I woke up from a dream of being in Las Vegas to laying in my old twin bed at my mom’s house waiting for news on whether or not my aunt was ok. I hear someone walking up the stairs and I perk up in my bed, ready for my mom to deliver the news on how aunt Janie is doing. The door swings open. Becca. But how and why? She walked closer to me as I rub my eyes to make sure I wasn’t still dreaming about being in Las Vegas. She extends her arms out and throws herself on top of me. I squeezed her as if I was never going to let go. We were interrupted shortly after by the buzz of my cell phone. It was my mom.

            “Tell me she’s ok.” I said immediately after I picked up the phone.

            “She’s ok, she just got out of surgery and it all went well.” A massive sense of relief came over me. All of the anxiety from the last 24 hours had vanished. Now it was just me and Becca, nothing else to worry about.

The day was finally here, the last leg of our trip and the first night of EDC Las Vegas. It had been four long days of traveling but we were ready, all we had was one final leg from Grand Junction, Colorado to Las Vegas, Nevada where we would be staying in a suite in the MGM Grand and living luxurious. No more Holiday Inn Express’s and cheap Airbnb’s, this was the day we’d been waiting for.

            We were on the road rehearsing the final songs from all of the artists that we would be seeing when my mom called. I turned down the music and answered. “Hello?”

            “Hey buddy, are you guys getting close?” She asked, I could tell something was wrong, I could hear it in her voice.  

            “Ummm, yeah. Why? What’s Up?” I asked very curiously, getting kind of worried. Becca could see that something was wrong, she set her phone down and started looking at me.

            “It’s your aunt, she has gotten really sick.” She said. My heart sunk. “She was throwing up profusely last night so we rushed her to the ER”

            “Is she okay? Like is she going to live?” I said frantically, jumping to conclusions. By this point I had the whole car’s attention, everyone leaned in closer to try and hear what my mom was saying.

            “We aren’t sure yet, they’re running her through a lot of tests right now, but it isn’t looking too good.” My mom said, holding back tears. I need to get back there, as hard as it is to leave my friends and a girl that seemed to be falling for me, that is what I need to do. After hanging up the phone with my mom, I asked Becca to look and see if there were any flights out of Las Vegas tonight and she said there was, at 6 PM. Against all the temptations to stay, I climbed aboard that flight and caught a cab immediately to the hospital.

Expenses:

Food: $30

Gas Stop 8: $60

Flight: $400

Cab: $20

Money Remaining: $500

I wake up and look over at my phone to check the time, 8:56 is reads. I stare blankly at it for 10 seconds before I decide that it’s time to get up. We are now in a holiday inn express in Denver, Colorado. Four people crammed into one hotel room with two queen beds. We don’t care, however, as we decided to stay in Omaha for a while and hang out yesterday but that resulted in us not getting to Denver until 2:00 am. I stumble into the bathroom and make a halfhearted attempt at getting ready before taking the elevator down to the lobby to see how their continental breakfast was. I browse my limited options before sitting down in a booth with a cup of mediocre coffee and a bowl of stale frosted flakes. I enjoy my hearty breakfast while watching the local news for Denver. After a few minutes, Thomas walks out from around the corner to join me. “Good morning.” I say to him automatically.

            “Good morning!” He says to me as he walks by to go browse the assortment of fruits and pastries. He sits down with a couple pieces of toast and a glass of orange juice. “So, how’s it been going with Becca so far?” he said curiously.

            “It’s been going pretty well.” I said being very short with him.

            “What’s that supposed to mean?” He said, realizing the fact that I was hiding something from him.

            “I don’t know man; I just don’t know how to act around her.” I said, being mostly honest with him, specifically trying to avoid talking about the incident yesterday.

            “Dude she likes you.”

            “What? There’s no way.” Secretly, deep down I did think there was a way, but I needed more confirmation.

            “Yeah man, Hannah told me that Becca said she’s starting to catch feelings for you but is scared you don’t feel the same way.” He said in excitement.

            “Are you kidding me? I thought it was so obvious.” I said in shock.

            “Oh, trust me, I did too.” Thomas said with a slight smirk on his face. But was this really true? Does she actually have feelings for me? Or is Tom just saying that to get me to finally make a move and embarrass myself? Only time will tell.

            Once we got back on the road, we had a relatively short drive over to Grand Junction, Colorado from Denver. My mom called again and this time she was taking my aunt Janie to the doctor’s office because she had been feeling worse and worse and needed a diagnosis.

