Page 1 of Heat Haze
CHAPTER ONE
It’s fucking hot in Texas.
I could barely get by some days in Los Angeles, but this place has me contemplating throwing my head out the car window like some kind of dog. According to Frank, the air conditioning ‘consumes too much gas’ and we ‘aren’t allowed to use it.’
“I’m gonna die, dude.” Levi’s voice calls from the back seat, accompanied by the most dramatic groan in history. “Can wepleasestop at the next gas station? I wanna buy the biggest bottle of water I can find.”
Catching a glimpse of myself in the wing mirror makes me cringe. My wavy black hair is completely frizzed up, my tanned skin all dewy thanks to the copious amounts of sweat constantly running down my forehead. I pat the stray strands to try and push them down to no avail, sighing.
First and last time I let my friends convince me a road trip in the south to ‘see new sights’ was anything but a horrible idea. It’s scorching outside, the car is sticky and smells horrible, and we’re all two seconds away from killing each other.
Frank visibly stiffens next to me, his grip on the wheel tightening. Iswearhis tired mossy-green eyes darken just a little. “If I stop, will you shut the hell up about it? You’ve been asking for an hour.”
“I’ve wanted water for an hour,” Levi challenges. His arms are crossed, the baggy green tank top he has on puffing up at the bottom. “Are you gonna stop or not, Frank? Look—there’s one coming up.”
He points to a sign, and sure enough a gas station is coming up anytime now. A huff leaves Frank’s lips but he doesn’t say no. His fingers pinch the front of his white t-shirt, pulling it forward and back to fan himself off.
“Fine. We can stop. Get what you need, because wearen’tstopping again.”
“You’resomiserable,” Nadine laughs. She’s sat next to Levi in the back, her orangey-red hair somehow significantly better than mine despite the fact hers is naturally more curly. “It’s supposed to be a fun road trip. We’re not on a schedule or anything.”
“Don’t get him started, Nade,” Grant mutters, finally looking up from the window. “I’ve had to hear him scream and cry about how dangerous it is out here for the past week.”
“Then why the hell did we come?” Nadine is quick to retort, clearly unamused. “We could’ve just gone to the grand canyon or some stupid shit.”
“He’s probably hoping something happens so he can talk about it on his podcast.” Levi’s joke causes the others to laugh, but it’s clear to me that Frank is about to snap.
“It’s nice out here. It’s different… Not like home at all.” Despite my best efforts to think up another excuse, I just can’t. Texas isn’t bad, of course, it’s just not for me. “Plus he already said we could stop. So just… cut him some slack, okay?”
I immediately hear them making fun of me in the back, mimicking what I said in stupidly obnoxious voices. Whatever. Better me than Frank, since I’m not the one driving and won’t intentionally crash the vehicle into a sign thanks to yet another fit of anger.
EvenifNadine swears that only ‘happened once’ and he was ‘upset’ I’d really rather not take the chance. With all five of us piled into this portable oven I really would prefer things to go as smoothly as possible.
The aforementioned gas station finally creeps into view, and the car goes quiet as Frank slows down. He steers right, pulling up into one of the few gas pumps. The entire lot is empty, with only one other car parked off to the side. I’ve never been good with cars but it definitely seems like an older one, covered in a thick layer of dirt and grime.
It’s an older building too, small and made of wood with chipping beige paint that probably hasn’t been maintained in who knows how long. A neon ‘open’ sign is hanging in the one glass window, the letters flickering—threatening to die any minute. The rusting tin canopy casts the front of the store in shadow, the door propped open to let people know it’s okay to come in.
I’m not entirely sure I even want to.
“This place is scary,” Grant mumbles. He steps out of the car, squinting thanks to the sun beating down on him. There isn’t a cloud in the sky, just a vibrant blue. It’s nice.Different. “And you’re sure there isn’t like, another gas station somewhere… or…?”
“Grant.” Frank’s voice is low, almost like a warning. Grant just nods with raised eyebrows. He exhales sharply, running a hand through his brown hair while he waits for his girlfriend to step out.
Once she’s out the two disappear into the building, with Grant’s hand slowly snaking up the bare skin of her back. The white halter top she has on barely covers anything, and I say that in the best way because she’s stunning in it.
The last thing I wanna do is stick around and watch Levi and Frank argue some more, so I quickly follow suit. It’sslightlycooler inside the building, and the man behind the wooden counter isn’t the scary country stereotype I was expecting. He’s the opposite, really.
A charming smile with a red flannel shirt that’s unbuttoned at the top. Dark denim jeans and a flashy belt to follow. “Welcome in,” he says as I step inside. He takes one look at me before chuckling. His ocean eyes sparkle with intrigue. “Y’all… aren’t from around here, huh?”
My cheeks go hot. Not even two steps inside the damn building and he’s already clocked me as an outsider. I even tried putting on my cutest Texas outfit today: ripped denim shorts and a loose-fitting white button up. “It’s that obvious, huh?”
“Just a bit.” His smile doesn’t fade, watching me wander through the aisles with the grace of a headless chicken. “But it ain’t a bad thing. Nice to see some fresh faces every now n’ then. Name’s Kane.”
“Nico,” I mumble as I step inside properly. The yellowing linoleum underneath my feet is sticky, like someone spilled soda a coupledecadesback and never cleaned it up. The few overhead lights swung around in metal bowls, dimly lighting up the entire store. My attention wanders over to a deer head mounted on the wall, with a wooden brown door underneath it that reads ‘bathroom.’
The shelves aren’t like the ones at home. Instead of thin metal wires holding up cardboard boxes it’s just dusty wooden shelves that could seemingly topple over at the slightest touch. I grab a little bag of chocolate chip cookies from the rickety shelf and then three bottles of water from the old fridge near the back, ignoring how loudly the thingis humming. One for me, one for Frank, and one for Levi. Those two are nowhere to be seen, although if I had to guess they’re probably ‘making up’ in the car.
I take it all back to the counter, before two thin arms wrap around my waist. When I catch a peek of red hair in the corner of my eye I immediately know who it is. Nadine smiles at the man, sliding her own drinks—water and a hard lemonade—across the counter.
