"Da da da da da dum dum da. Da da da da da dum dum da..." No amount of water could soften the sandpaper-like vocal chords Annie possessed. Marley decided to sit this sing-along out, and kept her eyes trained to her book, thankful they passed a drugstore where she bought some Dramamine. Her stomach growled under the radio and Annie's voice, lunchtime just around the corner. For breakfast the two girls settled for the lobby muffins leftover by the staff, the only options being raisin and plain. Marley couldn't help but glance out the window once in a while, keeping an eye out for any fast food restaurants. "From me, to you!"

"Annie, please, we don't have the money to pay for any windows you shatter," Marley spoke up turning the page. Her stomach growled a little louder, Annie's singing absent to cover it up. 

"You're one to talk," she muttered with a smirk. "So. Who are you eyeing?"

"Eyeing?"

"Yeah, who's got your attention?" Annie elbowed Marley, making her lose her place on the page. She brushed her hair out of her eyes with a huff. "In the band. AC/DC, you know."

"None of them," Marley replied, scanning the page for her line."They're not exactly my type."

"Oh please, they're our mothers' types, though they'll never admit it." Marley shook her head with a smile. "Oh come on, every girl in the country has a thing for one of them, I've got a thing for all five!"

"Annie, the only thing I've got my heart set on is a bowl of macaroni and a plate of chicken, not some man in a band I've never met." It was Annie's turn to shake her head.

"You're impossible. Oh well, I guess you don't want to see the second part of your surprise then," she sighed dramatically. This caught Marley's attention. Annie shimmied in her seat looking smug.

"Second part? What second part?"

"You don't want it, so it doesn't matter!" 

Marley was getting concerned. Any surprises from Annie had trouble written all over them. "What second part?"

"You didn't think I just got tickets, do you?" Annie asked waiting for an answer. When it didn't come, she turned her signal on and continued. "I thought it might be rad to check out behind the scenes, and maybe get an inside look at how it's done." Raising an eyebrow, Marley set her book down on her lap. The car slowed down for a stoplight. 

"How what's done?"

"The band! Music! Albums, tours, you know I want to be a musician!" Continuing down the road, Annie suddenly took a look next to her. Marley tried to get back to her book, finding it difficult to concentrate when a pair of eyes were on her rather than on the road. "What were you thinking?"

"Nothing," she answered quickly. Her cheeks burned a fiery red. 

And Annie noticed.

But as she was too distracted by the incoming fast food restaurant to their right, she didn't mention it. "Hey, want to grab a bite to eat?" 

"Please," Marley replied, glad to get off the subject. Her stomach growled again, a bit of hunger pains growing. Tucking her book back into her purse she pulled some money out, counting a few bills. "Just don't order the whole menu, or we won't have enough for a good motel."

"Are you kidding?" Annie asked zooming into the parking space, narrowly avoiding a little red car. "We're growing women, we're on an adventure!" She turned the car off and threw her seat belt behind her. "We need a feast!"

Marley was about to protest, before her stomach growled again.

"Not bad," Annie mused. "Not quite as good as the one in town. But edible." She took another note of her sandwich and grabbed her napkin. "You gonna eat that?" she asked pointing to Marley's side salad. 

"Duh," she said sipping her soda. She turned the straw a few times. "You don't mind sleeping in a real dumpster this time?"

"It's just for one night, it's cool," Annie said. "Anything to get us to Los Angeles in time for the show, I'll sleep on the roof of the car while you drive."

"You don't want me driving," Marley said. "I'll get pulled over and this time I'll get a ticket."

"I've gotten plenty of tickets, it's no big deal."

"Yeah, not to your parents who can pay them off for you! I don't have that kind of luck." Her soda had lost some of its fizz. Most people came in and took their food back to their cars, hardly any of the tables in use. Both were okay with the quiet, especially the workers who got a kick out of listening to them talk. "Besides, if I drive, I get to pick the music."

"Oh, what, you want the classical station?" Annie asked.

"It's genius! Mozart, Vivaldi!" Marley's eyes sparkled at the thought of how much work went into composing a symphony piece. 

"Rock and roll is genius too!" Annie defended. "Queen? Little Richard?"

"Yes, of course it is," Marley agreed. "The Beatles..."

"Chuck Berry!"

"The Who!"

"Led Zeppelin!" Marley's smile turned sour. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," she shrugged. 

