A cute emo chick by the concession counter eyed up Max. Harry tried to signal with his head.
“What?” Max said loudly, spitting out bits of popcorn. The emo chick made a face and disappeared into movie theater one.
“Cute girl was sooo eyeing you up, dude. Before you regurgitated half a ton of popcorn.”
Max snorted. “We’ll find plenty of hot babes in Boston. Still can’t believe your parents said yes. This is going to be rad.”
“I don’t want a hot babe. I have Sammie. Besides, college girls aren’t going to give you the once-over. We’re high school juniors. The lowest of the low.”
“I guess.” Max slumped back against the wall with one foot propped up, looking every inch a rock star. Or maybe a beat poet. “You do realize if you go to college near Boston, you’ll be freezing your balls off for six months of the year. And I won’t visit to protect mine.”
“You’re such a southerner.”
“Last time I checked, so were you.” Max glanced at the women’s restroom. “Ever wonder what takes them so long?”
“A more complicated process, I guess.”
Max grunted yeah. “Hey, your dad’s pretty chill these days. You never told me he was a Joy Division fan.” Max slotted the popcorn bag under his arm and picked at his bright-blue nail polish.
“He is?”
“Yeah. Overheard me singing ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ and said it was one of the few songs he’d liked at our age. A man of most excellent musical taste.”
“Dad’s not really into music.” Harry’s phone blared with the clown horn that drove Dad nuts. Mom had started texting him again. Like, all the time.
When will you be home?
we just got here movie starts in five
Right. Sorry. Fell asleep. Dad had to run into the office. Some crisis with Curt. Eudora says hi. She wants to know if you and Max will go and see a sci-fi movie with her next week.
Mom didn’t really understand texting. Her messages were more like emails. Crazy long.
sure!!!
<3 Text me before you leave.
“Your mom again?” Max said.
“Yup.” Harry put his phone on “Mute.” “This trip is making her super nervous, and now I’m super nervous—and worrying about whether it’s putting too much strain on her heart and if she’s going to end up back in the hospital. Last night, she created all these scenarios of stuff that could go wrong and asked me how I would handle them.”
“Yeah. You and me on a road trip. What’s to worry about?” Max grinned. He hadn’t inherited a single worry gene. “And your dad?”
“Seems pretty laid-back about the whole thing. Go figure.”
“Did you tell either of them about the other part of your plan?”
“No way.” Harry paused. “You didn’t tell your parents, right?”
“Duh. I’ve been keeping your secrets since we were mere blobs in diapers, my friend. Mere blobs. Why change the habits of a lifetime?”
“We were out of diapers.”
“Irrelevant.” Max swept away the comment, apparently forgetting he was holding a large bag of popcorn. Kernels scattered over the carpet. “My life began the moment you shared your juice box with me on the jungle gym. Complete with a healthy serving of Fitzwilliam drool.”
Harry gave him a high five, and then Sammie came out of the restroom and grabbed his hand and he nearly dissolved into a puddle of happiness. Life was looking pretty good about now. Even though he secretly agreed with Mom. A thousand things could go wrong with this trip, and underneath all those worst-case scenarios? He was scared to death.
THIRTY-FIVE
Wired—he was wired with heart-thumping, sweat-making, head-pounding nerves. Could a guy chew himself raw?