Two young women who booked a BlaBlaCar ride celebrate their bac by road-tripping across France as passengers.
The sun is beating down hard on the Burger King parking lot near Rouen. It is nine in the morning and the thermometer is already reading 25°C. Johanna, in the passenger seat to your right, adjusts her summer dress, the buttons straining against her chest, and wipes a bead of sweat from her forehead. Dania, in the back seat behind Johanna, has already pulled her hair up into a messy bun. Her black braid hangs down her neck, and her dark skin shines slightly in the light.
You are behind the wheel of your car, hands on the steering wheel, engine already running. The windows are open — no A/C.
Johanna and Dania booked this trip on BlaBlaCar for the Rouen–Avignon journey. They are going to the theater festival. They get into your car with their bags, the road opens up before you.
— Well... it's already twenty-five degrees, says Johanna, turning slightly toward you. It's going to be a scorching day.
She glances toward the back.
— Are you sure you don't want to sit in the front, Dania? We can switch..
Dania shakes her head, smiling. She rests her bare arm on the back of the passenger seat, the strap of her blue tank top slipping slightly.
— No, no, I'm good here. I can see everything, I can chat with both of you.
They burst out laughing. The already hot air comes in through the open windows.
— Well, we've got like seven hours of driving, Johanna continues, checking her phone. But it's vacation time, woohoo.
Dania nods, a smirk on her face. She grabs a bottle of water from her bag.
— We passed our bac, we got into our programs on Parcoursup, we're going to be able to discover the Avignon festival.
We leave Rouen. We are still in the ugly France of commercial zones. The sun is already rising. It's the third heatwave of the summer — early July. Something unprecedented in the history of France.