July 30th

“So Paige’s parents are flying all of us out there with them. Her little brother’s staying with an aunt so that we won’t have to watch him. Can you believe that? A whole week in Hawaii!” LeeAnne squealed despite herself.

“That’s great, honey,” her dad’s voice came from over the phone. “When are you guys leaving?”

“First thing in the morning.”

“Well, I hope you have a nice time, sweetie. Glad you got your money in time for the trip. Thanks for calling me.”

“No problem. Bye, Dad.”

“Bye, Lee.”

LeeAnne got off the phone with her father. She turned to see her brother Bryan looking at the check on the table.

“So Dad sent you some money for my birthday?” Bryan grinned. “How convenient. Extra spending money for the Hawaiian princess.”

LeeAnne nodded, rolling her eyes. Their dad always mixed up their birthdays – in May, Bryan had gotten a check on Lee’s birthday. Today, she received a check on Bryan’s. If she wasn’t going on this vacation tomorrow, it might have upset her. “I guess we should be glad he bothers at all,” LeeAnne said. She was grinning too though.

Bryan put a hand on his sister’s shoulder briefly. “It’s the thought that counts, right? You’re gonna have a great time this week, I wouldn’t even stress over it.”

“I won’t.” LeeAnne picked up the check and folded it carefully. She made a mental note to go cash it later. “I better finish packing.” Lee looked at Bryan and then threw her arms around him. “Happy birthday. I’ll miss you.”

Bryan hugged her back. They were pretty close, as far as brothers and sisters went. They might fight some times, but he was going to miss her as well. “Don’t get mushy,” he told her. “Have a blast.”

“Okay.” LeeAnne smiled and headed towards the stairs, visions of suitcases filling her mind.

---

“I still think it’s too bad you’re not coming with us,” Arizona told Dallas. “It would be a lot of fun.”

Dallas grinned. He and Arizona had been over this at least twenty times in as many days. “You know I can’t just take a week off of work like that, though.”

She pouted. “I know. I just wish you were coming.”

The two of them were sitting in The Bean Scene downtown, the coffee shop that Dallas had brought her to the first time they hung out. It was now a common hangout for the pair – if Dallas didn’t hop the bus over to The Gang’s collective neighborhood, Arizona would meet him here after work. He got off earlier than usual today, and Arizona was excited at the prospect of spending some alone time with him before the trip. Not that she didn’t love it when it was Dallas and all of The Gang together – but the part of her that still had a small crush on Dallas craved the one-on-one attention.

Dallas took a sip from his latte and leaned back in his chair. His eyes were shutting and his mouth was curving into a curious smile. “At least you have something to look forward to when you get back,” he joked.

Arizona grinned. “You think you’re kidding, but I will look forward to seeing you. Although I may be bright red when I come back,” she added. “I hardly ever tan, my skin usually just burns instantly.”

“It’s because you’re a vampire,” Dallas said, trying to sound serious. “Creatures of the underworld don’t mix with sunlight.”

Arizona smacked him on the arm. “Shut up. Anyway, you’re going to be bored while I’m gone. Who will entertain Dallas now that all his friends have temporarily skipped town?”

It was the perfect window. Dallas was happy to take it. “Actually, I’ve already found something that will keep me busy. At least for a couple of days.” He reached into the pocket of his long black coat and pulled out a key. He held it in front of Arizona, a proud smile on his face. “Now you have something else to look forward to when you get back – checking out my new apartment.”

Arizona’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding me!”

“Nope. My boss told me a long time ago that if I ever wanted to get out of that shithole, he’d cosign an apartment with me. Turns out I didn’t even need him to, since I’m eighteen and I work full time, all that jazz.” Dallas put the key back in his pocket and pulled out a folded pamphlet. “These apartments are pretty low-cost, they’re right over by the community college. So about halfway between where I work and where you guys live. Right on the bus route.”

Arizona snatched the pamphlet out of his hand and surveyed it. “I think these are the apartments Sasha’s older brother lives in. Dude, this is so close!”

“I know.” Dallas looked at her, his eyes strangely still. When he spoke again, he spoke slowly and carefully. “I figured since all of my friends live in this other part of town . . . and the place where I’m staying now, they can’t visit . . . I’ve been saving money for a long time, and I finally feel like I can set up a new life. A real life.”

“Definitely.” Arizona wished that they were on the same side of the table so that she could hug Dallas. She settled for giving him a powerful high-five.

“I wish I could go with you guys, too,” Dallas said. “I mean, when am I again in my life going to have complete strangers offer to give me an all-expense-paid trip to Hawaii? But even if I could get off of work, I’d feel too weird about it. I’d have fun hanging out with all the guys and stuff, but I don’t even know Paige’s mom and dad.”

“I understand,” Arizona assured him. “Anyway, moving into an actual home is so much more important. We’ll all come over and break it in when we get back.”

“A done deal,” Dallas agreed. He chugged the last bit of his coffee. Arizona had never known anyone else who drank coffee in the middle of the day as often as Dallas. “Let’s step out. I want to have a cigarette.”

“Okay. Then I might kidnap you. Make you sit around with me while I finish packing.” Arizona stood up with him and headed towards the door.

“Fine with me.” Dallas followed behind her, whistling to himself.