“No problem. You're taking them back tomorrow, right?"

“Yup. Going to a party tonight though, so it might be kinda late."

Bea instantly looked at Mae, whose eyes had lit up at the word 'party'.

Bea looked back at Gregg's cousin.

“Oh! You're certainly welcome if you want to come! Beach party with some friends down at the pier. But don't you have to get back tonight?"

Bea thought about it, but Mae's pleading eyes made her decision.

“Okay, but we still have to drive back tonight, Mae. I won't be drinking. And we can't stay past ten."

“YAYYYY!" Gregg exclaimed and Mae joined in, though when Angus started flapping his arms, it just looked weird.

“Alright, you guys go check out the apartment. Me and Mae will explore the town a little. Meet you back here around… when, seven?

Jen nodded. “Perfect. See you then!"