Chapter 7
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Swallowing the last bite of pizza, Deb climbs over the door of Gina’s car and lands in the passenger’s seat just as Gina’s pulling her keys out.
“Don’t you ever get scared someone will hotwire it?”
“Not really,” Gina says, tossing her bag into the backseat. She climbs into the driver’s side and starts putting on her seatbelt, “my dad really enjoys justifying his physical and emotional absence by providing financially, so if this thing got stolen, I’d honestly kind of be doing him a favor by asking for a new one.”
“Makes perfect sense,” Deb agrees, buckling herself up as well as Gina turns her key in the ignition. “Gotta give back to them in the ways that we can, huh?”
“You got that right, sister,” Gina nods, and then immediately she shudders. “Ew- not sister. Definitely not sister-“
Deb scoffs, “just start driving.”
Gina starts reversing out of the parking lot, “I’m going, I’m going. So, where to, m’lady?”
“Follow this road and make a right at the third intersection.”
“Your wish is my command.”
Deb settles into her seat and relaxes as Gina eases into their drive; the CDs resting on the dash catch her eye, “ooh, now what do we have here…?”
“Oh, god,” Gina mutters as Deb excitedly gathers them up.
“Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you… Ms. Smoke-Two-Joints.”
Gina groans as Deb cackles and holds up 40oz To Freedom.
“Are you a badfish too?” She asks through her laughter.
“You’re the worst,” Gina grumbles. “You’re a goddamn badfish.”
Deb just laughs harder. Then suddenly, she feels something wet in her ear. She recoils, clapping a hand over her ear,
“ew, what the-?”
Gina’s holding her pinkie in the air, and glances over at Deb with a sweet smile.
“I’m gonna need more directions in a second,” she chimes, looking back at the road.
“-Did you just give me a wet willie?”
“Should I turn left or turn right after we take this intersection? Or should I maybe give you another one?”
Gina raises her eyebrows as she takes the turn Deb had told her to.
“…Drive straight and then transfer onto I-72, you psycho.” Deb tries to wipe the spit out of her ear. “I can’t believe you actually did that.”
“You didn’t have a problem with my spit when it was in your mouth.”
As much as she wants to, Deb can’t find a way to argue with that, so she goes back to looking at Gina’s CDs. The rest are a remarkably un-funny and somewhat predictable mix, Madonna, Throwing Muses, Janet Jackson, The Cardigans- Deb grins when she gets to the Sinead O’Connor.
“No wonder you already knew those lyrics,” she chuckles. “You’re so busted.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m a closet Sinead fan, guilty,” Gina waves a hand dismissively. “You’d have to be dumb to not realize her vocal ability is insane.”
“You did pretty good when you were singing along.”
Gina grins at her. “I’m so glad you think so.”
It does not escape Deb how corny it is that she literally feels like there are butterflies inside her ribcage. She looks away from Gina and places the CDs back on the dash, starts watching the dark landscape roll by them as they drive. They spend a few minutes driving in silence. Deb can feel her own pulse everywhere in her body; the anticipation is almost too much for her to handle. She tries to let the breeze cool her down a bit.
“Do you like PJ Harvey?” She asks, trying to distract herself.
“Yeah,” Gina says, “at least, the one album I’ve heard. …I listened to it after I saw how glued you were to that music video they played on MTV a few months ago.”
So much for cooling down. Deb looks back at Gina, who’s got her eyes planted firmly on the road ahead of them, though her face is definitely turning pink again. Deb is extremely tempted to ask just how long Gina’s been paying attention to her and her interests, but instead she finds herself saying,
“her other stuff is good too. What about Liz Phair, have you listened to her at all?”
“Never heard of her.”
“Maybe I can… make you a mixtape sometime.”
Gina nods eagerly, and then visibly tries to quell her own obvious enthusiasm, “yeah, cool, I’d, um… I’d like that.”
Deb’s heart feels like it’s pounding faster than Gina’s car is moving. It reminds her,
“our exit is coming up next.”
Her heart starts pounding even harder.
“This highway is pretty empty, Deb- really, where are we going?”
“Isn’t it nice how empty it is?” Deb asks, ignoring Gina’s question.
Gina glances at her skeptically, but she doesn’t say anything, instead following Deb’s direction and turning onto the next exit.
“I used to drive my vespa out here sometimes,” Deb tells her as they near the bottom of the hill.
Gina opens her mouth to respond, but as they come around the bend and drive up, the estuary comes into view on the horizon, and she simply breathes, “wow.”
“I know,” Deb smiles.
Gina follows the road until they reach the lookout. As usual, it’s empty. Gina brings the car to a slow stop, and she gazes dreamily out at the water with the engine still running.
“You can park,” Deb suggests.
“Oh,” Gina says obtusely, and Deb bites back a giggle as Gina fumbles with the ignition. The engine stops, and the headlights shut off. The moonlight is bright enough to see by. They’re surrounded only by the gentle sound of crickets, and Deb’s palms are sweating, but she’s ready- more than ready.
Gina’s looking up at the stars, “wow, it’s so pretty out here-“
She looks over at Deb as Deb undoes her seatbelt.
“Undo yours, too,” Deb says.
Gina’s brow furrows, but she does it, and then she looks back up at Deb. Deb turns towards her in her seat. Gina just stares at her.
Deb gestures impatiently between the two of them, “well?”
Gina squints in confusion, “well, what?”
Deb rolls her eyes; she takes a deep breath, takes the front of Gina’s shirt in her fist, tugs her in, and kisses her.
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