And yet again!

The phone rang. Rita was pulled into America again, after carefully plotting out an itinerary of all the places they had to visit and how much that would cost. She'd been reading things off the computer for more than three hours, and was surprised at how stiff she had grown in that amount of time. She stood up to get the phone, and her back cracked several times. She took a step, and learned the hard way that her entire leg was fast asleep. She collapsed on the bed, silently cursing the caller. She knew it was for her, because she had her own phone line. Darn it, Peggie, can't you call some other time? According to the clock, Peggie had just gotten off work (it was 8:00) and she usually called directly after she got home. Before she answered, Rita looked at the caller ID. She didn't recognize the number. Probably a telemarketer. She felt like growling. She grasped at the phone, and knocked it clean off the reciever. She lunged for it, knocking the pink alarm clock over, and said breathlessly, but surely, into the phone "No, I don't want to change phone companies, and no, I don't want to double my money in 30 days. I'm perfectly fine with my life in every way." There was silence on the other end. "Did you hear me?" she said agressively.
"Yeah, I heard you. Is that how you always say hello to your friends?"
"Oh," she moaned, and hung up. It was Theo. She buried her face into the quilted pillow, and wished fervently that he wouldn't call her back. This was a moment that proved she did not have ESP, or any other superior mental powers. The phone rang after a few seconds. She let it ring three times, then picked it up wearily.
"Hello?" she wailed.
"Don't sound so happy. I'm calling from my new cell, not my home phone, which would be why you thought I worked for Ameritech. My own mother ignored a call yesterday, and I told her my new number, so you aren't the only one." He sounded to jovial, Rita felt her trampled spirits rising.
"Actually, I thought you worked for AT&T. We already have Ameritech." She flipped over to lay on her back. "What do you want?" Her voice sounded more clipped than she'd meant it to, but she wasn't exactly happy at being interuppted from her studies.
"I heard from Peggie that we have another comrade, and plane tickets. Luckily for me, the guy I'm traveling with already lives in Italy." His voice was a little strained, as if he were holding back a comment about the lack of tickets that may have been a problem.
"I didn't buy the tickets, Theo. I didn't have control over how many Nicole won. And we couldn't exactly take her tickets and leave her out of it." She winced. That sounded really materialistic.
"You're only bringing her because of the tickets? You're using her for that?" His voice cracked as it grew higher with disbelief.
"No," Rita answered, "I'm just taking advantage of the fact that a girl who wanted to come and a girl who had four tickets are the same person." Her voice was growing harsher, and she wondered why she was so defensive all of a sudden, when she was usually the last person to get angry at anyone. There is no way Theo would like me now. There was a deep breath from the other end.
"Okay, Rita." He sounded so forlorn, it melted her heart.
"I'm sorry, Theo. I was just caught up in researching costs and stuff, and I had no idea how much planning this would take. I didn't mean to snap at you." She ran a hand through her hair. "Did Peggie tell you the departure time?"
"Yeah. 10:00 on Saturday. And it's okay, Rita. But next time I call, I expect to be greeted with enthusiasm."
"Sure thing. I've gotta get back to my studies, so I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll see you or something some time." There was a click from the other end. Rita hung up the phone gently, brushed the smooth surface with a finger and sighed. "There is no way I have a chance with him." She rubbed the bridge of her nose with her thumb and pointer finger roughly. "Forget it, forget it, forget it." Firm in her resolve to forget about any romantic attatchment to Theo, she stood up and sat at her desk.

The three days before Saturday were spent as days before a big trip usually are. Running to Wal*Mart, buying all the adorable miniature toiletries, shopping for clothes, packing, pacing, researching, calling hotels, repacking, reserving tickets, worrying, stocking up on good books for the trip, talking, unpacking, breaking in shoes, raising money, packing again, and all of the other stressful things that make one wish one had never thought of this crazy idea in the first place. Peggie, Nicole, Rita and Theo called each other many times, complaining, daydreaming, wailing or flirting with each other, depending on who was calling who. Nicole's parents, who had already been connived into allowing Nicole to go on a trip because of the tickets she'd won from a Mastercard sweepstakes, were overjoyed that their 17 year old daughter was going to be accompanied on her "Trip of a Lifetime" (according to the Mastercard contest) by three older girls. Peggie's parents had long ago decided that Peggie had a mind of her own, and the only thing they could do about her is be resigned to her, so they wished their daughter the best of luck. Theo's parents, having been globe-trotters before with their son in tow, had no problem with his newest scheme. Rita's parents still didn't know exactly where she was going.
