Chapter Text
It was the radical summer of 2002 when a group of friends decided to take a chill vacay at a cabin in the woods. The sun had set and this was their last night to hang out within the ambiance of nature.
A fire crackled in the living room as the four friends huddled in a circle on the floor, a glass beer bottle in the middle of them. Savannah, a chipper girl with blonde hair and a wide smile, grabbed the bottle and spun it. "Hehe, this game is so much fun! Gracie, don't you think so?" she turned and faced the girl sitting across from her, a chic brunette who was reapplying lip balm, looking into a compact mirror. "Oh, yeah, sure, Savannah," the bottle slows to a stop, pointing at Brody, a chill jock-type who smirked at Savannah. "Keep it short and sweet, Brody, don't be gross," Gracie muttered, giving Brody a stare that could shatter glass. He barely acknowledged her comment, but took it seriously as he gave Savannah a slight peck. Gracie Gorbo was a terrifying presence with a lot of influence, you did not want to get on her bad side, especially since Brody had a thing for her.
Savannah didn't seem fazed at all by anything and seemed more eager for which of the other three would kiss. She nudged the guy sitting next to her, "Bernard, it's your turn! C'mon, let's get to kissin'!!" she joked, kissing at the air. The man, an artsy looking individual with a purposeful quaff to his hair, huffed, "Bernardo, Savannah, the Italians gave this name to me as a gift on my trip to Italy" he smugishly noted.
She pursed her lips before correcting herself, looking over to the other two, who were rolling their eyes at their eccentric friend. "Okay, Bernardo, spin the bottle!" He took the bottle and spun it lightly, as everything he did was done with an artsy flourish. The bottle slowed to a stop on Brody. "No way, dude, that's gay. I'm not kissing Bernardo" Brody blurted out, crossing his arms defiantly. Bernardo looked like he didn't care, and was too stoned to do so anyways. "Brodyyyy, that takes the whole fun out of the game! Don't be so lame!" Savannah whined, upset that her game was going south so quickly. "Uh, uh, I'm not lame, I just don't wanna kiss a dude!"
Gracie was too busy staring at her necklace her rich dad bought her to care up until now, but she was getting impatient. "I think it would be really cool of you to go with Savannah's game, Brody" she smirked at Brody, giving him a coy wink. Brody's face turned red before he turned back to Bernardo, "Let's get this over with" and he leaned in and kissed Bernardo, wrinkling his nose in an exaggerated manner. After he pulled back, he wiped his mouth with his hands all over his mouth, while an unfazed Bernardo leaned back, "Nice, dude, run your own race" he said, taking another hit of his joint that was resting on an ash tray behind him. Brody looked over at an approving Gracie and the tension in his shoulders lessened. She blinked a few times before realizing it was her turn, she spun the bottle until it slowed and landed on Savannah. "Niiiice, that's what we're talking about!" Brody announced, eyeing the two girls expectantly. "Oh, shut up, Brody," Gracie said, shoving Brody's shoulder playfully, "Okay, Savannah, let's do this." Savannah smiled, "Okay, Gracie!"
Gracie leaned forward and placed the palm of her hand on Savannah's cheek, she looked down at her lips and licked hers, making a whole show of it before kissing her. Not a quick peck, but she pulled Savannah in, but a passionate kiss, her hands running through Savannah's hair before dramatically pulling back. Brody sat in shock for a second before hooting and hollering, clapping his hands together, "Damn, that was hot as hell! Next time, include me, huh?"
Gracie rolled her eyes at him before stretching, "I'm tired, you guys, I think I'm going to get some beauty sleep...not that I need it." She stood up and made her way upstairs, Brody following after her. Bernardo was already passed out on the floor, snoring loudly and mumbling Italian.
