"Is this the life or what?" Jessica Wakefield shouted. She threw back her head and let her long, blond hair whip around her face. "There's no better way to travel in California than in a convertible with the top down."
Her identical twin, Elizabeth, laughed, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel as she drove. "For once, Jess, you and I are in complete agreement."
The twins were on their way to San Francisco to participate in the Intense Cable Sports Network's big summer Coast-to-Coast Road Trip Challenge. From the very moment Elizabeth had told her about the contest, Jessica knew she had to be part of it. And now her dream was finally coming true. She would be traveling across the country, stopping at exciting and interesting pieces, performing crazy stunts for points. It would be a chance to meet new people and see new things. And best of all, if her team won, she'd receive a five-thousand-dollar scholarship.
Jessica flipped down the visor and checked her lipstick in the tiny mirror. Perfect as always. "No chaperon, no worries--no rules!" She leaned down and flicked on the radio, then reached over and yanked the scrunchie out of Elizabeth's ponytail, letting her blond hair loose.
"Hey, I'm trying to drive here!" Elizabeth shook her hair out of her face. "It might help if I could see where I'm going."
"Loosen up, Liz!" Jessica shouted gleefully. "It's time for new beginnings. Change is in the wind. Flow with it."
"The only thing flowing at the moment is my hair," Elizabeth said.
Jessica faked a pout and loosened her seat belt enough to lean over and twist Elizabeth's hair back into a ponytail--or a reasonable facsimile. She backed away to view her efforts and wrinkled her nose. "Well, it's not one hundred percent straight, but you can fix it when we stop."
"Thanks a lot," Elizabeth muttered. She lowered the volume on the radio. "Speaking of change in the wind, did you realize you only brought along one duffel bag and one small suitcase?"
Jessica shrugged. "That's all the instruction letter said we could bring."
"I know that. But a little thing like a rule has never stopped you before. Jess, we're going to be gone four whole weeks. You usually take more luggage than that on an overnighter."
"You got me there." Jessica laughed. She was actually glad to be free from one of her old, typical Jessica-isms. She'd been working hard lately to figure out who she was and where she wanted to go with her life. Packing lighter wasn't a huge change, but it was a start. "Do you think I'm losing it?"
"I never thought I'd say this," Elizabeth joked. "But I think maybe you're maturing."
Jessica smiled and gazed out at the road ahead. "Not according to Lila," she said. "She thinks I've gone crazy. You should have seen her this weekend at her Fourth of July party. If her nose had gotten any higher in the air, she'd have keeled over." Jessica raised her voice about half an octave and perfectly mimicked her best friend's pretentious tone. "'How can you even
think of participating in that tacky little contest, I can't think of anything worse than traveling all over the country cooped up in a camper with five complete strangers.'"
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "She's just jealous."
"You know it and I know it, but I don't think she does," Jessica said. "She had this whole story worked out about how she'd planned to go to Europe all along."
"Then how did she explain the fact that she filled out an entry form?" Elizabeth asked.
"I think she conveniently forgot that little detail," Jessica said sarcastically. "What about Nina? Was she upset that she wasn't chosen?"
Elizabeth shook her head, never taking her eyes from the road. "She didn't even apply and couldn't believe I did. According to her, performing demeaning and disgraceful stunts just so a TV show doesn't have to hire actors is not something that a serious person like Elizabeth Wakefield would even consider."
"Well, you have to admit, it is a little out of character," Jessica pointed out. "Seeking adventure has never been one of your strong suits."
"True. But after spending a trillion hours in the library studying for finals, I figured a change of scenery would be a good idea," Elizabeth said.
"Tell me about it," Jessica said with a laugh. "I was beginning to think you were going to become one with your reading-room cubicle."
Elizabeth shook her head, smiling ruefully. "I thought I'd never make it through that last week of school. I was totally stressed. But now that our freshman year is over and the pressure is gone, I feel really optimistic. I think this whole experience is going to be good for me. I feel different somehow. What do you think?"
