Page 2 of Heat Haze
“Howdy!” She sings, and the stench of alcohol hits me in the face like a brick. I stifle a reaction, just smiling back at her. She slaps down a ten dollar bill and presses her cheek against mine.
Kane says nothing at first, reaching out and grabbing the items on the counter. “So where y’all from?” His tone is casual, the scanner beeping with every item he rings up.
“L.A.,” Nadine answers, pulling off me to cozy up to Grant when he approaches. Her hand rests flat on his chest, and the ghost of a smile appears on his lips as he kisses her head. With lips drawn so tight I can tell she’s really holding back some comment about Frank, probably something about how it’s all his fault we’re in the middle of nowhere and so on.
“That’s a little far, ain’t it?” Kane asks, brows raising slightly. He takes the money from my hand, hitting the register so it pops open with a little ring. “Out here… it ain’t like there. You oughta be a little careful, you know?”
Grant’s face lights up at that, curiously peering over as he takes the water off the counter. “Oh yeah? Why? What’s out here? Alligators? Scorpions?” It’s clear he’s not taking the man’s warning seriously, but Kane doesn’t seem nearly as amused.
“It ain’t the wildlife you gotta worry ‘bout.” His voice lowers, like he’s telling some sort of scary story. “It’s the people.”
CHAPTER TWO
“It’s ain’t the wildlife,” Grant repeats in a horrible southern accent, climbing into Frank’s car. Levi has taken my spot in the front seat, and from the way his hair is disheveled he and Frank must haveworked outtheir issues—at least for now. “It’s the people.”
Nadine laughs like it’s the funniest thing in the world, even though the whole thing left me sort of unsettled. Kane’s face when he said it didn’t exactly scream ‘joke,’ but my friends could clearly care less about that.
“There’s no way he actually said that.” Frank groans, starting up the car as the engine roars to life. It’s loud, maybe a little louder than it should be. “Dude was just trying to scare you guys into buying some pepper spray or something.”
Levi shakes his head in agreement. “Probably… or maybe he was trying to scare his way into a certain someone’s pants…” His dark brown eyes flicker over to me, and I groan in response.
“It wasn’t like that at all,” I huff. “Drink your water and shut up, Levi. You weren’t even there.”
“Yeah, Levi.” Nadine adds with a grin.
“I’m just saying! Maybe he thought you were cute. It’s not like you’re dating anyone, Nico.” Levi blinks, head tilting curiously. “You know… Have youeverdated anyone? We’ve been friends for what—two years? You’ve never…”
Frank puts a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Lev, c’mon...”
Levi’s right, but it feels weird to hear it said out loud. “It’s just… not what I’m looking for. I don’t know.” A familiar feeling of emptiness builds in my chest. Like some kind of pressure I can’t rid myself of.
Love is… strange. It’s confusing, and scary. It’s even scarier when you’ve been around for twenty-six years and haven’t even held hands with a guy. I’ve basically sealed away that part of myself, and I guess that makes me weird.
“Nico will find a guy when he’s ready,” Frank says, focused on the road. We’re back into nothingness, a dark tarmac road surrounded by nothing but tawny sand and misshapen boulders. It’s sort of beautiful in its own way, although I doubt anyone else in the car feels the same way right now.
Nadine lets out a hum of approval, nudging me slightly. “Yeah. So leave him alone. When he gets a boyfriend we’ll probably never see him again.”
Grant laughs, glancing down at his girlfriend with a confused expression on his face. “Why do you say that?”
His nose crinkles a little, but Nadine beams at him. “Because he issostinking cute that anyone with a brain will keep him all to themselves.”
I whine at that, wishing I could throw myself out of the car. She says it like it’s true—like people didn’t tease me for how I looked all my life. Like I wasn’t mortified at the idea of going outside in anything but baggy hoodies to hide my stomach.
I know she’s saying it with love but good god it’s embarrassing, and it’s not even true anyway. You can lose the weight but you can’t lose the years of mental baggage that came with it.
“Can we talk about something else, please?” My voice is quieter than intended. I sort of sound pathetic but hey, if it gets them off my back it’s not the end of the world.
“Okayyyy, sorry,” Levi says, offering up a smile before he turns his attention to the road. He glances down at the paper map Frank insisted we bring, before crumpling it up and setting it aside.
I shut my eyes and focus on the music playing through my earbuds. I don’t really know how much time has passed until I hear Levi speak again. “Frank, sweetheart… I don’t wanna be annoying, but… How much longer?”
Frank’s attention shifts to his phone. “Uh… An hour and a half? Two hours? …Maybe three?” Levi’s shoulders drop at that, but he doesn’t say anything else. He just shrinks into his seat, boredly scrolling through his photos app.
Obviously there’s no service out here. Frank made sure to download five different maps on different apps, and brought the paper one just in case. It’s smart. It’s good to be prepared, and for all the crap everyone’s been giving him about the trip at least he did everything right.
“You know,” Nadine hums, “that guy didn’t even ask me for my ID at the gas station.” She giggles after, taking a sip of her lemonade. Condensation drips from the side, reminding me of how thirsty I was two minutes ago
“That’s how you know we’re literally in the middle of nowhere,” Grant adds while wrapping an arm around her. “Or maybe you just look really old, babe.”
