VS- surprise for Dollface

“This is how the horror movies start,” Ichabod grumbled as he slid into the booth next to Jakob, the smell of tobacco still clinging to him.  The group had eaten at the diner, and then Ichabod had gone outside for a cigarette and Tristan and Sasha had gone to the gentlemen’s room to make out.  Mae moved a little closer to Aden , who stroked her back comfortingly.



“It’s also how fun movies like “Adventures of Priscilla” and “To Wong Foo” start,” Aden reminded her friends.

  

“And “Rocky Horror”, a delightful mix of both,” added Jakob, taking a sip of his iced tea.*

  

Though Aden hadn’t originally wanted Jakob or his amorous friends to come along, she couldn’t help but be glad of their presence.  Neither Jakob nor Sasha seemed to mind being stranded in the middle of nowhere, and Tristan was too shy and polite to bring up the fact that this road trip had been all Aden’s idea.  

  

A fellow art student had been doing some sort of collage using newspapers from all over the country.  To Aden, it had looked like papier-mâché, but a very familiar face had jumped out at her.  The girl in the photo was older, of course, with slightly different hair, but there was no mistaking that beloved smile: it was Elli, the sister Aden hadn’t seen in years.  The photo’s caption had confirmed it: the girl’s name was indeed Elli, and she was living a number of miles from Aden .  

  

Aden had rather rudely seized the newspaper and ripped out that page (her classmate hadn’t really minded after she’d explained the circumstances), cutting out Elli’s photo and sticking it in her wallet.  She’d confided in Mae and Ichabod, fully prepared for one or both of them to try to talk her out of her plan to spend the upcoming long weekend driving out to see her long-lost sister, and been pleasantly surprised when they’d offered to go with her.

  

Of course, it turned out that Jakob, the high-school boy with whom Ichabod had been going out, was having a rough week, and Ichabod had suggested he come along; not only would some time away from home cheer him up, but with the four of them no one would feel like a third wheel.  Aden had figured with Ichabod bringing a date, she and Mae could spend some time alone; the younger girl had a calming influence on her (well, sometimes calming; sometimes rather inappropriately distracting), and enjoying her first vacation with her sort-of-girlfriend would hopefully take her mind off all the things that could go wrong with her planned reunion.

  

Jakob had then decided he needed to invite his bee-eff-eff Sasha, a perky boy who made Jakob look downright masculine, who in turn decided to bring along Tristan, a young businessman who really did seem to need a vacation and couldn’t seem to face a three-day weekend without Sasha.  Neither Aden nor Ichabod had been thrilled about this initially, but they had offered to help pay for gas, and had been so busy kissing they hadn’t much disturbed anyone (except Jakob, who was stuck in the back seat with them).

  

Then the car had broken down.  The merry travelers had staggered to the nearest open establishment, Suzie’s Diner, where they’d spent the past few hours being stared at and taking turns arguing with mechanics on Aden’s cell phone.**  

  

Sasha and Tristan returned from the restroom.  Tristan had a bit of Sasha’s lipstick on his face, but Sasha had taken the time to conscientiously reapply his makeup and fix his hair.

  

“So what’s the plan, beauties?” Sasha asked, plopping down next to Mae as Tristan squeezed in beside Ichabod.

  

“We’re trying to figure out if we can afford to rent another car for the weekend,” Ichabod said, glaring at no one in particular.  “You two brought a bunch of money, right?”

  

“W-well, maybe not ‘a bunch’.”  Tristan looked nervously at Sasha.

  

“Oh, don’t worry about money!  If we run out, I can always sell my body!” Sasha assured them cheerfully.  

  

Aden frowned at Tristan.  “You gonna let your girlfriend do that?”

  

Tristan smiled.  “I’m not in charge of him.  He’s in charge.”

  

Sasha beamed and jumped to his feet.  “Come on, let’s watch the sunset.”  He took Tristan’s hand and pulled him up, and the two left the diner with linked arms.

  

Aden ’s frown deepened.  It was one in the afternoon.  “I do not even wanna know what that’s a euphemism for.  I totally don’t get that couple.”

  

“I think they’re good for each other,” Mae said, leaning against Aden ’s shoulder and driving all other thoughts from the taller girl’s mind.

  

“Kind of like us?” Aden murmured, resting her head on Mae’s.

  

“You, like, know Ichabod and I are still here, right?” Jakob interrupted, and Mae giggled shyly and sat up.

  

“But you’re right,” the blond boy continued, “they are inexplicably good together.  It’s pretty gross how happy they make each other.”  His eyes darted from Mae to Aden , and he stood up.  “Come on, let’s go bother them,” he said to Ichabod.

  

The taller boy raised his eyebrows.  “…Okay.”  As the two of them followed the other couple outside, Ichabod threw a glance over his shoulder at the girls.

  

Aden understood his surprise.  Jakob had obviously figured Aden wanted to be alone with Mae- come to think of it, she kind of did- and rather considerately made it happen.  

  

As she felt Mae’s hand cover hers, Aden came to an alarming realization.

  

She had friends.

  

Nice friends.

  

“Huh,” she said.

  

“What?” Mae asked, looking up at her with wide violet eyes.

  

“…Anyone ever tell you you’re a very pretty girl?”

  

Mae pouted.  “You’re just realizing that now?” she asked playfully.

  

"Yeah, I'm a jerk."

  

"No, you're not."

  

The two of them sat in companionable silence for awhile, finishing their drinks and listening to the radio behind the counter playing hits of the fifties and sixties.  Aden ran her fingers through Mae's thick soft hair.  "It'll be okay, right?" she whispered into her friend's ear.

  

"Yes," Mae said confidently.  "She'll love you.  You fearlessly led your ragtag entourage across the country-or the state, anyway- just to see her."

  

"And got my ragtag entourage stranded in a diner forever and ever."

  

"If all else fails, you can call your foster mother to come pick us up.  But I don't think it'll come to that."

  

"If you say so, gorgeous," Aden muttered, and this time it was she who leaned against Mae.

  

"That's right.  I'm the boss."

  

"...You know, I love you, Boss."  Mae's reply was cut off by a knock on the large window on Aden's left.  It was Sasha, jumping about energetically and gesturing frantically at a young man in a truck driver hat, who raised a hand in greeting.  A moment later, Sasha barreled through the door and bounded over to the girls' table.  

  

"Guess who i ran into?"  He didn't wait for a reply.  "My friend Joey!  And guess what he can do?  Fix cars!  No charge, of course.  Boys love doing stuff for me for free.  We are back on the road!"  

  

"As long as he can figure out what the problem is, and fixing it doesn't require ordering a new part from somewhere," Aden felt obligated to point out.

  

"Oh, Joey's the best, and he has lots of parts."

  

"...No comment."

  

Aden paid for the meal at the counter and followed Sasha outside.  "So, we're back on track?" Mae asked, threading her fingers through Aden's.

  

"Looks like it."  Ichabod was chasing Jakob around the parking lot wielding what appeared to be a bottle of sunblock, and Tristan was standing closer than usual to Sasha, who appeared to be flirting with Joey the Car Fixer.  "You were right."

  

"What would you do without me?" Mae said teasingly.

  

Aden had no idea.  She really hoped she'd never have to find out.

  

  

    

  

  

*I dunno why I thought Jakob might be the type to drink iced tea.  If this is OOC I can change it to coffee, or orange juice or something.

** again, if Aden doesn’t have a cell phone I can change this.