"I know
something's different. You should have seen Dad's face when you returned from the car rental with this red Mustang." Jessica ran her hands appreciatively over the dashboard. "I think he must have thought you were me."
"I know." Elizabeth grinned at her sister. "I had already filled out the paperwork for a little economy car, but then I saw this parked out front and . . . I don't know. I just couldn't help myself."
"That's the attitude!" Jessica cheered, throwing her arms into the air. "Out with the old and in with the new!"
"It was really sweet of you to offer to come to the airport with me this morning and take care of my car while I'm gone," Todd Wilkins said as he steered his BMW into the right lane for departing flights.
Beside him his girlfriend, Dana Upshaw, said nothing. She'd been quiet all morning, and it was beginning to freak Todd out a bit. Usually Dana was as bubbly as a shaken glass of Sprite.
"Dana, did you hear me?" Despite having to concentrate on the heavy traffic, he glanced across the seat at her. Dana was staring straight ahead, her expression stony. Todd felt his shoulders start to tense up.
"OK, what's the deal?" he asked. "Why are you giving me the silent treatment?"
Her shrug was hardly perceivable.
Todd gasped and slammed on the brakes as a black Bronco cut in front of him. He barely missed plowing into the guy. "Dana, I can't do the sign-language thing right now. Will you please speak to me? What's bugging you?"
"Aren't you even going to park?" Somehow she made her words sound more like an accusation than a question.
"No, it's too expensive." He passed a slow-moving minivan. "And besides, it takes too long. This way I can just jump out and grab my stuff, and you can take off." He reached over and laid his hand affectionately just below the hem of her green miniskirt. "There's really no point in you coming inside just to wait around the airport with me."
She brushed his hand off her leg as if it were a bug and tugged the hem of her skirt lower. "Did it ever occur to you that I might want to wait around with you? After all, it'll be the last chance I'll have to see you for four whole weeks."
Four weeks didn't seem that long to Todd, but he knew that nothing he said was going to convince Dana. They'd been arguing about his going on this ICSN trip ever since he'd gotten the notification that he'd been chosen. With a sigh and a quick rearview glance, Todd stomped the accelerator and squeezed into the lane that led to short-term parking.
The driver in the Corvette behind him honked and flipped him off, but Todd ignored him. He had his own worries at the moment.
Dana uncrossed her arms and legs and settled back in the seat, temporarily mollified. It didn't last long, however. The minute Todd parked the car, her tears began to fall.
"Dana," Todd whispered. "Please don't do this now."
"I can't help it," she said with a sniff.
He pushed her lovely mahogany curls away from her face and kissed her wet cheeks. She slid into his arms, and he held her until her crying died down.
"Are you OK now?" Todd asked.
She nodded and pulled a Kleenex out of the crazy, kiddie lunch box she was using for a purse.
With Dana sniffling along beside him, Todd grabbed his duffel bag from the trunk, slung it over one shoulder, and headed for the terminal. They were hardly inside when Dana grabbed him around the waist and clung to him as if she were being abandoned. Todd strained to see the overhead departing-flight screens. "My flight is right on time. They'll start boarding any minute now." He peeled Dana's arms away and tried to put a little space between them. Dana was a beautiful woman, and over the past few months she'd come to mean a lot to him. But lately she had become way too possessive and clingy.
"I still don't see why you have to do this," she whined.
"Dana, please," Todd said, trying to keep the edge out of his voice. "We've been through this."
She plopped onto a padded bench and pulled him down beside her. Sliding a hand under his shirt, she began caressing his back and nibbling at his ear.
"OK, you've definitely got my attention," he said, capturing her hand somewhat reluctantly.
"I don't want you to go on this trip." Dana was practically whimpering.
Todd dropped his head and let out a frustrated breath. "Dana, only eight people from SW were selected. I can't just bail."
"They picked alternates. Let one of them go in your place," Dana said, her voice hopeful. "Tom Watts was an alternate, wasn't he? We could call him right now. I'll bet he'd drop everything for a chance to ch...
