"So you stole from him?" Jessica yelped, both shocked and a little impressed by her friend's daring. "When?"
"Lots of times. I've been doing it for over a year now. Never very much cash in one go. I don't want to make it obvious, do I?" Clair's straight white teeth gleamed even in the dusk. "Whenever he leaves his wallet lying around, I'll grab a ten or a twenty out of it. I also skim the grocery money he leaves for Lara May when he's away."
"And you expect me to believe that nobody notices?" Jessica felt her envy welling up, thick and cloying. Her own mother watched her money like a hawk, always fretting about stretching what little of it she had.
A ten or twenty dollar bill would never go missing in Heath household without her mother tearing the house apart until she found it.
"Dad's always too busy too notice, Lara May wouldn't care if the roof collapsed on her, so long as she didn't miss her next liquid meal. I've managed to save just over six hundred dollars so far."
"Un-freaking-believeable. But six hundred won't get us very far." Jessica hated that truth. "The long distance bus tickets alone would cost almost that much."
"I know. Which is why I've got another idea as well."
"Oh lord. What is it this time?" Jessica was familiar with her friend's wild ideas, having been dragged into several over the years.
You've heard of the Desert Fae, haven't you?" Clair dropped her voice, even though the two of them were alone.
"Everyone's heard about that silly fable. What about it?"
"Well… have you ever wondered if the stories are true?"
Jessica snorted. "What? Of course not. It's just an urban myth."
"But what if it's not?" Clair looked at her intently. "Myths start because there's at least a bit of truth behind them."
"Shit. That rocket fuel really has gone to your head." Jessica grinned and bumped her shoulder against her friend's. "You looked so serious for a moment, I thought you actually meant it."
"I do mean it!"
Jessica spun herself a little on the ground until she was directly facing Clair, crossing her legs. "Then you must be drunker than I thought. What the hell are you rambling on about?"
"The Fae is supposed to grant wishes, isn't she? To give those that please her with their actions, their heart's desire." Clair was still speaking in a stage whisper, which didn't make sense at all.
"I don't know. Supposedly. Isn't it just some scary story the first townsfolk spread? Probably to scare their bratty children into behaving."
"The stories about the Desert Fae are older than that. The Native Indians knew about her hundreds of years ago." Clair replied, still in an eerie low voice. "I've been reading up about it all in the library."
"You went to the library? Willingly and not because someone threatened you with ripping your fingernails out or something?" Jessica tried not to scoff, she really did. But Clair had always been a less than average student and what's more, she was quite proud of it. She'd often said she'd rather swallow motor oil than focus on her education.
Her friend gave her a dangerous look. "You think I'm too stupid to read up and research something?"
"It's not about being stupid, which you're not by the way. I'm just shocked that if you were going to decide to read up about anything, it would be some stupid fable."
"OK, Jess. Let's say it's a stupid fable the Indians made up to scare the white folk or something. We go and make an offering to the Fae, then nothing happens. That sucks, but whatever." Clair smiled a little. "But what if the Fae ends up being real? She might then grant me a wish. Us a wish."
Jessica shifted on the ground, now suddenly alert. The pleasant sleepiness from the drinking had completely worn off. "Where are you going with all this? What are you really trying to tell me?"
Instead of giving a direct answer, Clair leaned back against the rock's shear face and looked at the desert in front of them. A sprinkle of distant lights twinkled in the darkness.
"Don't you want to get out of here, bestie?" Clair asked.
"Of course I do!"
"Wouldn't you do anything to escape Abbot Springs? To not have to see the same hopeless faces every single day for the rest of your life?"
"I'm just not connecting one thing with the other." Jessica chose her words carefully. She could see the anger starting to brew in her friend's eyes. "Are you saying we can wish ourselves away from here? All we have to do is make some mythical ancient witch happy?"
"A fae and a witch aren't actually the same thing." Clair frowned.
"Sounds the same to me. Both are made up creatures. Besides, I don't like the idea of dabbling in witchcraft."
"Hold on, girl. Who's saying anything about witchcraft?"
"You are!" Jessica snapped a bit more harshly than she'd intended. She didn't like the sudden strange direction of their conversation, though she couldn't really put her finger on a reason. "Making - what did you call it, an offering - to some fae from a legend? Sounds like witchcraft to me. Might as well try to run a seance and see if we can chat with all the ghosts."
"But didn't you just say the Desert Fae is all made up bullshit and urban myths? So if none of it exists, why are you scared of dabbling in a bit of witchcraft? Why do you look like you're about to wet yourself from fear?" Clair was mocking her now. "Unless you secretly think there's just a smidgen of truth in it."
"Clair…" Jessica sighed helplessly, raising her hand in a defeated gesture. Her best friend's tenacity and forceful nature were things Jessica had always admired about her. Hell, she rather envied Clair's ability to casually toss aside barriers and shamelessly go for what she wanted.
But there were times, like that night, when she felt like she was one of the barriers being tossed aside.