In Between Dreams by Erin Rooks

Jason had slept in the evening before with her arms crossed.
    “Jason,” Bailey yelled. “Your hair looks fine. Can we go? We were supposed to check out twenty minutes ago.” Jason was a tall and skinny openly gay man who liked to wear pink. He was sassy and exuberant. He was the best friend Bailey had all through high school. Bailey truly believed he would do anything for her. Jason was also known to primp at every opportunity. He liked his own reflection. He moved briskly to join Bailey for the next leg of their journey.
    Bailey’s long hair was wavy and pulled into a side braid. She wore a flower in her ear that matched the color of her yellow lace snug tank top. Her jean shorts were tight, and her flip-flops didn’t match anything she was wearing. Jason had commented multiple times on the trip that “purple flip-flops don’t match
everything
, Bailey.” He said it in a snide, yet playful tone.
    Jason had spent the duration of the trip in pink tank tops and swim trunks, as they went to either a pool or a beach every day. His skin wasbronze, and he made sure to have tanning oil with him at every point of the vacation.
    Jason rounded the corner with his bags over his shoulder. “Oh! Let the melodrama begin. Oh God,
what
will they do to us? Twenty minutes late for checkout? God that is a punishable offense in the state of California! I think the sentence will be at least two years in the penitentiary. We better sneak out. Should I change into all black so we can go undercover?” Jason said with his normal joking satire. A playful smirk appeared on his face culminating his monologue. Every time he spoke, it was like a performance.
    Bailey rolled her eyes at her best friend and ushered him out of the bedroom. “I just don’t want to get fined or something,” Bailey said.
    Jason pursed his lips at her. “You say that like they’re waiting for
this
room in order for their hotel to continue functioning? They really don’t care if we’re twenty minutes late. This is Southern California. Twenty minutes late is basically early here,” he said. He was always able to simmer Bailey down.
    Their room was on the first floor of a Marriott Courtyard. Bailey, and as the two walked the short distance to the lobby, Bailey handed her bags off to Jason. “Here, take these. I’ll check out,” she told him. Not waiting for an answer from Jason, she turned, walking over to the hotel registration. They weren’t the only party who checked out late. The line had three people ahead of her. She had to agree her drama about punctuality was exaggerated.
    Jason shrugged while he watched Bailey walk across the lobby and queue up in the checkout line. He grabbed her duffel bag and sifted through his pockets for the keys. “Fine, but you’re driving. I need my beauty rest. I was up half the night thanks to your snoring,” he called after her. A couple of business travelers near the front door turned and gave Jason a “do you know where you are?’ look. He obviously didn’t care.
    “My
snoring
?” she scoffed. “More like thanks to your sexting with Christopher.” This retort rang loudly through the lobby, which prompted a couple near some couches in the lobby to gawk at Jason and Bailey with wide eyes. The business travelers walking toward therestaurant shook their heads at the outburst between the two. Bailey and Jason weren’t the type to turn off their personalities depending what atmosphere they were in.
    “I cannot confirm or deny.” Jason laughed before heading out the front entrance on his way to the parking lot. When Bailey finally worked her way to the front desk, she turned in their keys and paid cash for the outstanding balance on their room before heading out to the car. She wanted to keep the credit card balance as low as possible in case they needed to use it. She thought,
Like bailing Jason out of jail for example
. The thought of Jason spending the night in an LA jail gave her the case of the giggles.