"But of course," Annie said holding a French fry to her lips like a cigarette. "We must not forget the best of the best!"

"AC/DC!" both of them yelled. A few employees looked their way, wondering what had caught their excitement. Stuffing the rest of her fries in her mouth, Annie took another look at Marley's salad. 

"Are you gonna finish that?"

"Yes!"

Night fell again, this time both girls miserably tired. Marley offered to drive for a bit, but Annie declined insisting that she be responsible should one of them crash the car after falling asleep. It was her brother after all. 

Sign after sign promised a motel around the corner but they were either full, or lying. Annie hit a few curbs on their way, the book on Marley's lap falling to the floor, waking her up.

"Your book fell," Annie mumbled.

"That's nice," Marley sighed closing her eyes again. 

"What book is it anyway?" Annie tried reading the cover but couldn't see it in the dark. 

"Fellowship of the Ring," Marley said with a yawn.  "I borrowed it from my dad."

"I prefer Voltaire," Annie snickered. 

"Very funny."

As a godsend, a motel appeared from behind a cluster of trees at the next turn. "Oh thank God," Annie said pulling into the parking lot. From afar it looked decent, from up close it looked like a disguised bordello. The neon OPEN sign didn't even work. Marley offered to book the room this time, Annie giving her a thumbs up before passing out behind the wheel. 

The lobby, if one could call it that, was cold. Two ceiling fans were going at once and the door was left wide open. The woman at the counter was filling out a form, looking up at Marley when she entered. Holding up a finger as she finished the form, she greeted her with a smile. "What can I help you with?"

"I'd like a room, two if possible," Marley said. 

"One room will cost thirty dollars a night, two rooms are twice as much," the lady informed her. "One room with two beds is forty, or thirty five for a double bed." 

Marley checked the money she had leftover in her purse. After lunch and a quick dinner, it wasn't much. "Uh, one room with a double bed is fine," she said pulling out thirty five dollars. "Just for one night, we'll be out of here by morning."

"Oh, going somewhere?" the woman said taking the money.

"Me and a friend are going to Los Angeles. This is our second day on the road." Marley rubbed her eyes as she closed her purse. "We want to get as far as we can every night."

"That'll be a long way back home," the woman said. "Where are you coming from?"

"San Francisco. The traffic's been horrible." A key was dangled in front of her.

"Well I hope you make it okay, and have fun while you're there. Here's your room key, the room is down the hall on the right. Number nine."

"Thank you." Marley took the key and went back to the car, Annie's face squashed against the window in an unflattering way. Tapping on it only scared Annie senseless, Marley holding her sides in laughter. 

"Oh, fuck off and let me sleep," Annie said rolling down the window and getting comfortable again.

"I got us a room with a double bed, so unless you get your ass up it's all mine for the night." Marley walked around the car to the trunk to get the suitcases. 

"After you ate a taco for dinner? Go right ahead." Hauling the suitcases back to the side of the car, Marley reached her hand through the window and tickled the back of Annie's neck. "Hey! Knock it off, I'm coming."

Room number nine was quaint with peeling wallpaper, patches of missing or stained carpet and a dripping faucet. The bed was well made and looked suitable enough. The girls set their belongings down and took turns in the shower, which had nothing but cold water to serve. Flopping down on the bed with her wet hair creating a halo on the pillow, Annie burrowed under the covers, pulling them to her side. Marley, who had been in bed a few minutes before, pulled them back over to her side and turned the lamp off. 

"I'm cold!" Annie whined heaving the blankets over her. 

"And what, you think all my whale blubber will suffice for me?" Marley asked yanking the blankets. 

"Go sleep in the tub!"

"Why don't you sleep in the tub?" Something chattered in the corner of the room. Both girls stopped their arguing for a minute, listening intently. "What was that?"

"Why don't you get up and look?" Annie suggested pulling the blankets up to her chin. 

"Why me?"

"You're beefy! You once beat up Jim Hogarth in third grade for stealing a kiss from you, you can take on a little rodent." Something hissed from the same corner, along with scratching on the wall. 

"It sounds like it's calling your name, Ann!" Marley whispered. After a few minutes of silence, the two girls calmed down and addressed the topic of sleep. An audible trail of footsteps brought them out of it however, the hair on their necks standing on end. Exchanging a look, the girls bolted out of bed. "I call the bathtub!"

"I call the sink!"