“Why are you driving so fast?” I scream.

Kavya bursts out laughing. “Are you kidding me? This is Hollywood Boulevard on a Friday night. I couldn’t go fast if I wanted to. I’m going twenty-seven miles per hour.”

“Who needs to travel that far that quickly?” I mean, sure, we have Elder Tsunami’s Passage magic, which can get us from one ocean to the next in the flick of a fin, but we never actually move this fast. It’s more like, poof! and you’re where you want to be in a shower of bubbles.

“You’re acting like you’ve never been in a car before.” Kavya looks suspiciously at me in her mirror. “Don’t they have cars in Indiana?”

“They bike everywhere,” Sean says quickly.

“Oh, shit!” Kavya slams on her brakes. A feminine-presenting person on a skateboard careens in between cars, apparently not concerned at all that they could get flattened any second. But I can’t join Kavya and Sean in cussing the person out because a whole new wave of nausea takes over from the sudden stop.

“I think I might throw up.” Theoretically, this isn’t supposed to happen. The Elders’ Healing blessings are supposed to keep us from getting sick on land, but the way my stomach is swirling has me seriously doubting the power of their magic. I press so hard on the button to roll down the window I’m surprised it doesn’t snap. Sean warned me that Kavya’s bright purple 2007 PT Cruiser with pink flames painted on the front was her prized possession. The only way to get on her shit list was to mess it up. The last thing I need to do right now is throw up back here and break the window.

“Do not soak Suri Cruiser in your vomit!” Kavya yells. “There’s a Taco Bell bag back there if you need it!”

The window finally rolls down and I throw my head out to take deep breaths. The only problem is, we’re no longer anywhere near the beach. The salty air I’m used to in Santa Monica is definitely not the air I’m sucking in in huge gulps. Instead, it’s smoky and full of exhaust from the huge white semitruck in front of us. I start heaving, bad.

“Don’t you dare do what I think you’re about to do!” Kavya screams.

Sean flips around from his spot in the passenger’s seat and puts a hand on my knee. He strokes my jeans with his thumb. The motion gives me something to concentrate on besides the roiling in my stomach. “Hang on just thirty more seconds. We’re almost there, Ross, I promise.”