ARIZONA DRIFTERS (sssniperwolf + digitalnex)

Chapter 8- LIQUOR, CLUBS, HEARTACHES

With night's dark cloak covering Arizona, the desert sat quiet. The humid wind had calmed down, and the damp air had chilled slightly. A tumbleweed rolled itself across the desert sand, the stark-blue sky giving its shape a silhouette. All of the animals hid in their burrows for whatever shade they could find. The darkness of the desert came to life as Lia, Chris, Ranya, and Mariah drove along the valleys towards Kevin's club.

Lia and Ranya bopped their heads to the songs on the radio, the moonlight pouring into the car window. The sky had gotten darker since they first began driving. It was 9:28 at night; all four of them were earlier than intended. Lia rubbed her finger on the strap of her croptop, Both Ranya and Lia bubbled in excitement, shown with their burst of energy and constant laughing.

"I cannot wait to drift," Ranya acclaimed, gripping the steering wheel tightly. The white glare on her face from the moonlight expressed her appearance as eager. Lia smiled widely.

"I can't either," she agreed, a cramp in her face jaw muscles from smiling so often. "Makes you feel alive, doesn't it?"

Ranya nodded, her nose piercing glistening from the moonshine.

"I'm hoping Chris doesn't get caught by the cops like he said he did last time," Ranya suddenly joked. "Are you sure that's the reason why Vi went apeshit?"

Lia's smile faded. It was something she didn't want to think about. It just made her mind filled with guilt. Plus, it reminded her of whatever Chris wanted to tell Lia and...well--her situation with Evan.

"I think so. Maybe she was just already in a bad mood."

Ranya raised her eyebrows passively, exhaling. She grabbed a small remote, turning the lights in her car to the color blue.

"That's something too beef-headed to get mad at, don't you think?" her sister asked, hitting her vape. The blue lights in Ranya's car strobed inside; causing Lia to squint her eyes.

"I don't know."

The car began to smell like passionfruit once again. Ranya glanced at her sister briefly, soon rolling down the window. Lia truly didn't want to talk about Vi--or anything related to earlier of that matter. All she wanted to think about was drifting with her friends. Nothing would go wrong if they all just forgot about it and tried to have a lively night.

The summer-night air blew a few strands of Lia's hair around. She tapped her foot to the music, trying to avoid confrontation between her and Ranya, because she knew her sister was studying her at the red light. She decided to hum. Hum and avoid contact. She felt the questioning eyes stare into her soul. Holy shit, would the rubberneck ever look away?

"What!" Lia whined with a laugh. She felt herself blush. Being studied always embarrassed her. Luckily, the car was too dark; her rosy cheeks weren't visible to the naked eye.

"What're you all embarrassed for?" Ranya asked her, chuckling dryly. "We're just talking about Vi."

"Who said I'm embarrassed?" Lia defended, feeling her blush grow worse.

"Nobody said anything. But it's clearly obvious."

Lia sank in her seat slightly. How the hell did Ranya notice? It's not like she was stuttering like an anime schoolgirl.

"How can you tell?"

Ranya rolled her eyes, tossing her dead vape towards the backseat.

"Well," she started sternly. "We've got blue lights that fill up the car, and your red-ass cheeks that blend in with it. And for some ghastly, apalling reason...your aura is purple."

"Aura?" Lia questioned, scrunching her nose. She tried to change the subject. "When the fuck did you become spiritual?"

"When I was hammered from Russian wine in a haunted hotel a few years back. You do the math."