JuneBug grabs my hand and a hotel key and we’re out the door. She tears down the hallway to the elevator and drags me behind her. “Sheesh JuneBug! Where’s the fire?”
She giggles. “If I’m lucky, it’s still sitting in the hotel lobby. Did you see those two hotties? Come on! Maybe they will go to the rooftop dance with us tonight.”
“Wait. What? Rooftop dance? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you follow anything? Like, as soon as I knew where we were headed, I started following the hotel on Twitter. There’s a teen dance going on tonight on the roof. Live music and everything! “Super Sonic Technos and The Alley Cats” are playing tonight!”
I’m totally confused. “What, there’s like a concert going on then?”
“Yes! And it starts at midnight and goes ‘til 2:00 a.m. You gotta get me to a coffee stand like now.” She leans in. “But first let me work my magic on the hotties. We need concert tickets.”
I come to a screeching halt. “What makes you think you can get these guys to buy you two tickets?”
She giggles. “Hey. I know a sucker when I see one. The one guy was really giving me the eye.”
My stomach churns at the thought of conning someone or owing anything to a perfect stranger. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, JuneBug.” We walk along. I stick a hand in my pocket and pull out my cash. “How much is this concert?”
JuneBug hems and haws around. “It’s like forty dollars each. I didn’t bring that kind of cash-ola, but I bet those guys have it. Did you see the one’s fancy boots?”
I shake my head. “No.”
She grabs my arm. “Well, I did.” She rolls her eyes. “I’ve got a job, you know; but my stepdad is like super strict and takes most of my money and puts it in my college fund, which I’m not allowed to touch until I graduate.”
“That’s alright. I got it,” I say as I fan out my cash. “Now you don’t have to rip off a complete stranger.”
JuneBug’s eyes pop. “Whoa, girl. You roll like this all the time? You must be hella rich.”
I choke a little. “No. I don’t roll like this. I happened to get tips from a bunch of nice, elderly ladies this morning. Right place, right time, I guess.
Anyway, now we can go to the concert, right?” JuneBug snatches two twenties and stuffs them in her pocket. I stare at her. “You’re welcome.”
She looks a little embarrassed. “Thanks,” she mutters.
I bump into her. “No problem. That’s what friends are for, right?”
I glance down the hallway behind her. “Hotties comin’ up behind ya.”
Her posture shoots up straighter than I’ve ever seen. Hilarious. She turns slower than a turtle in a revolving door as she side-eyes them and gives a little nod, all the while managing to look like an Ice Queen as thy strut by. Respect. I mean, don’t get me wrong, these boys are F-I-N-E but they’re nothing compared to my Mudpie Mojo. The guys slow their walk, turn around, and come back. The one eyes JuneBug.
“What’s up?”
She shoots him a 100-watt smile. “Not much, just in town for the rooftop show.” Boy, the girl can B.S.
“Oh yeah. Us too. Thought we’d catch some cool tunes tonight. I’m Chad and this is my brother Ty.” I gotta admit their Southern accents and country boy attitudes are pretty adorable. Throw a cowboy hat in there and they’d be straight out of the Hannah Montana Movie.
“I’m JuneBug and this is Katie.” I throw my hand out because I’m nervous. Before I know it, I’m shaking the heck out of the guy’s hand.
“Dang, Katie, you got a helluva grip.” I stop.
“Oh, sorry. I, um, play basketball.” And the hole of awkwardness grows. Just give me two shovels why don’t ya.
JuneBug is talking to me, but I can’t hear because I’m so deep down in the ground. “Can’t talk now, JuneBug, I’m too busy digging a hole.”
“Why are you digging?”
“I don’t rightly know. All I know is I can’t seem to stop! Smack.
“What’s that now?”
“Katie. I said Katie, aren’t we going to the concert soon?”
“Oh yeah, just gotta go talk to my…” She elbows me again, cutting off my air. I’m going to have bruised ribs tomorrow. “I mean, I forgot something in the room so we gotta go up and get it.” She looks at me all imploringly. “Um, I suppose I’ll just go get it and be right back?”
She’s all smiles again. I take the room key from her and rush to the elevator. I get to the room and mom is almost sound asleep. “Tread carefully, Big Fry, tread carefully,” I self-whisper. I tiptoe to the side of her bed. “Mom?
There’slikethisreallycoolconcertgoingontonightandIhavemoneyfromtheoldladiesthismorningandJuneBugandIreallyreallywanttogo…socanwepleasepleasewithacherryontopgo?”
Mom sits up, holding her head. “I’ll pretend I understood your never-ending run-on sentence. Let me get this straight. There’s a concert tonight?”
“Yes.”
“And it’s in this hotel?”
“Yes.”
“And you want to go?”
“Yes.”
“And you have money”
“Yes.”
“Recite the four No’s.”
I groan. “No alcohol. No drugs. No sex. No drinking a drink I did not pour myself.”
Mom levels me with the 100-yard death stare. “You will be responsible?”
“Yes.”
“Well, okay. But I expect you to return as soon as the concert is over. No noise in this room until 8:00 a.m. tomorrow. No grinching about anything tomorrow because you are sleep deprived. And you will not sleep all the way home tomorrow. You’re my driving buddy.”
“Okay. Can I go now?”
“Yes.”
The concert starts in less than an hour so I run for the door!
Back in the lobby, JuneBug and the boys sit in oversized chairs with their feet propped up. I take a quick sneak shot with my phone and walk over.