Rita knew she should tell her mother and father that she wasn't just going to Arizona or Boston. She knew that they would eventually discover that she hadn't toned down her wild ideas since she first broached the subject of travel. It was impossible to imagine that anyone could not notice that their own flesh and blood wasn't going across the country, she was going across the world. As soon as she gave them the addresses of the hotels they'd already booked, they would know. And she couldn't just not give them to Edward and Eloise. They loved her, and would want to call her at least once. Rita knew all of these things, but she still hadn't told them she was going to Italy. She still hadn't told them, to be more precise, that she was going to Italy before she was going to Germany. She hadn't told them all of that, and it was 8:00 on Friday night.
"You might want to tell them now," Peggie was saying through the phone into Rita's ear. "You withdrew the money from the bank, so they can't take it from you. I have the money, since I'm the secratary. They can't take money that they gave us from me. It's probably illegal."
"It probably isn't!"Rita said. She felt a pit open up in her stomach. "I read about these things! If a parent gives their kid money, it's still the parent's dough, because the kid is a minor!"
"We aren't minors anymore, Rita. Remember? As of two months ago, you are an adult. You still can't buy beer or cigarettes, but other than that, you are grown up." Rita hated when Peggie corrected her and was right. She was so condesending.
"Yeah, well, I'm going to... go... tell them. Wish me luck. Hope I don't get ripped apart and turned into a loaf of pumpernickle." Peggie snorted, and Rita hung up. She doesn't understand. Her parents let her do whatever. She's so stubborn and, and I don't know what else. I'm stubborn,. but I don't get what I want. The more reasonable part of her mind had two things to say. Yeah, because you always have weird and unreasonable things that you want. Besides which you aren't very responsible. You forget stuff, and flutter around from thing to thing like some sort of bird. And you do get what you want very often. You're probably spoiled.
"Stupid brain!" she said loudly, knuckling the side of her head. "Can't you ever be wrong? Great, now I'm talking to myself. Shut up, Rita, you're crazy. I've got to go do this before I lose my nerve. Or my mind." She trod slowly down the white carpeted stairs, savoring the possibly last feel of this lush texture beneath her feet. She looked at her feet. They looked pretty dirty. She should wash them. Maybe right now. She took a step back up the stairs, until the treturous voice inside her head said Quitter. You're just stalling. "I am not," she muttered to it, wondering if she should perform an exorsism. This voice was taking over her brain. Down the steps. Into the living room where both her parents sat staring glassy eyed at the television. She stood in front of them, hands on hips. "I'm ready to release the destination!" she proclaimed.
"I thought you said you were going to Ohio, darling." Her mother's pencil drawn eyebrows were slightly drawn. Edward looked up at Rita as well.
"Yes, dearest, I thought you were going to see the grand canyon."
"The grand canyon isn't in Ohio, muffin," her mother told her father with a smile. "There isn't anything in Ohio. Except the Football Hall of Fame."
"And the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame," Rita interjected. "But no, I'm not going to Ohio of the Grand Canyon. I'm going to Italy first."
"Italy?" Eloise looked stunned.
"First?" Edward looked dismayed.
"Yes." Rita was light-hearted. She felt as if a huge weight, cliche as the phrase was, had been lifted from her shoulders. She almost laughed. She did skip in place. "I'm going to Firenze, then Roma then all the other places that hve different names in Italian. I'm going to enter St. Peter's, and rapture in the Sistine Chapel. I'm going to do all that, and more. And I'm going tomorrow." She would have liked to march out of the room, but she was polite, and her parents were being quite generous. She bit her lip.
"Why didn't you tell us before, darling? I would have given you much more than a paltry $1,500 if I'd have known how far you were going. Take out another 2,000. We can afford the best for our daughter. No third class plane tickets and lousy hotels for my baby," Eloise crooned. "Before you leave tomorrow, make sure you have enough. If oyu need anything you can call us anytime. You can even call collect if you need to. Where will you be staying? We need the addresses, go get them, button, and I'll put them in my files." Edward hadn't said a word, but his face was growing red. At first Rita thought he was angry. She edged away from him, thinking she'd never seen him this mad before. But then his eyes began to bulge. Rita watched him closely, and to her horror, saw that he was choking. She rushed to his side and threw her ams around his stomach. She squeezed twice, and a piece of ice flew out of his mouth. He coughed a few times while Eloise fluttered about.
