Chapter Twenty-Five
FOR THE SECOND TIME THAT DAY, ALICE SHRIEKED WITH JOY. Summer and Tiernan joined her, the three of them holding hands and jumping up and down and screaming just like they’d done a few hours earlier when they’d won the tickets.
“They had some long apology about sending your acceptance letter to the wrong address, twice,” Tiernan explained when they’d stopped squealing. “I told your dad I’d let him fill you in on the details.”
Alice’s head was spinning. She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face if she tried. Everything was working out like she’d wanted. Well, almost everything.
“Let’s go celebrate,” Summer said. “Let’s go into the city. See what Austin’s like.”
Summer was right. They could deal with the Pea Pod later. Right now, Alice had too much happy energy to waste it waiting around for Triple A. And there was no way she was going to spend another minute in that awful motel room.
“Let’s do it!” Alice said, leading the way out of the garage and back onto the college campus.
“You know, Providence is only about an hour from Boston,” Tiernan said. “You can come up and stay with me at Emerson for the weekend if you want.”
“Or with me,” Summer chimed in.
She’d been a student at Brown for a whopping thirty seconds and already she was spending her weekends away. Alice wasn’t entirely sure whether Summer and Tiernan would ever really visit her, or if it was just the heat of the moment talking, but at least she wasn’t afraid to admit that she wanted it to be true.
Maybe her friendship with Tiernan and Summer was like waiting to hear from Brown. She’d ended up getting what she’d hoped for, just when she’d finally let it go.
“Seriously, though.” Tiernan was still making plans. “You can take the train from South Station to Providence for, like, only ten bucks.”
“But what about the Pea Pod?” Summer asked.
“Oh, I think we’ve spent enough time in the Pea Pod,” Alice said.
“Alice!” Summer and Tiernan each gasped in mock horror.
“What? You know it smells like butt in there.”
Then the three of them dissolved into laughter as they stumbled along the clean, wide sidewalks of the UT Austin campus. Even if her friendship with Tiernan and Summer didn’t last beyond this trip, it still felt good to be sharing this moment with them. And how could she plan for the future now? In two more months, they’d be off at their own college campuses, each of them starting a new chapter in their lives.
Alice slipped her arm through Summer’s. “Travis doesn’t know what he’s missing.”
“Damn straight,” Summer said with a laugh.
“Seriously.” Tiernan linked herself onto Alice’s free arm. “If he’d seen you shaking your thang in the front row, you actually might have had a shot.”
Summer smiled. “You know, you guys, it’s nice to have other people who actually believe in my fantasy world.”
“Hey, that’s what friends are for, right?” Tiernan asked.
The word made Alice’s eyes well up. Friends.
“Speaking of fantasy worlds,” Tiernan began. “I want to hear about your dream date with Travis again. I always liked that one the best. And you always told it so well; you made it sound like a novel or something.”
Summer gave them a sly smile. “Sorry, girls. That dream date’s no longer available. I changed it.”
Alice gasped. “You did not.”
Summed nodded. “Earlier tonight. In the motel room. Before I fell asleep.”
“Soooo?” Tiernan teased. “Is it rated NC-17 or something?”
“You wish,” Summer said. “But, no, it’s just Travis and me, riding his motorcycle through the desert.”
“The desert?” Alice asked.
Summer shrugged. “I’ve never been there before. Anyway, he’s riding really fast, and I’m holding on tight. And he’s taking me someplace that’s a surprise. Someplace he’s not telling me till we get there.”
“Like one of those spas where you can take a mud bath?”
“I don’t know,” Summer said. “That’s when I fell asleep.”
Alice laughed. “Okay, T, your turn. What are you and Luke up to these days?”
Tiernan smirked. “Three words: Japanese sex hotel.”
“Classy,” Summer said. “Very classy. Okay, Alice, you’re up.”
Alice didn’t want to be a buzzkill, but at the moment she couldn’t even consider fantasizing about someone other than Quentin.
“Hate to disappoint you ladies, but my daydreams only involve my real boyfriend,” Alice teased. “Now that I might actually have one.”
“Wait a minute.” Tiernan stopped abruptly, pulling them all to a complete standstill since their arms were still linked. “Where are we?”
Alice had been so lost in the moment, she’d assumed the grass they were walking on was a park. But now that she looked, she realized it was the on-ramp to the highway.
A car flew past blaring its horn.
“Turn around when possible,” Summer said in her best Coach Quigley voice, which, of course, sent all three of them into convulsive laughter, until they were doubled over on the strip of grass by the breakdown lane.
Alice was just catching her breath when she noticed a van pull up beside them, its hazard lights blinking as it came to a stop.
“You guys . . .” Alice sat up to get a better look. The van was the Pea Pod’s double, only canary yellow. Just like the vintage VW Level3 used to tour in when they were first starting out, back when Ryan’s mom had to chauffeur them around to gigs because they weren’t old enough to drive. But it couldn’t be . . .
Just then the back door slid open, revealing Luke Dixon, the drummer for Level3, crouched in the back.
“You girls are aware that you’re hanging out on an on-ramp, right?” Luke asked.
