Summer Dreams

“Tell me again why living in Florida during the summer is a good thing,” I said, turning on the garden hose. “It's nothing but nonstop heatwaves.”

Sitting nearby on a lawn chair, my roommate and best friend Crystal let out an exaggerated sigh. “I would but I’m suffering from heatstroke so hurry up and hand over the water.”

“You don’t think this is a bit pathetic?” I adjusted the flow to an easy stream before handing the hose to her. “Sitting in our backyard, dressed in hot pants and tank tops while soaking each other with a garden hose?”

“You got a better idea on how to keep cool with the AC on the fritz?” she said, letting the water pour down her head and shoulders.

“We could get a pool.”

Crystal flicked the hose in my direction, cool water splashing me across my face. “I think you’re the one suffering from sunstroke. There’s no way we can afford a pool.”

“I didn’t mean we get a big one,” I said, wiping the water from my eyes. “They do sell above ground pools. They only cost a few hundred.”

“I don’t know. Putting together a pool sounds like a lot of work.” 

I took the hose from her and drenched my chest and the back of my neck. “It’ll be worth it though. We’re going to be hot no matter what we do. At least with a pool we get rewarded for it.”

Crystal shook her head. “I’m not interested in doing it. Too much money, too much work just to use it one or twice. You have to maintain a pool and neither one of us will put in the effort.”

I was too hot to argue and she actually had a good point so I let that idea go. “Alright, then what do you want to do? The AC won’t get fixed until sometime tomorrow and it’s only 12:45 now.”

“Let's go for a drive. The car has air conditioning so even if we just cruise around for an hour it’ll be worth it.”

“Just aimlessly drive around? Won’t that just burn gas?”

“Again, the car has working air conditioning so it’ll be worth it.”

I tossed the hose on the ground and turned it off. “Fine. You’re driving.”

We both retired to our rooms to clean up and dry up. The temperature in the house felt like the inside of an oven set for 350. If it didn’t cool down by bedtime I was going to sleep naked in the bathtub and I didn’t care if Crystal put me on blast for it. She was waiting for me in the living room, fanning herself with a magazine.

“Why don’t we fill the car with as much stuff that will fit and move to Vermont. I hear the hottest it gets is 80 and it snows there.”  

“If we hadn’t just renewed our lease for another year I would agree,” I said, following her to the garage. “Though driving in snow sounds rough.”

“So we’ll either use Uber or hibernate during the winter months,” she said, hitting the garage door opener on the wall. “A few snow days has to be better than being cooked alive in your own home.”

Inside the car felt like the bowels of Hell and I nearly broke the air conditioning dial twisting it to max as soon as Crystal turned the key. Thankfully we have a good car and the temperature soon went from death to heavenly cool. It felt so good that I leaned against the dashboard, face next to the vent and stayed there until my skin became stiff and numb.

We drove in silence for some time before Crystal said. “I’m thinking about going back to school.”

I was too caught up in the joy of breathable air that her words didn’t fully register. When they did sink in I sat up and looked at her. “You’re going back to where?”

She wouldn’t look at me, her eyes fixed on the road. “School. Cosmetology to be exact. I want to be a beautician.”

“Why? I mean it’s great that you want to do it and all but what made you decide?”

She shrugged. “Lots of things. I’m sick of working two dead end jobs that don’t excite me anymore. I’ve been working at Pax Boutique for almost 5 years, it’s given me retail burnout. I love doing hair and makeup so being a beautician should be fun.”

“Are you going to be able to work and do school at the same time?”

“I’d keep working at Pax for as long as I can since I’ve been there the longest and I like it better than working as a Pizza delivery driver. I haven’t applied yet or anything, I was just thinking about it.”

I pushed back my seat in a reclining position and angled the air to blow over me. “Well, if you want my opinion I say go for it. Apply for financial aid and see what happens. You’re 25 so it’s not like this is your one shot at college.”

“You think so? It’ll be a lot of money. I don’t want to screw you up because I blow all this money and we end up not being able to pay rent and our friendship gets wrecked over this.”

I reached over and poked her arm. “Don’t worry about that. We’ve been friends for how many years? Since grade school, right? Between the two of us we’ve blown money on many boneheaded ideas and get rich schemes. Going back to school isn’t a boneheaded idea.I hate school so if I went back it would be throwing money away. You on the other hand seemed to love schoolwork. I used to get so pissed and jealous when we got our report cards and you got top grades and I was down around the middle. You’ll do great so go for it.”

Crystal smiled. “Thanks. I’ll start looking into my financial aid options tonight. There’s a school about an hour’s drive from here. I think the course is 8 months, give or take, after which I’ll have to pass the state licensing examination before I can find work.”

“One thing at a time,” I glanced out the window at our surroundings and perked up.”Hey, we’re near Bruster’s ice cream. Let’s stop there.”

“You buying?”

I brought my seat back up and reached underneath where the emergency money was kept. We try to keep $100 there at all themes though it never lasts, it’s constantly replaced at least once a month. Luck was on my side and I pulled out a $20, more than enough for two cones or shakes.

“This is our last splurge so lets make it count,” I said, handing the money to her. “Once you become a big shot hairdresser you’re buying me dinner at Sky.”

“Keep dreaming.”

I laughed, found a good song on the radio and cranked up the volume.