"Oh, Edward, darling, dear, sweetheart, are you all right? I had no idea you were choking, I would have helped you. Rita, go get some water for him, and a washcloth. Get that ice off of the floor." Rita was already out of the room, blushing with shame. She'd nearly killed her father! She snatched the drying rag from the oven door, and opened the cupboard door. She took a cup, and dropped it. She jumped back, then breathed out with a whoosh. "Good thing that was plastic, not glass." She picked the cup up, rinsed it out, and filled it with water, no ice. After she gave it to Eloise, who held Edward's head while he drank, she scooped up the with the blueberry decorated cloth. When she went back into the kitchen, she deposited it into the trashcan, and threw the cloth under the sink again. She quickly went back into the room to see if her father was all right. He seemed fine, and nodded weakly to her.
"You saved my life," he said, gluping. "I'm very greatful. I guess that cancels out the fact that you nearly killed me." He managed a watery smile.
"Now, Edward, don't make her feel guilty! She had nothing to do with that at all." Eloise patter Rita on the shoulder. "It's all right, sugar. He doesn't mean it."
"Of course I mean it. Her sudden announcement had everything to do with my choking. I should know, I'm the one who choked." His slight laugh made his otherwise surly tone lighter. "I guess I'll just resign myself to your impetuous mood swings, and let you go to Italy. Especially since you're leaving tomorrow, and your mother has no problems. Are you sure your companions are trustworthy? That boy won't take advantage of you, will he?" He looked sideways at his daughter, as if she were planning on being taken advantage of. Rita almost wished there were a chance Theo would take advantage of her in some way. That would at least prove he liked her. It struck her that this way of thinking probably wasn't healthy. She patted the top of her head hard to strike the thought out, and pretended with a wide smile that she was just rubbing when her parents looked at her strangely. Yeah, I'm sure. He's fine. Besides, I'll be rooming with two other girls, and he'll be in a different hotel room altogether. It's fine." She kissed Edward on the top of his balding head, and Eloise on the cheek. "I have to go make sure I have everything. I'll see you tomorrow."
Once in the safety of her room, she leaned against her door with a hiss. Why is it that I always fear the most what I shouldn't be afraid of. It makes me wonder if there's something horrible coming up that I have no idea of. I'm getting paranoid. She slid down to the floor. Her shirt rode up her back, and the cold particle board door made the hair on her back stand on end. She tried to keep from touching it, but her skin soon warmed the smooth surface, and she could sit in relative peace. She knew she had a lot to do yet, but she was so tired, and now that she was sitting down she didn't think she could summon the energy to arise. She let her head fall back with a thunk. It felt good. "When was the last time I relaxed?" she whispered to the stuffed dog staring at her with marble eyes from it's perch on the bed. Even getting to the bed to fall asleep seemed like too much work. The last thing her eyes saw before they closed was the alarm clock on her nightstand. The hands pointed to 8:00. Specifically, the pointed to 12 and 8, but it meant the same thing. "It's not really that late," her tongue slurred, "but I've heard people get tired more quickly when they're under pressure... Take writers, for instance..." but Fuzzy Freddy the dog didn't have the chance to hear his owner's theory on writers. Before she had said "instance" she was asleep.

There were three knocks, then a large knock. The final sound was much louder to Rita because it was happening to her head. She flopped onto her side during her nap on the floor, and whoever was on the other side had decided to come in. It was really too bad Rita's head laid directly in the path of the opening door.
"Oh, I'm so sorry Rita!" Nicole was crouching next to her, her black lined eyes wide with apology. Rita wondered through her headache how a 17 year old like Nicole could pull of blue eyeshadow, but she could. Nicole's style was so different she could wear cowboy boots and a green flowing scarf and still look great. Rita knew this because that was exactly what Nicole was wearing right now. She was fanning Rita's face with her scarf. "I'm so so so so sorry! Your mom said you'd probably be up, since it's already 9:00, and I thought we were all going to ride together to the airport to save gas and stuff, but I guess I'm wrong because you aren't all packed yet, and we should be going to pick up the others now." She looked seconds away from crying. Rita sat up suddenly, mouth open, and put a hand to her forehead. She could feel lines from the carpet on her face, but that wasn't nearly as important as the thoughts running through her mind. Oh my gosh! How could I let myself fall asleep last night? I have to pack everything back up! Oh, and I have to pick up Peggie and Theo--I wonder what Theo's doing right now. Is he thinking of me? Yeah, he's probably thinking of how I'm so stupid, and why aren't I there yet? Oh, shoot, I need to pack. She looked down at herself. And I need to get dressed. Luckily I took a shower yesterday. I should braid my hair, but I really need to get the rest of my stuff into the suitcase.