Expenses:

Food: $50

Gas Stop 6&7: $110

Hotel $120

Money Remaining: $1010

“BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ.” My phone yelled in my ear as it interrupted my dream. “BUZZ, BUZZ.” Who could possibly be calling me? What time even is it? “BUZZ, BUZZ.” Seemingly getting louder as I scrambled over to the bedside table of this room that was foreign to me. “BUZZ, BUZZ.”

            “HELLO!?!” I said in anger as I was finally able to interrupt the most annoying sound in the world to wake up to.

            “Hey buddy what’s up?” my mom said in a very melancholy tone.

            “Mom? Whose phone are you calling from and why are you calling me at 6 am?” I said in confusion with a hint of attitude that an aggravated son would usually give his mother.

            “It’s your aunt Janie’s phone, and oh I’m sorry I forgot about the time change!” She said, still very chipper. I had never been that close to my aunt Janie which explains why I don’t have her number.

            “Why are you at aunt Janie’s?” I said, still waking up from the limited sleep I had received as we went out for a couple drinks last night and didn’t get back until 3 in the morning.

            “She just has a little bit of a cold, so I just brought her some soup and I’m spending some time with her.” My mom said very casually. “But anyways, how’s the trip going so far? I saw your Instagram post, Nebraska looks, well, interesting.” She said trying to act more interested than she actually was.

            “It’s actually not as boring as it sounds, we went to a couple really cool bars last night and had a good time.” I said, finally fully awake.

            “Oh well that’s good, how’s Becca doing?” My mom said in a playful tone. Everyone seemed to mess with me about Becca at this point. Everyone, me included, wants us to date but I just can never seem to get the courage to.

            “She’s good mom.” I said, blushing, as I see Becca wonder into my room and jump onto the other side of the queen bed that I was now sitting upright in. Her brown, sleepy, eyes staring at me in confusion through her circular glasses.

            “Who’s that?” She asks in her raspy morning voice.

            “Just my mom.” I say in a casual tone trying to act cool.

            “Oh my gosh! Let me talk to her!” Before I had anytime to reply she snatched the phone out of my hands. I begin to get worried that my mom is going to say something embarrassing to I try to get it back, but Becca pushes me away until I give up trying. “Hi Mrs. Bone!” She says with excitement. Though I can’t hear my mom and can tell that she is way more excited to talk to Becca than she was to talk to me. I don’t blame her. I then begin the fight of getting the phone back from Becca, but she won’t let it happen. “Oh, does he now?” she says beginning to tease me and the anxiety of what my mom is saying to her is digging at me. I finally just give up and Becca finishes her conversation with my mom.

            “You know I really hate you sometimes.” I say sarcastically with a grin on my face.

            “Aw is someone a little upset?” She says teasing me as she reaches over to tickle me, the same way my mom used to when I was younger.

            “Oh, so you want to fight now, do you?” We then wrestle for a second until I let her beat me and our eyes meet. I start to panic. What do I do? Do I make a move? Her lips start to move closer to mine as her tiny body keeps me trapped against the mattress.

            “Alright guys, who’s ready to get on the road!?” Thomas yells as he slams open the door. Becca and I quickly depart from each other. Damn it.

Expenses:

Food: $60

Gas Stops 4&5: $100

Hotel: $150

Money Remaining: $1290

We arrived in Chicago late Monday night where we crashed at my friends’ Travis and Jared’s house. Jared was my freshman roommate at Michigan State and was always willing to do me a favor. We planned on staying the morning in Chicago to hangout and see what there was to see then we would leave around noon to head to Omaha. I rolled off the futon in the living room at 8 am as I didn’t want to sleep away our short day in Chicago. Tip toeing into the kitchen, trying not to wake up sleeping Becca who was on the couch I started a pot of coffee.

            “Someone’s up early.” I dropped my phone in freight as I turned around to see Becca behind me.

            “Oh my god, you scared the shit out of me!” I said as I reached down to pick up my phone. She immediately started laughing and once I composed myself, I started to chuckle too as the irony of the situation became apparent. My six-foot-tall self just had his life flash before his eyes from a five foot nothing innocent girl. I got lost in her eyes for a couple of seconds and a silence struck the room.

            “Well are you going to pour me a cup or are you just gonna stand there?” She said with a hint of attitude that I absolutely adored. I reached over and poured her a glass as we sat down and began to share stories from our past semesters at each of our schools. I let her do most of the talking as I just listened in awe. Once the others woke up, we walked to a near by breakfast place where I had the best omelet I’ve had in my life. I paid for the breakfast as a way to thank Travis and Jared for housing us for the night and a way to thank everyone for celebrating my birthday with me.

