‘Sure looks like her though,’ Noah chimes.
I wanna tell him to can it, but I know it’d be too obvious. So, I don’t.
I so need to be gone from this place.
When the time comes to say goodbye, Noah is crying in Hollie’s arms. She’s whispering something in his ear that I can’t hear, and when she finally lifts her head, she’s crying too.
‘Stay outta trouble,’ I say to a tearful Noah. He clings to me as I say goodbye. ‘Everything will be all right,’ I add, echoing what Hollie told him earlier. He nods his head. He’s too choked up to respond.
Rita insisted on making sandwiches for Hollie and me, further delaying our departure. It’s gone five. The sun sets in three hours, though we’ll lose an hour crossing the state line.
Echo is straight up gonna kill me if I don’t make it back to Rapture by dawn.
‘AJ you cannot drive through the night,’ Rita says to me for the third time in about twenty minutes. ‘At least stop someplace so you can get some rest. For Hollie’s sake.’
‘I’ll be fine,’ Hollie interrupts.
Since the Amber Bradshaw painting moment, seems like she hasn’t been able to look at me.
‘Bye, Rita,’ I say, wrapping her in an embrace. ‘Don’t let Noah give you any BS. Thank you for doing this.’
I feel her practically crushing my ribcage. ‘I know you’ll miss him,’ she whispers, her breath tickling my ear. ‘I’ll take good care of him. You’re a good brother, Ajax.’
‘Thanks,’ I say to her, pulling back. ‘I’m glad he’s got you too.’
I look at the ground when it’s Hollie’s turn to embrace her. Hollie offers Rita a ton of thanks, and it feels like maybe a part of her is making up for a perceived lack of gratitude on my part, because we’re heading off so soon.
Then I wait for Hollie to get in her car and get settled, before pulling on my helmet. Wait for her to start her engine before I rev mine.
I wave to Rita and Noah, then Hollie follows me back down the drive, toward the main strip, the sun dipping low on the horizon.
We make good progress, until ten clicks north of Roswell, on the highway, I hear a bang.
I look back and see a plume of smoke spewing out the hood of Hollie’s car.
Chapter Twelve
Hollie
Theydated.
Until two hours ago, I was blissfully unaware of this fact.
Now the knowledge is messing with my head, like an out-of-control ear worm.
AJ dated Amber Bradshaw, and they got together after she kissed him at her graduation party. After pretending to beme, claimingshewas the one to kiss him inside that stupid closet. And all because I was too shy to do anything about it.
I guess nobody bothered to enlighten him then.
Noah even said she was his girlfriend. He took her home to meet his mother.
I’m speechless. And maybe a teensy bit jealous.
It shouldn’t bother me. I know that. I never saw AJ after I saw him kissing Amber. I left for England the next day, and I never told him it was me, because I was too chicken. I fled the party. So why should I care what happened afterward? It’s my fault he never knew what really happened.
At least my suspicions have been confirmed. That itwasAmber he’d wanted to kiss all along.
I yawn. The light is fading fast. I cannot believe we are back on the road already, and we’ve left Noah behind. I wriggle around in my seat, trying to get comfortable. Worse than that, it feels like my engine might be making funny noises.