The desert stretched off away from the road for miles, dotted with wind-twisted trunks of trees that had long since given up the ghost. A hot wind swept over the arid landscape, blowing up sand that stung Ari’s eyes. It was a convenient way to explain away the tears of frustration that welled up as she squeezed them shut before turning back to the sunbaked highway, their rusted out Jeep lifeless in the breakdown lane.
Jerry had popped the hood, but he had no fucking idea what he was doing under there, so it wasn’t going to do any good. Ari checked her cell phone for the dozenth time, as if reception would magically appear to get them out of this absolute disaster of a situation.
Mitch had tried to warn her.
Mitch, with infuriatingly reasonable stances on everything. Mitch was steady, safe.
He was also boring as hell.
So Ari had broken it off with him and agreed to this whirlwind road trip with Jerry, crossing the country from their tiny hometown in New Hampshire to San Diego. Jerry was everything Mitch wasn’t. Spontaneous, fun. Every day with him was an adventure.
But as they crossed the southwest, there were more and more misadventures along the way.
The motel they’d crashed at three nights ago in Texas had roaches in the bathroom, and the one before that, mold around the air conditioner that barely wheezed out any cold air in the thick heat of Louisiana in July. And now they were stuck on the side of the road in the desert somewhere outside Albuquerque, unsure when or if anyone else would come through and bail them out. Because there was no way in hell that Jerry was getting that shitbox going again on his own.
Ari sat down in the dust on the side of the road, drawing her knees to her chest while Jerry huffed and swore a few feet away.
“I can’t believe this fucking thing,” Jerry said before slamming his hand down on the bumper.
Ari could say the same about him.
Jerry had left town the minute he could, taking off for California just three days after they’d graduated high school. He and Ari had been a thing back junior year, when he was the best looking guy in their class and the star of the football team. Ari felt like she was living out some teenage movie fantasy. But she’d dumped him after he got so drunk at prom, he couldn’t even take her home.
Mitch picked her up instead.
Three years later, Jerry blew back into town on a wave of promises and bluster, and Ari believed him. Tired of waiting tables between semesters and waiting for her life to feel more like something she was living rather than just getting through, she bought everything Jerry was selling. So off she went, leaving a heart broken Mitch in her wake. He was the son of the wealthiest family in town, she reasoned. He’d end up doing just fine without her.
She wasn’t so sure she’d be able to stay the same.
Eventually, a pickup drove by, rolling to a stop next to them. “Need a hand?” the kid in the passenger’s seat asked.
“Please!” Ari said, jumping to her feet, before Jerry’s ego would turn down the only offer of assistance they’d had in hours.
Both he and the driver got out of the car. They couldn’t have been more than seventeen, both with jet black hair and dusty sneakers.
“Don’t know what’s wrong with the damn thing,” Jerry mumbled as they looked under the hood.
“I think you’re just out of gas, man,” the first boy said. “We’ve got some in the back of the truck, it’s a long way between stations out here.”
“Thank you,” Ari said, shooting daggers at Jerry. How fucking stupid could he be? He didn’t say anything, avoiding looking her way completely as the boys grabbed their gas can from their truck bed.
She’d barely spoken another word to Jerry the rest of the day. By the time they checked into another cheap ass motel that night, Ari’s phone was completely dead from searching for a signal all day through the desolate stretches of desert highway. While Jerry took slugs of Jack straight from a bottle, she plugged her charger into the wall in the bathroom and walked straight out past Jerry to the convenience store several doors down. As she sat in the parking lot having Takis and Diet Coke for dinner, she had to admit this whole thing had been a giant mistake.
Ari dragged herself back to the room, once again not acknowledging Jerry as he called her name and passed by to the bathroom. She sat on the edge of the tub, ancient mildew clinging to the corners, and picked up her phone, now halfway back to life.
Scrolling through her contacts, she selected a number and hit call. The phone rang once, twice.
Like always, Mitch picked up before the third ring.
Unlike always, an unfamiliar woman’s voice came through the line. “Hello?”
Ari nearly dropped her phone in shock. That definitely wasn’t his mom, the only other woman who had any reason to pick up his phone.
Unless…
When she recovered, she hung up as fast as she could. Mitch with a new girl? Already? Sure, he was handsome and wealthy.
But he was hers.
Always had been. Since they were kids, he’d idolized her, chased her, wanted her to love him.
And eventually, she did.
Now she’d let that slip away, too, like the sand on the desert wind.
Ari looked up at the ceiling, with a soft spot of water damage in the corner that looked like it could crumble at any moment. She closed her eyes for a moment, before she settled down on the worn out linoleum floor, waiting for Jerry to pass out in the next room.
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