Nikki spit out fluff. “What are you doing? I thought we were going to the church in your parents’ car.”
“Just drive, okay?” she said, as fat tears rolled through the Honey Luster powder her mother thought brought out the peach in her skin.
“Where to?”
“Anywhere.” Then she corrected herself. “Anywhere but the church.”
Nikki shot her a puzzled look, then accelerated, throwing them both back in the seats.
At the stoplight, Mariah looked at Nikki in the maid-of-honor dress her mother had urged her to choose. Lavender satin with puffy organdy sleeves and a huge satin bow over the left shoulder. It looked ridiculous on her wild friend, who was more comfortable in black leather and boots than frou-frou girlie clothes. The only thing that looked normal was the funky ceramic butterfly pin Mariah had made for her. “What was I thinking making you wear that dress? You look like Glenda the Good Witch.”
“More like Skipper does Dallas,” Nikki said with a shrug. “It’s not too late to dye my hair purple and wear my mauve snakeskin boots.”
Mariah laughed through her tears.
“We’re buds, Mariah, you know that. Thick and thin. Anything you want, I’m down for it.”
“I know. And I couldn’t stand it without you.” She leaned over to hug Nikki, organdy crackling.
“Watch out!” Nikki said, as the car swerved. “Hard to see through satin.” Still, she grinned. “So, what’s up?”
“I’m not getting married.”
Nikki slammed on the brakes. “What?!”
A car behind her honked.
“Keep driving,” Mariah said. “I don’t know what came over me. It’s like I thought I was a Bridal Barbie doll marrying Ken and moving into the Dream House. That’s nuts. So not me.”
“But you love Nathan.”
“I do.” It hurt to say that. “But I’m only seventeen. I haven’t even graduated.”
“Abso-flippin’-lutely!” Nikki said, pure relief in her voice. “I mean, I was on your side, if marriage was your gig, but, hell, you’ve got your whole life ahead of you.”
“Exactly. What was I thinking? Too Twilight Zone.”
“What happened to change your mind?”
Mariah told her friend the sad tale of the false pregnancy and the pity proposal. As she talked, an ache began to spread from her chest to every part of her body. An ache that came from losing Nathan and all that she’d believed he felt about her. The zapped wedding fantasy was nothing compared to that.
She felt herself slipping into self-pity, so she grasped at indignation. “He probably thought it was like a duty, now that he’s working for my dad. You know, manage the factory, marry the kooky daughter. God. It’s so humiliating.”
“At least you found out before you said I do,” Nikki said, patting her knee through the cloud of satin and netting. “Now you can put it behind you.”
“Right. Behind me.” But it felt like it was all around her—a big ball of agony she couldn’t escape. She knew breaking it off was best—a quick, sharp pain, a bit of bruising, and then the healing would happen. But right now, it hurt like hell.
They drove in silence for a bit. Since Copper Corners only had five streetlights, they were soon speeding along the highway. Mariah surveyed the passing desert landscape—tall, crazy-armed saguaro, clumps of cholla and prickly pear in bloom, chaparral bushes and mesquite trees. They were headed north toward Phoenix on a wide-open highway. Wide open. Like her life had suddenly become. The thought made her feel empty and scared.
As if she’d read her mind, Nikki pressed the brakes, whipped the car into a doughnut, fishtailed in the shoulder gravel and jerked to stop, turned toward the town. “What now?”
“I don’t want to go back there and face that,” Mariah said fiercely.
“I don’t blame you. I don’t want to go back, either, and all I have to face is telling my parents I don’t have enough credits to graduate next semester.”
The best friends sat in glum silence for a few seconds, the cicada hum filling the air, buzzing along with their brains, which were busy sifting options.
Finally, Nikki spoke, her words coming slowly, excitement building as she talked. “I know what we should do….”
“What?” Mariah said, hope rising. Nikki had the best ideas.
“Let’s blow this pop stand.”
“What?”
“Let’s leave. Move to Phoenix. I was going anyway, this summer, unless my parents kicked me out early for ruining their image.” Nikki had her own problems, with her father the principal and her mother a teacher at the high school, and both the biggest worrywarts on the planet. Yet one more bond Mariah and Nikki shared—disappointed parents.
“So let’s leave now,” Nikki concluded.
“Now?”
“There is life beyond Copper Corners, Arizona. You want to mix cactus jelly in your dad’s factory all your life?”
“Absolutely not.”
“We can stay with my cousin in Phoenix. She can get us jobs at the restaurant where she works. We’ll save our money and get an apartment together. We can do our art, theater, all that—just experience what life has to offer—keep it real.”
“What about school?”
“Real life will be our school. If you want to get constipated about it, we’ll get GEDs.”
“Wow.” The idea had possibilities. She’d be away from Copper Corners, where she didn’t fit in, away from her mother who couldn’t help interfering with her every breath, and, most of all, away from Nathan and his mercy marriage.
Maybe it was time to declare her independence. Like in the books. The young rebel makes her way in the world….
Besides, right now she’d do anything to escape the humiliation of going back to town to face the looks—exasperation and worry from her parents, pity from the people in town, and, worst of all, relief from Nathan at being off the hook.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s do it.” What did she have to lose?
“Killer! We’ll pack bags and take off.”
Mariah, of course, already had her bags packed—for a honeymoon trip to Hawaii. Her heart throbbed at the thought. She’d been dying to see Hawaii. Even more, she’d been dying to tantalize Nathan with a black lace peignoir she’d picked out for their first time of going all the way.
Forget it. She and Nikki would start a new life in the big city. This was the right thing