Savannah stayed put however, she raised her hands to her cheeks and felt them to be hot to the touch. Her stomach felt like it was full of butterflies that were trying to push their way out through her throat. She raised her fingers to her lips and felt the lingering stickiness of Gracie's balm on them. Her blush deepened at she felt the momento of the kiss, but she shook that thought from her head. "Gracie and me? She's my bestest friend in the whole world, but I can't think of her like that...ugh, I need to journal."
After putting out the fire, she made her way upstairs to her bedroom, across the hall from Gracie's. Her heart pounded in her chest as she made her way closer and closer to the rooms. "Maybe I should talk to her..." she thought as she made it to the door, but what was that noise? Savannah held her ear up to the door and heard moaning noises, very clearly from Gracie and Brody and a slight creak of a bed. She gasped and covered her mouth, her eyes becoming glassy with tears. She quickly rushed into her bedroom and collapsed onto the bed, crying. Through her blurry vision, she grabbed her journal and started writing about her conflicting feelings, how upset she was at her friends, and..."Savannah? Are you okay?" Oh shit, Gracie was knocking at her door.
Savannah wiped her eyes and slid her journal under her pillow, just in time too because Gracie opened the door. "Hey, Sav, I heard crying and was wondering if you were okay?" She looked genuinely concerned, something Gracie wasn't known for as she mostly spoke about herself. Forcing a smile and a positive tone, Savannah responded, "Oh, hey, Gracie! I'm great! I was just...laughing! Yeah, laughing at this book that I was reading!" gesturing blinding to the space around her. The brunette's eyebrows furrowed, "I didn't know you read?" Savannah's eyes widened slightly, shit, Gracie was her best friend after all, she'd know her habits better than anyone, best not to lie so blatantly. "You caught me, I'm just sad that the summer is going to end once we leave this cabin." She looked up at Gracie, boom, she took the bait as her expression turned to one of sympathy. She walked over to Savannah and sat with her on the bed, cuddling up to her and placing her head on her shoulder. "I am too, not to mention our big party that none of those losers we invited showed up to. Pfft, whatever, they didn't deserve to hang out at my daddy's cool ass cabin anyways." She wrapped her arm around Savannah's and her voice softened, "At least I got to hang out with my bestie."
Savannah's faced flushed, glad it was dark in the room, so Gracie couldn't see. "You know, Gracie, I have something to tell y-" she looked down and saw Gracie had fallen asleep, snoring softly into Savannah's arm. Lying down, she turned to face her sleeping friend, "Goodnight, Gracie, I love you" and she fell into a restful slumber.
Chapter 2
Summary:
The group leaves the cabin and has a more than interesting encounter at a Dairy Queen.
Chapter Text
The sun shined through Savannah's window and the radiant light smacked her right in the eyes, startling her awake. She moved her hand to where Gracie was lying the night prior and felt nothing. She sighed in disappointment before looking at the clock on the wall and realized that it was an hour before they were supposed to be on the road. "Ah! I've gotta get Gracie's stuff packed!" and she rushed to fill Gracie's plethora of bags, shoving things in quickly and without reason. Savannah's eyes landed on a journal, quite similar to her own that had a fancy "G.G." embroidered into the cover, a lock fixed on it. Her hands shakily grabbed the book, holding it like a precious religious item. She remembered that Gracie had the key on her 14 karat gold bracelet at all times, so breaking in would be pointless. Placing the journal inside one of the bags, Savannah respected Gracie's privacy, but the thought of what was inside that book lingered in the back of her mind.
She looked out her window to see if anyone else was outside, and luckily enough, Brody was putting some of the extra things in the Jeep, and Bernardo was...helping? Not sure if she could call somersaulting on a canvas, covered in paint, helping. She giggled slightly when a paint covered Bernardo was directed towards the lake by a stern-looking Brody. She rushed down the stairs and out the door, placing her and Gracie's things near the car. Noticing Gracie wasn't there, she scanned the area until her eyes fell onto the dock near the lake. Gracie was stripping on the wooden platform, seemingly to go for one last dip in the lake before going back to campus. Savannah's eyes stared at her perfectly tanned body, her thighs toned and fit, her curvaceous hips, her...Savannah's face turned bright red as she shook her head and looked away from Gracie. She leaned against the car and started to journal, hoping, by some means that Gracie would possibly be thinking about her and questioning why no one showed up to the party. Maybe it was her fault?
