Las Vegas Adventure

“School’s out,” I groaned. “I’ll be stuck with Aunt Eleanor for the rest of the year.” 

“Maybe not,” said Calvin. “You could go to camp or something.” 

“Unless you can think of a way to go to camp without her knowing, then I don’t think that’s going to work.” 

“Hey, I’m just trying to help.” 

“Sorry,” I snapped, but then plopped onto the bed in the corner of the room and relaxed. “You know what, Cal?” I asked. “I know what I’ll do. I’ll go away from here.”

“Go away to where?” Cal asked, astonished. 

I smirked. “Vegas.” 

“Vegas? Miri, are you crazy? If your aunt won’t let you do summer camp, she’s never going to let you go to Vegas.”

“Yeah, but that’s the beauty of it,” I said, stretching out and trying to look rebellious. “Aunt Eleanor never has to know. And Las Vegas is only, what, 15 miles from here? We can take an Uber or something and hang out there until she notices we’re gone.”

“We?”

“Yeah, don’t you want to come?” It’ll be an adventure.”

“Miriam, don’t you know how many times you’ve gotten in trouble? If we get caught, this might be the last straw for the school. You might get expelled. We could get arrested, too.” 

“You have a point,” I said. “But hey, what’s life without a little fun?”

“Calm,” Calvin said seriously.

I rolled my eyes. “Well, I’m going, whether or not you are. I’ll leave tomorrow at, say 5. That’s A.M. If you’re coming, meet me in my backyard then.”

“Okay,” Calvin said. “I’ll see.”

It was dark out here, difficult to see. I stared into the distance, waiting for Cal. “I’m leaving,” I muttered. 

“Ouch! What was that?”

“Cal? Is that you?” 

“Yeah, he said. “It’s me.”

“Are you coming?” I asked.

“Well, duh,” he said. “That’s why I’m here. I thought it would be fun?” 

I glanced at him strangely. He was acting really hesitant. “Are you sure?”

“Yep,” he said, obviously lying.

I rolled my eyes and said, “Come on, then.” 

I looked up at the casinos and bright signs. “Whoa.” 

Giddily, I raced down the street. The buildings of Las Vegas were amazing. “Let’s go to the Bellagio. No, Caesar’s Palace. Wait, MGM.” 

“Hold up,” Cal said. “You never said anything about gambling.” 

“I don’t want to gamble,” I said, mocking his tone. “I just want to see inside. The whole reason I wanted to come to Las Vegas is that there are things to do here. Like checking out casinos!”

“Whatever,” Cal said impatiently. “But if you’re going to a casino, I’m not coming.”

“Why the heck did you even come to Vegas?” 

“I don’t know.”

“We should stick together,” I said. “Either we’re going to a casino or not, and I vote we are.”

“I do not want to go to a casino,” Cal insisted. “Can’t we just walk around? Besides, if we go to a casino, we’ll probably be arrested.” 

“We are not going to be arrested, but fine,” I relented. “If you insist.”

We walked down the street, looking at everything on the Strip. Once or twice we dodged a police officer, but otherwise, we just had a good time. 

We stopped at a street vendor to get some food. It looked delicious, but before I could take a bite, I heard a voice say “Are you two here with your parents?”

I turned around to see a police officer. I’m sure my face turned red. 

“Yup,” Cal said cheerily. “They went to an ATM.” 

The officer raised his eyebrows but left us alone. 

“Close call,” I muttered to Cal. He nodded. 

We walked down the street and saw the same officer. He saw us, too. 

“ATM, huh? Why aren’t you waiting for your parents?”

Neither of us answered. We didn’t know what to say. 

“I’m afraid you’ll have to come with me.” 

Our Vegas adventure was short-lived. 

“What were you thinking?” Aunt Eleanor shouted.

“I just wanted to have an adventure!” I yelled back. “You never let me go to summer camp! I wanted to get away and go somewhere besides this dinky old town!” 

I ran out of the room. 

“Come back, Miriam!” Aunt Eleanor said. “We need to talk.” 

“Fine!” I stomped back into the room and took a seat on the couch, my arms crossed firmly on my chest. 

“You’re obviously upset about my not letting you go to summer camp. I must explain.”

I just glared at her. 

“Your mother and father died in a car crash, you know that. You might not remember that they were driving to pick you up from a summer camp for young children. You were only two.” 

Tears fell out of my eyes now.

“Summer camps have … they have bad memories for me,” said Aunt Eleanor. 

“I never knew,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

“You know, maybe I need to be more lenient, let you go to summer camp,” Aunt Eleanor said. “Perhaps we could find one where both you and Calvin could both go.”

“I’d like that,” I said.

“Great rehearsal, everyone,” called the play director as I wiped the fake tears from my face. “I’m sure that soon we’ll be ready to perform. You all were flawless!”

I smiled. Taking classes at the community play center was a great idea. I loved the theater. 

As I packed up my bag to go home, I watched as the stage crew disassembled the room and the Las Vegas street. Even though the room was in the middle of a stage and Las Vegas was only a picture, I always let myself get swept up in the play.

Oliver, who played Calvin and was a good friend of mine, asked if we could walk home together. I agreed and we set off to our houses. We were neighbors, and our houses were only a few blocks away from the community play center. 

“Bye, Oliver.” 

“Bye, Nadia.”

I stepped inside my house, knowing the world of the play was waiting for me tomorrow.