Gregory Girls Gone Wild - Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Rainey hopped off her sleek Harley Davidson and tucked her helmet in between her arms. She avoided all eye contact with the bewildered girl who still sat on her motorcycle, and rushed into the math building.
"Hey, Rainey wait up!" Danika said. She gingerly got off the bike and followed Rainey inside.
"That was your sister?" Danika asked, grabbing Rainey's arm.
Rainey shook her hand off, irritated and looked around the water station.
"Did we leave an extra box here?" Rainey asked the volunteer. The volunteer slouched against the chair, her feet up on the table.
"Nope," the volunteer said, looking bored.
"Rainey," Danika repeated.
"Yes?"
"You have a sister?"
"Yes."
After making sure that the volunteer had spoken truthfully and that there were really no extra cartons in the station room, Rainey went back to her bike.
"How come you never mentioned you had a sister?" Danika persisted.
"Because," Rainey said, revving the engine. "It's none of your business."
As they sped to the next station, Danika yelled some more questions.
"Why didn't you say hi to her?" she yelled.
"Because it's none of your business!" Rainey yelled back.
They visited five more water stations like this, with Rainey doing her best to ignore all of Danika's questions.
"You guys look alike," Danika said, as they exited the English building.
"That's because we're kind of twins." Rainey said.
"She has longer hair than you though," Danika said, thoughtfully. "Is she also—you know...?"
Rainey enjoyed the struggle on Danika's face so much so that she let her go on for a few more seconds.
"You know—like you... Rainey..."
"She's bi, if that's what you're asking," Rainey said curtly.
"Wow," Danika said. "Does it run in the family?"
"Yeah, that's definitely something that runs in the family, doofus," Rainey said. She sighed.
"We're not any closer to finding the missing box." she said.
"I know," Danika said. "I have a feeling Ethan may have just counted wrong. I mean, I'm sure I didn't carry any boxes other than what he pointed at."
"So, it's my fault then?" Rainey asked, heated.
Danika looked at her calmly.
"No, of course not," she said. "I never said that. Rainey, are you sure you're okay?"
Rainey sat on the curb of their tenth water station, in front of the anthropology department building. Her Harley gleamed beside her. Students traipsed in and out of the front door, rushing to get to class on time. They stepped around Rainey, many shooting her pointed looks.
"Sorry," she muttered. "Just got stressed. 'Course it's not your fault. It was probably me."
"Hey, don't beat yourself up," Danika said. She touched Rainey softly on the shoulder. "Someone once told me that a box is just a couple of dollars." She smiled.
Rainey twiddled her thumbs. "I know. It's not a big deal. It's just seeing my sister and worrying about the whole money thing is not a good mix for my head space right now."
"I see."
They sat in silence for a couple minutes. The rush of students died down and the entrance to the anthropology building once again became quiet.
"You know, I don't have the best relationship with my sister either," Danika spoke up.
Rainey glanced at her.
"She's great, I love her," Danika said. "She's a thirteen year old genius. She's so smart sometimes, I can see my parents wondering, you know, in their eyes—like, how come I'm not like that? I'm just a communications major, and barely at that, and my kid sister's doing tenth grade geometry."
Rainey watched Danika's tense face. Her long black hair was tucked behind her ears. Rainey knew that Danika wasn't the smartest person in the world, but she had no idea Danika was self-conscious about it, or even cared.
"I don't," Danika said, noticing Rainey's look of pity. "I don't care about being smart. I like who I am. I like my friends, and I really like my life. It's just—I know what it's like to be compared to others. I've also got problems. I just don't let them hold me back."
Rainey nodded. She put a hand on Danika's knee. "Thanks," she said quietly. "Me and my sister, we're just fighting about money right now. We're roommates but I don't know how long that'll last with our differences."
"That's why I'm so concerned about the extra money," she added. "Even a couple dollars helps."
Rainey realized her hand was still on Danika's knee and immediately took it off.
Danika seemed to consider this. She stood up and stretched. "Then I guess we'd better find that damned box." The sophomore pulled Rainey up to her feet, and Rainey, stumbling, accidentally leaned against Danika's chest. She looked up.
"I'm curious to where the box is too," Danika said, looking down in concern.
Her breath smelled minty. Rainey inhaled a sudden intake and turned away. She jumped onto her bike.
Danika shrugged. She strode over and wrestled the helmet off Rainey's head.
"What?" Rainey spluttered.
"I want the helmet now," Danika announced. "I've decided that I don't want to die an idiot. I want to live."
Rainey shook her head, amused. Then she said under her breath so Danika couldn't hear, "You're not that much of an idiot."
She revved the engine, and although she was sure Danika hadn't heard her, Danika jerked her backwards on the bike, so that they were tightly pressed, almost hugging, and whispered softly, 'thanks.'
Rainey swallowed and continued to the next station. Every building they went to had another mindless volunteer staring eagerly at the clock for the end of their shift.
"Nope, no extras here."
"We ran out the twelve boxes you gave us."
"Don't you have something better to do?"
The defeats refused to deter Danika who was doing everything in her power to cheer Rainey up.
"Did you know that a sneeze travels over one hundred miles per hour?" Danika said conversationally. "So, if you sneeze on your bike, you could knock a guy out, technically"
"Really?"
"I mean, probably."
It was almost four forty-five when they reached the last stop before the school gym, the all-girls dormitory. Rainey had her fingers crossed behind her back, and Danika did the Christian cross sign over her forehead.
A pretty girl of Asian descent greeted them at the station.
"You don't happen to have an extra box delivered here, do you?" Rainey asked hopefully.
Rainey could tell before the girl responded that it was a no-go.
"Sorry," the girl replied. "We just have what was given to us. All twelve boxes."
Dejected, Rainey and Danika made their way back outside.
"What now?" Danika said, looking at Rainey.
Rainey looked up at the sky, which was darkening with every breath she took.
"I drop you back to your car and then report to Ethan," she said finally.
It was a slow, sad drive back to the main parking lot. Even Danika didn't know what to say. The truck was still gone, probably at the school gym. Rainey took out her phone to text Ethan to come back.
Danika gave her back her helmet, and stroked the seat of the Harley.
"Beautiful thing," she murmured. She cleared her throat. "I can pay for the lost box. It's not like I'm short on money right now. Plus, it's probably my fault that it's missing."
"Shut up," Rainey said. "Thanks anyways. Let's just do better tomorrow."
"I'm skipping tomorrow. I got morning class on Fridays," Danika said. "But seriously I can do it."
"No, it's cool," Rainey said. "See you then."
The sophomore looked like she was about to say something else but Rainey had already turned away to her motorcycle.
It wasn't a huge problem, a couple of dollars, Rainey thought. She'd be fine.
Just before Rainey started her motorcycle, she heard an excited shout.
"Rainey! Oh my God, look over here!" Danika hollered. She was near her car, sounding gleeful.
Rainey craned her head back, and for the first time that day, she wasn't disappointed in what she saw.