Brody noticed her standing there, "Hey, Sav, need help with those bags?" Before she could answer, a now clothed Gracie struts up to the car, "Oh, she's got them. Oh, Bernardo, you've got paint all over you. Maybe take a dip?" A melodramatic Bernardo brought his hand to his face, "It's actually art, so.." As he was saying this, Brody and Savannah finished piling the bags into the car. Taking it all in one last time, pulling the group in for a hug, Brody stared at the cabin and the lowering sun, "It's getting late, let's hit the road, you guys."
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The group piled into the vehicle and took off down the road. It had been about an hour when Brody broke the silence, "Bernardo, man, you're gonna need to open your window." Bernardo was in the back, blasting a joint and a cigarette at the same time. "It's really gross, you're hotboxing the car" Gracie scoffed, her window rolled down, fanning the smoke from her face. Bernardo looked and saw Savannah pressing her face against the popped window, trying to get fresh air. "Whatever, I guess you won't reach Nirvana."
"Where should we eat, guys?" Brody asked, taking his eyes off the road for a little too long to see what the others thought. "DAIRY QUEEN?" Savannah squealed, the thought of indulging in some yummy ice cream filling her thoughts. The rest of the group agreed, and they kept a lookout for the nearest one, which came three hours later, attached to a gas station (the best kind).
Shockingly enough, there was only one other car in the parking lot but no one to be seen, the silence thick in the air. Savannah, not catching the vibe at all asked in a peppy voice, "How about we re-up the tank and I'll order us some Dairy Queen?" Gracie winked at her, "You already know my order, babe." With that comment, Savannah blushed, confirming that she did know her order and everyone else's.
Bernardo, waking up from a nap, looked towards Gracie and said, "I'm gonna get some carrot SoBe, you coming?" Gracie placed her hand on her stomach, "Uh, I think I'm going to look for a restroom first, and then find a guy to fill the tank." He shrugged and made his way into the dilapidated store while Gracie went to find a restroom.
Approaching the Dairy Queen, Savannah pushed open the doors and a cheery dingdingding of a bell greeted them. The lights buzzed and the ice cream machine whirred, perfectly prepared ice cream cakes lined the freezers against the wall. Oddly enough, however, there was no employee at the counter, in fact, there was no one in the store at all. The two approached the front when Brody decided to call out. "Yo, wassupppp?" Brody called to the open kitchen behind the counter, smirking at his timely reference. His voice reverberated throughout the store, a clinking of a cup sounding in the back. Brody turned around to find Savannah humming to herself, grabbing an ice cream cake, seemingly unaware of the eeriness of the silence of a usually popular restaurant.
She went up to the counter and grabbed ten burgers from the warmer near the wall. "Perfect, an easy transaction...Brody?" Savannah noticed Brody rounding the corner and peeking into the deep fryer, making a disgusted face at whatever was inside. Fixated on whatever it was in there, Savannah watched as he jumped at a loud thud sounding from the walk-in freezer. She sighed and pulled out her Paul Frank wallet and placed $50 on the counter, "I don't have time for this, Gracie's really mean when she's hungry." She shouted to the back, "Brody, it's kinda creepy in here! Let's go!" and without any hesitation, he left with her, his hands shaking slightly.
The two college students went outside to find a pissed off Gracie sitting in the passenger seat and a satisfied Bernardo leaving the gas station with a piece of paper and some carrot SoBe.
"Okay everyone, get in the car and I'll pump some gas." Brody said, as he rounded to the other side. Savannah plopped into the backseat behind Gracie, her perfume lingering behind her. Man, she always smells so nice. That thought was quickly interrupted by Brody knocking on the window, pointing at a bull in the distance, his jaw agape. "Wow, this is so cool! I wish there was a place where we could post a photo of this and share it with our friends!" Savannah wished, leaning towards the left window to look at the bull.