"Do you need help?" Nicole asked. "I'm a great packer. I'll do that, and you go get dressed, and make sure there isn't anything to forgot to put in that pile. After you're done, I'll french braid your hair. That's what I did with mine. It says in well for such a long trip." Rita looked at Nicole in amazement. She never thought that the usually dreamy girl could take control of a situation so easily. She ran into her personal bathroom, and looked into the mirror. The lights surrounding the mirror, making it look like a movie star mirror, did not make her look anything like the movie star that should have been looking out at her. Her hair was a rats nest from not drying it with a hair drier or brushing it. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her lips were very chapped. There was a pink spot of sunburn on the tip of her nose that usually lasted all summer, two matching zits (on on her cheek and the other on her forehead) and her fingernails, when she cared to take a look, were broken and dirty. She shuddered, and looked away as she stripped down to her underwear and put on the clothes she had left out for this purpose the night before. The pink shirt and skirt made her feel and look a little better, and once she'd brushed her hair and applied a little concealer she looked better, too. She went back into her room, and was stunned to see that not only was Nicole almost done packing, she'd repacked the entire suitcase. There was about twice as much room left as there had been before, and Rita hadn't even been done packing. She took a closer look at the clothes and was puzzled to find subway bags enclosed all of her clothes, which had been rolled into little bundles.
"What is that," she asked, and pointed to one of the bundles.
"Those are your outfits," Nicole said with a far away look, like she wasn't thinking about what she was saying at all. "It saves room that way. I took out a few things. You don't need to bring a hair dryer; they'll have those in the hotel, and I already have a straightener. And I don't think you'll need a length of rope."
"Sam Gamgee said that if you don't bring a rope, you're sure to need one." Rita muttered.
"Yes, well, Sam Gamgee was going to Mordor, wasn't he? We won't need a rope, and if we ever do, you can blame me for not having it," she said briskly, rubbing her hands together. "Now, you go over that list of things to bring and see if we're missing anything, and I'll braid your hair." She patted the bed, and Rita promptly sat down. Nicole, who had already taken off her blue and red cowboy boots, hopped up onto the bed, and stood up. She grabbed a fistful of Rita's beautiful blonde hair, and yanked it all out.
Well, that's what it felt like to Rita, who clutched her scalp in agony and screeched, but Nicole only rapped the top of her head sharply.
"No complaining. We're going to be late if I don't do this quickly, and we can't have that. The Mastercard people won't be happy if they have to exchange the tickets." She yanked on another clump of hair, and Rita bit her already chapped lip savagely.
"Can they do that?" she asked, trying to keep her mind off the natural face lift she was receiving. "Ow."
"Yes, it's in the stipulations, but I don't think they'd like it all that much, and they'd probably keep us in the US for another week or more. I'd rather just leave now." Se pulled the blonde hair to the left, and when Rita's head followed, there was a jolt as Nicole hit her again. "Keep your head still, for the love of Pete!"
"I'm trying! It isn't my fault that you're pulling my hair in one direction and my head in another!" Rita's voice cracked, not completely over the strain of screaming into her pillow for a half an hour three nights before.
"You'd think no one had ever done your hair before." Nicole tutted.
"I'm sorry, but no one has ever tried to take my scalp at the same time!" Rita rolled her eyes back into her head, and pretended to pass out. "I don't think I'll survive." Apparently Nicole thought her head was drrooping, and pulled it up with no thought of the pain it would cause her over-dramatic friend. Rita made a dying groan, and leaned forward to grap a magazine off of her nightstand.
"Now you've done it. They're uneven. Oh well, we don't have time to fix it." She prodded the almost complete braid as if she could push it into place, then snapped a hairtie around it. "Finished. It's the best I could do under the circumstances." Rita slipped on her shoes, and grabbed her suitcase and purse. Nicole put on her cowboy boots, admired the snake patterns gleaming on the polished leather, and picked up Rita's carry-on luggage. "I already put my stuff in your car. Oh, look, 9:15. Just on schedule!" She skipped down the steps, Rita, muttering darkly about head damage, fell into step behind her.

