CHATROOM
LOVE
Chapter Twenty-Eight
November 17, 2001
Las Vegas, Nevada
It was
mid-morning before any of the overtired teenagers began to awaken. Helga awoke
first, sitting up and stretching, then grinning at the sight of Mrs. Bergen
sound asleep beside her daughter, holding a handful of Dawn’s hair in a
stranglehold.
Quietly,
she tiptoed over to Dawn and shook her gently, waking her up. Dawn looked at
her blearily for a moment, then sat up, laying down again abruptly as her
mother’s grip yanked hard on her hair.
"Ow!
Mom!"
Mrs.
Bergen opened her eyes, looking in confusion at her daughter. "What?"
"You
were pulling my hair!"
"No,
I wasn’t…" She looked at her now loose hand, which contained a few strands
of Dawn’s long, blonde hair. "Oh. Sorry, honey."
Rose
rolled over, startled awake by the commotion. "What’s going on?"
"My
mother is trying to pluck me bald," Dawn complained, rubbing her head.
"I
have to keep you in line somehow," Mrs. Bergen joked, letting go of the
strands of hair. Helga just laughed.
"I
don’t wanna know," Rose mumbled, turning back over and pulling the pillow
over her head.
Dawn
got up, pulling the pillow off of Rose. "Come on, Rose. Get up. What’s the
point of being in Las Vegas if we spend the whole trip sleeping?"
"Uh…"
Rose tried to pull the covers over her head, but Dawn pulled those away, too.
Helga turned on the light.
Rose
sat up, blinking and trying to shield her eyes. "Why are you guys
torturing me?"
"We
want to go to the mall," Dawn replied matter-of-factly, grabbing Rose’s
arm and trying to pull her off the bed. "Come on! Let’s get ready."
"Anyway,
I’m hungry," Helga added.
"Get
room service."
"No
way. I want to go out for breakfast. I want to see how Tommy survived sharing a
room with Jack, Fabri, and my dad." Dawn grinned.
"You’re
mean."
"No,
I’m Dawn. Come on, Rose. Let’s get going."
*****
Forty-five
minutes later, the whole group set out for breakfast. In spite of the fact that
they had to walk, they soon found a restaurant that everyone could agree on.
Mr. and
Mrs. Bergen were grateful to let the six teenagers squeeze into a booth of
their own, leaving the parents to their own devices.
The six
young people squeezed together in the booth, not bothering to use the chairs
available for extra people. Jack and Rose sat together, perusing a single menu
and ignoring everyone else.
"Look
at the lovebirds," Fabrizio joked, watching them from the other end of the
booth. He was sitting next to Helga, but not so close to her that they seemed
to be joined at the hip.
"Great
menu, huh?" Dawn remarked, smirking at them. Rose was practically in
Jack’s lap.
"Everything
here looks good," Tommy added, so concerned with filling his stomach that
he had missed the conversation.
Everyone
laughed. He looked up, puzzled.
"What?"
"Nothing,"
Dawn assured him, patting him on the arm. "Absolutely nothing."
"No,
really. What’s so funny?" He gave her a frustrated look.
At that
moment, Mrs. Bergen came over to their table.
"Jack,
Rose," she began. "You do realize that we’re in public, right?"
Jack
gave a strange look. "Yeah. Why?"
"I
think you two should sit in separate chairs instead of in each other’s
laps."
"We
have enough space," Rose protested, turning red.
"Uh-uh.
Separate chairs. Then everyone will have enough space." She looked
pointedly at Dawn and Tommy. "Including you two."
Grumbling,
they rearranged themselves, earning an odd look from the waitress as she came
to take their orders.
After
they had eaten, they all hurried outside, the guys jostling and betting on who
had eaten the most. When the entire group was finally outside, the teenagers
looked up and down the street expectantly.
"Where’s
the limousine?" Dawn wanted to know, turning to her parents hopefully.
"We
only rented it for last night and the night of the concert," her dad told
her.
"Well,
then, how are we supposed to get around? We want to go to the mall."
Mr.
Bergen pointed up the street. "There’s a bus stop. You find the bus that
you need and ride it where you need to go."
"The
bus?" Dawn wrinkled her nose.
"Yes,
the bus. Just like you used to take to school."
"But,
Dad…"
"But
nothing. It’s about time you learned to take the bus."
"But
this is a foreign country!"
"I
know how the bus system works," Jack said, earning a glare from Dawn.
"We call the bus line and get the schedule. In a city like this, it
shouldn’t be too hard."
"I’d
still rather take the limousine," Dawn grumbled, giving her parents a
sullen look.
Mrs.
Bergen ignored her sulking. "Go on, everyone. Have a good time."
She and
her husband turned to walk back down the street, searching for something more
interesting than roaming around a mall with the kids.
"Come
on." Jack headed up the street, toward the bus stop, Dawn trailing after
the rest of the group and still sulking.
*****
By the
time they arrived at the mall, Dawn’s sullen mood had given way. As the bus
moved through the streets, she stared out the window, looking hopefully for a
casino that was open at noon. Despite the teasing of the others, she still
hoped to play a few slot machines.
When
the bus pulled up at The Boulevard Mall, all six of them piled out, trying to
decide where to go first.
"The
food court," Tommy said, looking at the layout of the mall and trying to
figure out where it was.
"We
just ate," Helga told him. "I want to look at some clothing
stores."
"Yeah.
Me, too," Rose agreed. "We need to get some stuff to wear to the
concert."
"Don’t
worry, Helga," Dawn added, seeing her open her mouth to protest. "If
you find something you like, we’ll get it for you. Just consider it a Christmas
present."
"I
don’t know…"
"If
Dawn can get a birthday present in November, when her birthday is in January,
then you can get a Christmas present, too," Fabrizio told her. He didn’t
look any too enthused at the idea of hanging around with the girls while they
shopped for clothes, though.
"Why
don’t we split up?" Jack suggested. "American malls aren’t really
that different from Canadian malls, so we shouldn’t get lost. Let’s meet in the
food court in a couple of hours."
"Sure,"
Tommy agreed, relieved that he wouldn’t have to follow his girlfriend while she
shopped for clothes. He enjoyed being around her, he really did, but shopping
for clothes ranked just above going to the dentist on his list of
least-favourite activities.
"Fine,"
Rose told him. "We’ll see you in the food court around two."
*****
The
gang finally got together again at 2:15. All three of the girls had had their
nails done, and each sported a shopping bag containing a new outfit for the
concert. The guys had spent most of their time in the arcade, playing video
games, although a display of art books in the B. Dalton Booksellers had caught Jack’s attention,
and they had hung around the comic shop until the owner had suggested strongly
that they leave.
Once
they’d found a couple of tables to sit at, they joined the lines at the
different fast food sellers, looking for enough food to replace all the energy
they’d worked off in the mall.
Tommy
was at the counter of the McDonald’s when a girl who’d been flipping burgers
called to her boss.
"I’m
taking my break now!"
He
craned to look at her. With her back turned, he couldn’t tell if he knew her or
not, but her voice sounded familiar. As she turned to leave, he leaned forward,
recognizing her now.
"Hey,
Paola! What are you doing here?"
Paola
Thompson turned, surprised, to see her third cousin Tommy leaning across the
counter and waving at her.