By the time she got to the window, the bull had already made it an astounding 20 feet closer. Brody confessed that he was feeling scared and Bernardo made a quip about standing up to the bull, as they did in Spain. At that time, the bull had gotten closer, Savannah cooed at the cute creature and started drawing it in her journal. Brody was not feeling the same way and gently lowered himself into the car, the bull easing up next to Brody's window.
Noticing Brody's distress, Savannah jumped in, "Guys, let's put it in neutral and see if we...roll away!" She was quite proud of herself for coming up with a plan so quickly. Brody took her suggestion quickly and grabbed the stick, pulling it into neutral.
"You know, it's really hot that you have a stick shift" Gracie leaned towards Brody, a flirtatious grin on her face. Savannah tensed up, a familiar jealousy making her stomach churn, and in a moment of trying to take attention off that comment, she shouted, "What if we just piss the bull off?" The car went silent for a second before Gracie chastised, "Savannah!" but then her reaction shifted just as quickly, "Huh, but I kind of love that, like fuck it! Let's just start-"
Brody quickly jumped in defending his car from being scuffed. Gracie interrupted him with a sarcastic, "Okay, Brody" turning her head to look out the window. Savannah let out a relieved sigh, but lectured herself about her feeling joy in their fighting. She had to win Gracie back fair and square, not with stupid tricks that would hurt Gracie in the end.
Savannah turned again to focus back on the bull, wanting to look at its cuteness one last time before leaving. That's when she noticed a squirmy shape wiggle across in layer of it's eye. Gasping in terror, she turned her attention to the rest of the car, "Is anyone a Taurus? I think this might be a sign!"
Brody sat in shock, "Do you guys think this might be why Dairy Queen was empty?" Savannah looked at the bag full of burgers, "Guys...maybe we shouldn't eat these burgers." Bernardo nodded, "Yes, the source of their milk is clearly bad."
Savannah turned towards Gracie, who was already four burgers deep. Barely noticing the comment, she exclaimed, "Maybe the cow belonged to the guy who was shitting his life away!" Savannah questioned her and Gracie brushed off the memory of the guy, only really stating how disgusting his bathroom habits were. That's when Brody interrupted, "Guys! I'm gonna floor it!" and Brody put the car in drive and zoomed away from the gas station, leaving the bull behind.
"Guys, do you think that nobody showed up to our party because of this weird bull situation?" Almost too quickly, Savannah was shut down by Gracie and Brody. "You're right, you're right. It's because of me, I'm sorry." Savannah whimpered to herself.
"Don't worry, it wasn't you, Savannah" Gracie said, looking back at her. Savannah blinked and looked down, smiling. Gracie seemed like a tough person to be around, but she always knew how to make her feel better. Her anxiety was brought at ease and she managed to relax a bit, wondering what the real reason was for nobody showing up.
While she was lost in thought, she was brought back when Bernardo mentioned something about Gracie's dad's fruit factory. "What? A computer in the gas station?" Gracie placed her hands up to her head, "Why was my father's expensive and very successful business on the computer?" The boys pondered on if the person was just looking for some bananas.
Wanting to ignore the weird gas station find, Savannah lamented, "Guys...I just really want to get home and take a shower." She imagined how nice the hot water would feel after the long day of driving ahead of them. "Totally, Savannah." answered back Gracie. She was almost always on the same page as Savannah, something that really brought the two of them close together during college.
They were heading back to campus for their final year of school, another year of her and Gracie. Savannah thought back to all of the long nights of studying, sleepovers, driving until the early hours of the morning in her Mercedes. This was going to be the year where she finally told Gracie about how she felt. Nothing was going to stop her from achieving the perfect school year. She leaned back against the headrest, taking in a deep breath and ready to relax for the rest of the drive.