They dropped the luggage into the trunk of Rita's racing striped Nissan, and as Nicole slid into the front passanger seat and put in an Enya CD, Rita ran back inside to say one last farewell to her parents. She felt almost a little sad as she looked at her home. She had a vague feeling that when she came back she would be different, that this place may no longer feel like it fit her so easily as it had done before. She felt almost like a snake about to shed it's skin; there was a little itch, but she didn't want to get rid of her old self, and start all over again with a new pattern, a new self, quite yet. She knew that if she had really wanted to she could have made herself cry. She'd worked hard at being able to make herself cry even when she wasn't sad at all (good acting practice) but she didn't really want to cry. She was so close to crying it was embarrassing. She gave her parents a quick hug, as if she were preoccupied, and kissed them both on the cheek. "See you in the fall," she said cheerfully. This goodbye might have looked to any bystanders like a girl heading off to the grocery store, or a friend's house for the weekend. They couldn't see the tears welling up in the girl's soul, or the fears pressing against her mind. She put up a happy front, and ducked into the car.
"Drive safely!" her father called.
"Have a nice flight!" her mother added. Rita turned the key.
"Don't drink the water!" She pulled out of the driveway.
"Don't talk to strangers! Not even if they're handsome!"
"Good bye!" She was headed down the road now, her parents fading into the distance already. Just before she turned the corner, the final words blew in from her open window. Both her parents, yelling together.
"We love you!"
Rita gripped the steering wheel tightly, knuckles turning white. She hadn't thought it would be that hard to leave. She couldn't contain a sniffle.
"Are you okay?" Nicole asked, distracted from her head bobbing to the music. "Are you crying?"
"No," Rita lied, rubbing her slightly wet eyes, "Allergies." If Nicole thought otherwise, she said nothing. Rita sniffed a few more times, and tried to think of something other than her parents. Nicole was back in dreamy mode, so she wasn't very good for convesation. Thinking about Theo made her feel worse. Finally seh tried to listen to the soothing sounds of Enya, and held her head out the window for a little bit to make her eyes less pink from withheld tears. By the time she'd arrived at Peggie's house, she was in perfect control of her emotions. If not perfect, at least not as close to the brink of criyng as she had been.
"Yo, Peggie-sue! Get in the car!" she called jovially. She honked the horn a few times, and Nicole jumped out of her skin. Peggie, who had been sitting on the front porch swing with her luggage and a good book jumped up, setting the swing on an erratic flight pattern, and lugged her stuff to the car a quickly as possible. She was straining, but still managed to get her stuff to the trnk before Rita could switch off the car or Nicole could come out of her dreamy state. Peggie lunged into the backseat, making the car lurch, and huffed "Floor it!" Rita obeyed to the legal extent. "Geez, you could pick a girl up on time, you know. It wouldn't be too hard for you, would it?"
"She was asleep. i hit her head with the door," Nicole put in. Peggie looked a little confused, but nodded.
"You should have knocked her around a little more before you left. Wait, that would have made us more late. Never mind." She slumped back into the leather cushions. "And you still don't have Theo. Slacker. What's this junk playing?" Nicole silently handed the redhead a CD case. "Oh no we don't. We're listening to something good." She whipped a heavy duty CD case out of her backpack that doubled as a carry-on.
"How many CDs does that thing hold?" Rita asked, glancing back through her rearview mirror.
"I dunno." Peggie was preoccupied with looking for a suitable soundtrack. "Somewhere like one hundred. I'm not sure. Put this in. I need to study the style." She handed Nicole a CD with the words "D and A" written in block letters with black permanent marker. Nicole pouted, but took out her CD gingerly, and shoved Peggie's in the slot. Something like a jackhammer reverberated throughout the car, and Peggie swung her head around wildly. Her hair was not tied back neatly like Nicole's and Rita's was, and she looked ferociously feril. Rita tried to comfort herself witht eh fact that Peggie's hair wouldn't look nearly as nice after the plane ride, but it didn't help very much now. Peggie, in Rita's opinion, was much prettier than Rita could ever hope to be.
"Turn it down," Nicole complained softly, and was nearly drowned out by a searing guitar solo. Rita came back from her reverie, and turned the volume down quite a few notches. Peggie stopped her thrashing in the back seat.
"Hey! What's the big idea? I was in my groove zone! Turn it back up!"
"There's a noice ordinance here. Besides, I don't like it when all I can hear of the radio is BOOM BOOM BOOM. It just isn't much fun," Rita said reasonably.
Peggie sighed, and folded her arms.