Plum took a deep breath. Then she took another.
“We’re not going to miss the boat,” she said. Plum stuck her lower lip out and puffed, blowing her brown-red fringe off her forehead.
“We’ll be fine,” Marlowe said, backing her up. “And if we missed it, we’d just get a hotel.”
“We don’t have enough money for that!” Sofia said.
“We’d use the credit card.” Plum glanced at Marlowe’s phone. How far away was the driver, anyway?
“I told you that’s for emergencies only!” Sofia actually stamped her foot.
“Well, it would be an emergency, though?” Plum mumbled.
“I should never have let you two talk me into this.” Sofia crossed her arms over her stomach. “I always go along. Why? Why do I do that?”
A tiny needle of guilt poked Plum in the guts. She glanced at Marlowe.
“We’re going to be fine.” Marlowe put an arm around their petite friend. “We’re going to have a great time.”
“So help me, Marlowe,” Sofia warned. She was truly exasperated.
“I’m sorry, I know you’re feeling stressed,” Plum began, then she adopted Marlowe’s supportive tone. “But I’m sure the boat is going to wait for us. As far as they’re concerned, we’re the big fish! Peach Winter.”
“I’m going to get into so much trouble,” Sofia moaned, pushing her hands into her long, wavy hair.
“No, we are not,” Marlowe said. “We’ve thought of everything.”
“Like you’d even get grounded,” Sofia mumbled. “If we get caught.”
Marlowe shook her head. “No, it’d be worse than that. I’d get Disappointed Looks until I provided a grandchild. I don’t even know if I want kids! And in the interim, I’d be flayed with deep sighs, articles emailed to me about various dangers and tragic ends that could have been me. Worst of all, I’d lose my parents’ trust.”
Were Marlowe’s eyes actually glittering with tears at the thought? She took a deep breath. “But we’re not going to get caught. It’s like a rite of passage, and we’re going to pass it. We’ve thought of everything. We’re going to stick together. We are going to have a good time.”
Plum had to hand it to her: even though Marlowe hadn’t really been enthusiastic about the plan initially, she was completely on board now.
It was risky. It was exhilarating.
It was also—probably—completely safe. As long as they took care of each other.
Their parents all thought they were at the beach. That was the story: they’d found an affordable Airbnb in Vero Beach, Florida, and said they wanted to go together for one big spring break. They hadn’t mentioned the festival, or the Caribbean island, or any of that, because it would have been an automatic no. At least from Sofia’s parents.
The secret plan had been to skip Vero Beach and instead stop in Orlando to catch their flight to Saint Vitus. It was only three days and two nights, so they’d leave Marlowe’s car at airport parking.
Of course, when trying to convince their parents, the friends had simply talked about spending time together, that it would be a magical, last-minute, senior-year, spring break opportunity. Before they graduated and separated and went out into the wide world.
They hadn’t spared their parents the “halcyon filter,” as Marlowe put it.
All Plum’s parents had needed to hear was that Sofia and Marlowe were going, and they said okay. And Marlowe’s parents simply agreed with whatever she wanted anyway.
Maybe it was a part of that trust thing.
Sofia’s parents nearly ruined the whole adventure. Fortunately, Sofia’s older sister, Krystal, had agreed to lie for them. Krystal and her college roommate Emma would actually be staying at the “cover” Airbnb Plum had found in Vero Beach, so they’d be there if anything happened. All Krystal had asked for in return was that the girls give her their festival swag bags.
Truthfully, Krystal was more pumped up about Sofia’s “once-in-a-lifetime chance” to attend something like this than her little sister was. But it was reassuring to all of them, Sofia most of all, that at least someone knew their true plan and would be waiting to hear that they’d arrived safely.
Even with all these precautions, Sofia was still a mess of nerves. Hopefully she would be able to get over this hump. They were supposed to have a good time.
It hadn’t felt great to lie, but they were almost out the door to college, independent, or whatever was next. They were supposed to be free.
Plum dreamed that “what’s next” for her could be running off to a big city and “making it,” or working her way across a different continent like Australians all seemed to, or even just going to visit Peach in her new LA digs and getting discovered. Or going to college, starting an amazing band, anything along the lines of green, growy things awakening.
Anyway, as far as Pyre Festival was concerned, it was only three days and two nights. They were all about to leave their nests, anyway. Wasn’t it time to prove they could make it on their own?
“The universe wants us to have this,” Plum said. “You said that. Remember, Sofia? When we traded the voucher for the first class ticket and got three in coach?”
Marlowe turned her crooked smile from Sofia to Plum, nodding her head at the memory.
Plum’s stomach did a flippy thing, which happened sometimes but not in a really long time, at least not with Marlowe.
But just look at her.
Plum had to stop herself looking too much sometimes.
“What?” Marlowe asked Plum. Marlowe lowered her sunglasses again, peering over the frames at her friend.
“Nothing,” Plum said, feeling a matching crooked smile pull across her mouth. “Just, do you even sweat?”
Marlowe snorted. “Trust me, I’m sweating.”
Plum was not in love with her best friend. Plum was smarter than that and wasn’t going to eat her heart out, just because she kind of maybe probably could like her best friend romantically, if she let herself, but she wasn’t going to let herself, because her best friend definitely would not reciprocate the potential emotion. Because Marlowe didn’t like girls that way.
And neither did Sofia for that matter, and that had never been a problem for Plum, either. Mostly.
Sofia and Marlowe knew Plum was bisexual, and that for her that meant she was attracted to the person, not their gender. But to Plum it was sort of a moot point, because at least in Huntington, she didn’t date.
Which was fine, and certainly for many people their preferred way of life. But Plum couldn’t help but feel a certain romantic longing, and not just when she looked at Marlowe.
It wasn’t as if Plum hadn’t had a few flings here and there. (Okay, two. It was just two flings. The first a boy and the second a girl, both summer romances at performing-arts camp exactly one year apart from each other.)
Meanwhile Marlowe had had a steady boyfriend last year, the Danish exchange student, Lars, as broody and intense as Hamlet himself and just as gorgeous as Marlowe. He’d returned to Denmark, so they’d broken up rather than try long-distance.
Sofia was still dating and crazy in love with her boyfriend, Louis. They’d been together since tenth grade.
Plum forced her eyes off Marlowe, again, and looked out for their ride. Everything was going to be fine. Better than fine. It was going to be perfect. It was going to be #LivingTheDream! And #Goals! And #LivingMyBestLife!
It was going to change her life. Plum was certain.