Devon shrugged. “You have known Nick a lot longer than you’ve known Travis, so I guess it probably would’ve happened by now if it was meant to be.”
Celeste stretched her tanned legs out in front of her on the lounge chair and crossed her hands behind her head. “Ugh, I cannot believe we’re having his conversation about Nick Saunders. I owe you one for keeping him out of my hair this summer. I’m pretty sure Travis would have a stroke if he saw Nick hanging around me like he usually does.”
“No problem.” Devon smiled. “I will definitely keep him out of your hair.”
Celeste laughed. “Hey, did you hear about the staff party tomorrow night? It’s going to rock—Dave knows this amazing spot. There are these hot springs way out in the middle of the desert. You need a jeep to get out there, but they’re supposed to be awesome.”
“I know!” Devon squealed. “The girls in the office told me about it. Is Travis going?”
“Yeah, of course—you know he never passes up an
opportunity for free beer. We can drive over around nine. Travis is going to take his Wrangler.”
“Oh, fun! It’ll be just like that staff party in Dirty Dancing.”
Celeste laughed. “Um, Dev, I think we need to talk about managing your expectations.”
✦ ✦ ✦
The air was windy and warm when the girls piled into Travis’s red Jeep Wrangler the next night. Strands of
cloud whipped across the moon, which hung glowing in the black sky.
“This is going to be a killer party,” Travis declared as Celeste climbed into the front seat and Devon folded herself into the back. “These springs are like fifteen miles out and there’s like practically no road, just a track.”
“I’m so excited!” Celeste squealed. “At last, freedom!”
She flung her arms out the open window dramatically. “I feel like I’ve been paroled or something.” She was feeling refreshed after a cool shower. She could tell Travis appreciated her choice of a ruffly white miniskirt by the way his eyes raked her legs when she swung into the front seat.
Travis gunned the motor and the car sped away down the curvy highway. The lights and noise of town faded behind them as the truck turned onto smaller and smaller paved roads and finally bumped onto a dirt path, heading out into the dark, silent night. Celeste rolled down the window and let the pinyon-scented air whip her face. It felt so good to be out of her everlasting uniform, just having fun, not worrying about her parents, or the resort, or anything.
After a little while, Travis slowed down.
“Is this it?” Celeste asked, craning her head. It just looked like more desert—piles of rocks, some sand, some rough grasses.
“Yeah, I think so,” Travis answered. He pointed to a cluster of trucks parked by a dune and killed the engine.
With the headlights off, the full moon flooded the landscape, lighting everything in an eerie gray glow. It was so bright, Celeste could see the freckles on Devon’s nose. All three of them stood by the truck for a minute, scanning around them.
“There they are!” Devon pointed to a group of figures about fifty feet away. The girls crunched over, picking their way around scattered red rocks and skirting clumps of tall desert grass. Celeste clutched Travis’s arm and congratulated herself on wearing Tevas instead of flip-flops tonight.
As they approached, they could see a small campfire burning, with a few figures standing around it. Everyone else was sitting in a series of natural pools tucked in among the rocks. They looked like a lot of disembodied heads floating in the water. Steam wafted upward, con-cealing people’s faces, and the rotten-egg smell of sulfur hung strong in the air.
“Hey, Celeste!” She turned at the sound of her name.
Dave and Rick were waving from the other side of the fire. “Come here and give us a hug!”
Celeste trotted over. She could see that both of them had already been drinking for a while. Travis lumbered up behind her.
“This is an amazing party spot, Dave!” Celeste
exclaimed. “Are all those pools, like, hot?”
“Yeah. The water comes up from underground and
the pools just formed here. Some of them are really hot—
like you’ll boil yourself. This one’s the best.” He pointed to the largest pool where most people were sitting.
“So why am I just finding out about this place now?”
Celeste demanded playfully.
Dave smiled and exchanged glances with Rick. A gold crown on one of his teeth caught the firelight and flashed. “Pinyon staff ’s been coming here forever, but you’re a junior, right? We figured we didn’t want to cor-rupt you too early.” Everyone cracked up.
Celeste smacked Dave on the shoulder. “Well, I’m a big girl now, so you don’t have to worry. In fact, you can get me a beer.” She pointed to a big red cooler half buried in the sand.
Dave bent over and rummaged through the ice. “You girls want Miller Lite or Natty Light?”
“Um, Natty, I guess,” Celeste said, and accepted a dripping cold bottle.
“I brought my own,” Devon said.
“What?” Celeste turned to her friend.
Devon smiled wickedly and dug into her handbag to pull out a large silver flask. “I’m going classy tonight,”
she said, and twisted off the cap.
Celeste laughed. “You are going something—I’m not sure classy is the word for it, though. Where’d you get the flask?”
Devon winked. “Where do you think?”
Celeste’s eyes widened. “Nick?” she whispered so Travis wouldn’t hear. Devon nodded.
“He said it’s the only way to drink.”
Travis draped his arm around Celeste’s neck while he drained his beer. She gazed up at the huge bright
