Somehow I feel the weight of the paper in my pocket.
Can
'
t stop myself from wondering if I
'
ll ever use it when I know I won
'
t.
After driving for a few hours
,
I really have to go to the bathroom so I pull into a gas station
,
pulling up to the pumps
.
"
Wake up
,
pretty boy.
"
I throw an empty
,
balled-up bag of chips at Bastian.
"
I have to take a piss. I
'
ll pay to fill it up while we
'
re here.
"
He reaches for his wallet
,
still looking half asleep.
"
You don
'
t have to pay. I got it.
"
Instead of replying
,
I shake my head and get out of the car. Now I can
'
t even pay for gas?
"
You want anything
,
Priscilla?
"
I
'
m standing by the driver side door
,
looking at her. It takes me a minute to realize what I called her. No one ever calls her that
,
but yeah
...
it fits her. Different and kind of exotic like her. I let it slip once in a while
,
but that
'
s it. That
'
s why it pissed me off so much when Craig used the name.
She shakes her head and then scrambles out of the passenger side. By then Aspen is climbing out and they do the typical girl
-
bathroom thing where they go together and do who knows what in there.
"
What
'
s her problem?
"
Bastian looks at me like I just asked the dumbest question in the world.
"
Seriously.
She
'
s the one who wanted me to come and she won
'
t even say a word to me.
"
Then he shakes his head like he
'
s disappointed in me
,
which really annoys me because I didn
'
t do anything. I
'
m just trying to live my life and do what I have to do.
Keep lying to yourself there
,
Jaden.
"
Come on. Let
'
s gas up.
"
I've gone in
,
done my business
,
paid for gas
,
and bought myself a Cherry Pepsi by the time everyone piles back into the car.
Suddenly
,
I
'
m wishing I
had
gotten a snack.
Next to me
,
Pris is
eating Cheetos
,
which
she knows I love
,
and she
'
s licking the cheese off her fingers
,
which I also love.
Seriously.
It might not sound hot
,
but it is. It might be because it
'
s her. I don
'
t know
,
but it
'
s hard not to offer her my help. How is it girls can make the smallest things sexy and not even know it? Her nails are painted this bright red that probably looks even brighter because her dark skin. Her tongue sneaks out of her mouth and—
Hooooonk
!
"
Holy shit!
"
I jerk the steering wheel as the Explorer veers into the next lane and almost into another car.
"
Jaden!
"
Pris screams.
"
Dude!
Watch my car!
"
Sebastian yells from the backseat.
"
What was that?
"
Aspen asks.
I
'
m pushing my hair out of my eyes like that was the problem when really it was Pris and her tongue.
"
Nothing.
No biggie.
"
"
This is the second time you
'
ve almost killed us!
"
Pris is using that pissed-off voice that she
'
s pretty much speaking with 24/7 now.
"
Chill.
It was an accident. Nothing happened.
"
"
Whatever.
"
She crosses her arms
,
putting an end to the show that almost made me wreck.
Aspen reaches up and sort of massages her shoulder like Pris needs support or something. I glance in the rearview mirror and see Bastian shake his head like he
'
s getting frustrated.
That makes two of us
,
bro.
I can
'
t stop wondering if I shouldn
'
t have come at all.
***
About an hour and a half later
,
Aspen and Sebastian are sharing an iPod
,
one of the buds in her ear and the other in his. They were messing with the portable DVD player earlier
,
but something
'
s up with it
,
so I guess they resorted to this.
Pris hasn
'
t spoken a word to me since her
"
whatever
"
earlier
,
but I have no idea what to do about it. Why do girls have to be so confusing? I mean
,
if this was Bastian he
'
d open his mouth and tell me what
'
s up
,
we
'
d hash it out and be done with it. Usually that
'
s the way Pris would be too
,
but everything
'
s so different now.
I want thing
s
to go back to the way they were before.
Pre-Jaden running and pre-Pris thinking she liked me.
Without thinking
,
I reach over and stick my hand into the bag of Cheetos on her lap and grab a handful. Pris mumbles something under her breath
. I almost ignore her, but I’m tired of playing this game
. There
'
s no point in us being here if we
'
re going to fight the whole time.
"
What?
"
"
Nothing.
"
"
No
,
I
'
m pretty sure you said something.
Unless I
'
m hearing things.
I don
'
t think I
'
m hearing things.
"
She jerks her head to the left to look at me.
"
I said
help yourself
.
"
"
Dude!
Chill out. You
'
re like Godzilla on hormones lately.
"
"
Dios!
"
The Spanish starts rolling off her tongue and I know she
'
s pissed
,
but so what.
Dios
is one of the only words I know and it means
,
"
God.
"
She
'
s definitely not saying it the praising way.
I
'
m pissed to
o
,
though. I open my mouth to say something
,
but Sebastian beats me to it.
"
That
'
s it. Pull the hell over.
"
"
What?
"
I ask.
"
Get off the freeway. There
'
s an off-ramp.
"
"
The more we stop
,
the longer it
'
s going to take to get to Salt Lake.
"
It
'
s twelve hours from home
,
but that
'
s where we wanted to make it the first day and then to spend some time there.
"
Dude
,
get off. I
'
m serious. We
'
re not going to Salt Lake.
"
I groan
,
but hit the ramp to get off the freeway.
"
There
'
s a Best Western over there. Pull in
,
we
'
re done. Seriously
,
you guys are giving me a headache.
"
Unlike me
,
Pris has Aspen
'
s support as she
'
s leaning toward Pris
,
with hand on her shoulder.
I pull up in front of the hotel
,
about ready to walk away from all of them.
"
Woodstock
,
can you get us a room?
"
Bastian asks her all sweet and sucking up.
Pris is already jumping out of the car and slamming the door.
Really?
"
Sure. Where are you guys going?
"
she asks him.
"
We
'
ll be back in a bit. Jay and I are going for a little ride.
"
Chapter Six
"
Scoot over
,"
Sebastian tells me
,
and I climb into the passenger seat.
"
Sir
,
yes
,
Sir!
"
I salute him
,
but he ignores me and jumps behind the wheel before pulling away. He
'
s in one of his pissed off Bastian moods so I know we
'
re about to get into it.
He doesn
'
t say anything as he drives. I see a sign that says we
'
re in Elko
,
wherever that is. All I know is it
'
s not Salt Lake and that
'
s where we
'
re supposed to be spending our first night. Finally
,
after he keeps driving
,
obviously not knowing where we
'
re doing
,
I blurt
,
"
Just say it. I swear
,
sometimes you
'
re more of a drama queen than a six year-old girl.
"
This gets his attention quickly.
"
I
'
m a drama queen? What do you call whatever
'
s going on between you and Pris?
Seriously.
You guys are screwing with my mood. I feel like I need to call Daddy Peace for some lessons on meditation or some shit.
"
"
I could always knock you out if that would be easier. I know it would be for me.
"
He just looks at me and shakes his head.
"
Oh!
Arcade.
"
Bastian makes a quick turn and parks.
"
We stopped four hours early and left the girls to play video games?
"
"
Obviously.
"
Sebastian jumps out of the car and I follow. I don
'
t know if he thinks I
'
m an idiot or what
,
but at least I
'
ll score a few games out of it.