Alice stared at him, like a mute girl with a brain injury. There was Luke Frigging Dixon, two feet away from her. And—holy crap!— there was Travis glaring at them skeptically from the passenger’s side window. Alice leaned forward to steal a glimpse of Ryan behind the wheel, but all she could see was the back of his head. One look at that soft, brown wavy hair was all it took to make the thought Quentin who? flash through her mind.
“Our c-car broke down,” Tiernan stammered when nobody else spoke, her voice an octave higher than usual.
“Is it an invisible car?” Luke asked, looking around.
“No,” Alice managed to utter. “It’s actually exactly like this one. Except mine’s green.”
“The Pea Pod,” Summer added. “We left it back in the garage by the show.”
Luke shot Ryan a glance. “Well, we can give you a lift into town if you want.”
“Sorry.” Somehow Summer had managed to not only sound coherent, but also to stand. “But we have a strict policy about not accepting rides from strangers.”
It took Alice a good five seconds to realize it was joke. But as soon as she did, she burst into hysterics again, with Summer and Tiernan joining in right along with her.
Level3 just stared at them, the looks of bewilderment on their faces quickly changing into genuine concern at the sight of three giggling lunatics flailing around next to the highway on-ramp. But before they could ask another question, the girls were already making their way over to the van. Luke eyed them all warily, as if he was considering withdrawing his offer. So Alice quickened her pace and scrambled inside before he could change his mind.
Being a twin to the Pea Pod, the van felt as familiar as home.
“You really have a green 1976 VW bus called the Pea Pod?” Luke asked.
Tiernan leveled him with a look. “You think we’d make something like that up?”
“Hard to say,” Luke answered, looking entirely unconvinced.
“Well, this here is the Banana Boat,” Travis said, patting the dashboard.
“We know.” Alice smiled shyly.
Introductions were awkward. Alice had to bite her lip not to say “duh” each time the boys told them their names.
“So, were you guys at the show?” Ryan asked.
By the time their third laughing fit subsided, Travis had turned around in his seat to glare at them.
“Just how baked are you?” he asked accusingly.
“Not at all.” Summer sniffled. “I swear. We’re completely normal.”
“Yeah, right,” Luke scoffed. Ryan and Travis exchanged looks.
“So, how’d it go?” Tiernan asked. “The show, I mean.”
“Actually . . .” Luke ran his hand through his hair. “It was pretty damn sweet, if I do say so myself.”
Alice smiled. She was happy they’d had a good show, even though she hadn’t been there to see it.
“So, where do you want us to take you?” Ryan asked.
“Right here’s pretty good,” Alice said, startled by her honesty. This time all six of them shared a laugh. While Summer wasn’t looking, Alice caught Travis stealing a glance.
“Ryan’s having some people over,” Travis said. “At his mom’s place. Just a few of our old friends from Austin. It’s pretty lowkey.”
“We’re kicking it old school,” Luke added. “Hence, the van.”
“Anyway, you’re welcome to come along if you want.”
If Alice didn’t know better, she would have sworn her heart stopped beating for a solid ten seconds. She looked searchingly at Summer and Tiernan, both of whom seemed to be doing a very convincing job of appearing casual while their heads popped off.
Summer nodded. “Sure, I guess we could stop by.”
Oh, thank God for Summer.
“Can you girls keep a secret?” Travis asked.
“Travis.” Ryan said his name like it was a reprimand.
“Come on, dude, relax.” Ryan and Travis exchanged a look. “We just officially decided we’re going back in the studio this fall,” Travis continued, and smiled. “And next summer, we’re thinking of going out on tour.”
“You mean you’re getting back together?” Alice asked breathlessly.
“Yeah, something like that,” Travis said. “We’ll see how it goes.” His tone seemed awfully casual, but Alice could see in his eyes how excited he was. Summer and Tiernan were absolutely glowing. If Level3 was getting back together, that meant they’d have other chances to see them play.
Ryan stayed focused on the road. “Things got pretty rough, post breakup.” His voice sounded hesitant, like he was afraid of sharing too much. “But it seems like it’s worth it to get back on that horse and give it another shot.”
“Same thing, only different,” Luke said.
Alice smiled. “Well, here’s to second chances,” she said, raising an invisible champagne flute in a toast.
“To second chances!” Summer and Tiernan repeated in unison, clinking their imaginary glasses with hers.
Not even the best of their childhood Level3 fantasies had ever been as good as this. Then again, reality (in spite of all its imperfections) was always better than any daydream.
Alice didn’t want to get her hopes up about the rest of the night. And yet, how could she possibly keep her expectations in check when she was heading off into the night with her three favorite rock stars and her two oldest friends?
Alice took a deep breath, making a mental list of all the things that could potentially go wrong. Ryan’s party could be awful. The guys could turn out to be jerks once she got to know them. Or Level3 could think they were the jerks. Or maybe the night would be totally amazing, but the girls would have to live the rest of lives knowing that their very best moment had already passed them by. Which, of course, would inevitably bum them out, causing things to fall apart between them all over again, and Alice’s friendship with Summer and Tiernan wouldn’t last past the drive back to Walford.
Alice exhaled.
No, there was no need to make plans right now or to worry about what might come next. Not when the bright lights of Austin glittered with possibility. Not even with the knowledge that this perfect moment would someday come to an end. The night was still young. And to Alice, it felt like the beginning.