            We got on the road again at about two o clock, this time we were going to go until will reached Omaha, Nebraska where we had an Airbnb waiting for us. 7 hours ahead of nothing but country roads and EDM music to get us prepared for the wild weekend that was ahead of us. All four of us zombied our way to the door of the apartment that laid right in the heart of downtown Omaha. After about ten minutes of me trying to figure out how to open the door as I was new to this whole Airbnb I finally lurched it open and what we were greeted with was spectacular.

            “How much was this place?” Tom said, expecting me to answer with a number way more than the $180 that is actually was.

            “Only like fifty bucks a person.” I said in a confused tone. This place was amazing. Exposed brick walls, 16-foot-tall ceilings, it was a 21 year old’s dream home. It was unfortunate that we would only be here for a night.

Expenses:
Breakfast: $60

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Gas Stop 2&3: $100

Airbnb: $180   https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/21111422?adults=4&source_impression_id=p3_1576183630_GPyQL%2BM%2FrfJRHp27

Money Remaining: $1600

The door trunk slammed shut to mark the beginning of the trip of a lifetime. On the heels of what was a pretty lame 21^st birthday I was finally ready to really get what it means to be 21. We were going to be going to EDC Las Vegas, which is possibly the greatest first journey as a 21-year-old that I could think of. I left my apartment with my bags packed and made my way through the bustling traffic of the motor city to Thomas’ mom’s house to pick him up. “Yooooooo, you ready or what??” I shout as I step out of the aching door of the 1998 Toyota Fore Runner that I sometimes call my car.

            “Well if it isn’t the 21-year-old himself, how’s it feel little buddy?” Tom said in a playful tone, trying to make fun of me.

            “Admit it, you’re glad you can finally have someone to go out with, legally.” I said in a chuckle. Tom was 23 and he’d be dragging me out to bars with him for the past couple of years. And well, 8 fake id’s later and I can finally go have some good fun with him without the worry of getting caught.

            “I know bro, I’m just fucking with you, it’s gonna be a good week.” Tom said in a normal tone as he reached his hand out and brought me in for a hug. “Are you gonna finally make a move on Becca this week or what?” He said, back in his playful tone.

            “Shut up dude, you know I would never.” I said defensively. As I tossed Tom’s bag into the bag of my car. Becca was a girl that, between Tom and I, I’ve had a crush on ever since senior year of high school. Unfortunately, we’ve just grown to be close friends and there’s nothing I could do now to change that.

            “Dude come on, you only celebrate your 21^st once in your life, you’ve gotta shoot your shot.” He said eagerly.

            “Ok, we’ll see.” I said just to get him to stop talking about the whole thing. The car burbled to life as we headed out to Hannah’s house to pick up her and Becca. Once we pulled in the driveway, both Tom and I hopped out of the car and he ran up to his girlfriend and gave her a hug. “Hi Hannah!” Her plush blonde hair blew back in the wind as she pranced over towards me.

            “Well if it isn’t the birthday boy himself.” She said in energetic fashion. As she squeezed my limp body. I chuckled. It was good to see Hannah. She was the one person who I had started to become very close to. She was that friend who I told everything and wasn’t afraid to because I knew she wouldn’t judge me for showing my emotions.

            “Where’s Becca?” I said curiously.

            “Chill love bird, she’s just grabbing a couple more things then she’ll be right out. I know you’re dying to see her.” Hannah said, making fun of me. I rolled my eyes and a grin formed on my face. Hannah and Tom always gave me shit about liking Becca. They both antagonized me nonstop for not ever asking her out on a date. My thoughts were interrupted when she walked out the door. Her dark brown hair danced in the wind as she walked down the front stairs of Hannah’s house. She was carrying two bags that had to have weighed more than she did. I ran to help just as the bag in her right hand slipped and tumbled down the staircase. It clipped my left ankle. I winced in pain, but the pain was nothing compared to the embarrassment.

            “Oh no I’m so sorry!!” She said trying to be sincere but couldn’t hold back from laughing. I laughed too through the pain and embarrassment.

            “No, no, it’s fine it’s not like I need that foot to drive us 2000 miles to Las Vegas or anything.” I said sarcastically. She laughed as our eyes met for the first time in four months. She goes to Penn State and I go Michigan State so we only see each other when we’re home for Christmas and summer. I tell myself that’s one of the reasons I won’t ask her out when in reality it’s just a cover up for my lack of confidence. I helped her with the bags and closed the trunk for the last time until I slammed the drunk closed for the final time until we would arrive at our first stop which was Chicago.

Expenses:

Dinner $20

Gas Stop 1 $40

Money Remaining: $1940