the next few days of their trip was uneventful in the best way possible. they didn't hit any tourist attractions, they didn't stay anywhere super expensive, they were just in and out of cities after they saw whatever rosemary had put into her notebook. it was strange how many places she knew around the country and that she knew how to get there from where ever they were, but josh found it nice.
the more they drove and the more they spent time together, the more beguiling she became. the lack of her voice added such mystery, but she was an open book at the same time. he felt so close to being able to say he knew her well, but he could never get there.
after they abandoned the hotel they stayed at, rosemary had taken josh to a waterfall. seeing the droplets splash below into the sea of blue would have been quite enough for josh, but of course, there was much more to it.
this specific day out of them all, rosemary had taken josh to a huge mansion out on the hollywood hills, which they had miraculously made it to after two and a half days of driving and stopping. it was wednesday now, almost halfway through their trip.
as rosemary parked the car and typed something on her phone, a thought popped into josh's head: it was wednesday. the day rosemary said she'd always be in columbus for. josh hadn't told rosemary he knew about the whole thing, but he assumed she knew. though, it was strange how collected she seemed when clearly that journal of her's said something very different. she hadn't made eye contact with josh that whole day, nor had she smiled. the other days when she drove, she had the corners of her lips turned up ever so slightly, but josh noticed. this time, her lips curved down. it looked like she was on the edge of crying all day. josh wanted to help, but he had no clue how.
rosemary wasted no time waiting for josh once they got to the house. there was flashing lights and loud music coming from it, people already passed out on the lawn and it was only sundown. josh hurried out of the car after her, his hand in his pockets out of nervousness as he tried to keep up with her fast walking. the house reeked of weed and alcohol, two things josh wasn't very fond of. rosemary was greeted by people left and right, only to push them out of her way and head for the kitchen.
josh watched as she took a red solo cup off the counter, then she took a swig of whatever was inside. josh's eyes went wide. what the fuck did she just drink? it could have been drugged or something! he rushed over to rosemary and took the cup from her hands, dumping the liquid in the nearby sink.
josh had only turned around for a second, and when he looked back rosemary already had another cup in her hand. he went to grab it, but she held it out of his reach. she used her free hand to point to a bottle of vodka beside her, then back at her cup. josh eased up a bit, but he still didn't like the situation. the party was overly crowded with people, his head was spinning, he felt like he was going to faint.
josh watched in shock as she downed the cup like it was nothing, shaking her head as if to shake away whatever was in there. he was frozen in shock as she filled her cup again, doing the same thing as before. she just kept going, and luckily the bottle wasn't full enough to get her to get alcohol poisoning or something. after she had finished the bottle, she moved on to the bourbon on the counter and poured her cup to the brim, taking a sip now instead of downing it like it was the only water she had in the desert.
when she began to walk out of the kitchen, he tagged along with rosemary like a lost puppy; politely declining the many blunts offered to him as he followed her. before josh could even process it, rosemary had taken his hands and pulled him into a crowd of people, all dancing in a huge crowd. well, if you could say drunkenly jumping and drinking on each other was dancing.
rosemary, for the first time in the day, smiled and started to dance to whatever trashy song was playing, taking swigs from the cup every couple of minutes. he blamed her sudden mood change on the alcohol, which made him quite wary. she was already drunk, and they had only been there a few minutes.
josh reluctantly joined in, though he wasn't much of a dancer, rosemary was enjoying it. though their joy was short-lived, as rosemary was tapped on a shoulder and began to listen to some guy talk endlessly about it having "been awhile" and how much he "missed her." it kind of made josh jealous.
he retreated tot he edges of the party near the walls, scanning the groups of people all in the main room. the place was huge, but they still managed to fill it wall to wall. there were people with tattoos, people with obviously dyed hair, people with no hair at all, josh found it quite interesting. but one person, in particular, caught his eye, only because he caught theirs. they had these familiar greenish-brown eyes and a tattoo poking out of their sleeve. their hair was red, and josh couldn't make out any more details before they rushed out of his view and into a mass of people.
he swore he knew that tattoo from somewhere.
