Ditched

Chapter 6

“Time to get up, buttercup!”

The words were accentuated by the bed bouncing with such force my body actually flew up in the air. I groaned in protest and tried to pull the covers over my head. Max tugged them back down. “If you’re really that tired, you can sleep in the car again,” he said. “But we need to get going.”

“What time is it?” I moaned. I blinked into the heavy gray light of early morning.

“A little after six.”

“Don’t you ever sleep?” I demanded.

He grabbed my hands and tugged me into a sitting position.

“Not on this trip, no,” he said with a grin.

How could he look so cheery on such little sleep? His hair was damp. Obviously he’d already showered and taken care of whatever else it was that guys did before they started their day.

“Will this help?” he asked. He plucked a large cup off of the nightstand and waved it under my nose. “It’s just gas station cappuccino but it’s the best I could do. There’s not a fancy coffee shop for, I don’t know, maybe hundreds of miles.”

“You’ve already been to the gas station?”

He nodded. “I thought I’d let you sleep for a few more minutes. I filled up on gas and got you this.”

The scent of caffeine went straight to my head and I reached up to grab it.

He wagged a finger at me. “Nope. Not until you listen to my ground rules.”

“I’m listening,” I said. I swung my legs around so that I was sitting, trying to wake up as my feet dangled off the bed. My eyes were on the cup.

I noticed Max’s eyes were on me. His cheeks turned crimson and I quickly tugged the sheet up to cover myself.

“Caffeine?” I questioned, hoping to take his attention away from the moment.

He shook his head. “Not yet. I let you waste an entire day of your life crying over a guy who totally doesn’t deserve it. I let you because I think you needed to. But here’s what’s going to happen today,” Max announced. “You’re going to figure out today is the first day of the rest of your life.” He dropped to his knees in front of me and took my free hand. “You ditched the bastard. And I am so proud of you for that. You realized it was the right thing to do. And now you need to realize he has no business ruining another second for you. Okay?”

I blinked at him, wondering if he realized it was easier said than done. But then I realized he was nice enough to take me with him. I remembered my promise to myself the night before. I didn’t want to make the trip miserable for him. It would be completely selfish of me to mope and whine the whole way. What kind of payback would that be? A terrible one.

I didn’t want Max to regret his offer.

I really didn’t want him to be so tired of me that he’d be ready to send me home before we even got to our destination.

“Deal. Now give me that,” I said. I held out my hand impatiently. “Please?”

“Deal?” he echoed back. He cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re not going to argue?”

I shook my head.

“Then I’m also going to add on that you can’t mention a certain someone’s name today.” He looked at me with raised eyebrows. I could tell by his wary expression that he thought I was going to argue about this as well.

I wasn’t sure if it was strange or normal but that certain someone was the last thing I wanted to talk about.

“Agreed. Now can I please, please have my cappuccino?” I pulled out a smile and pasted it on. Looking at Max grinning at me, it was surprisingly easy to do.

He lowered the cup until it was in my greedy little hand. I promptly lifted it to my greedy little mouth. The thick, frothy, caramel-flavored concoction was divine.

“Mmmm,” I hummed into my cup. Who would’ve guessed that the cheap stuff would taste so good?

“Okay then,” Max said as he backed away. “I’m done in here so I’ll just…” He pointed to the door. “I’m going to head out and give you some privacy. I’ll be right outside, though.”

“I’ll be quick. Maybe ten minutes?”

He gave me a nod and let himself out.

Once I was up, I felt surprisingly awake.

After he’d wrapped his arms around me, I’d fallen asleep listening to him tell me everything would be okay. And maybe his words had grabbed hold of my subconscious, dug in and decided to stay there. Because as I rushed around, gathering my things, I found myself believing that he was right.

I downed the rest of my drink as I got ready. I hadn’t really had the need to unpack so as promised, I was ready when I said I would be.

Max was leaning up against his car waiting for me. The sun had finally crept high enough into the sky so that it was in plain view. The air was brisk, almost biting, but I was sure it wouldn’t stay that way for long.

He took my bag from me and stashed it away.

As I was buckling up, he slid into his seat. He’d flipped his sunglasses down from where they’d been perched on top of his head and he smiled over at me.

“What?” I asked warily.

“Nothing,” he said with a shrug. “I just have a feeling today’s going to be a good day.”

“Really?” I asked as he turned the engine over. “Didn’t you say we’re going to be spending something like fourteen hours in the car?”

“You’ve got me for company,” he teased. “What more could you ask for?”

“I don’t know. A doughnut might make me feel better,” I said. I’d spotted them in the backseat.

“Help yourself.” He pulled out onto the interstate and we headed into a new day.

“Do you know what else would make me feel better?” I prodded. I already had the doughnuts in my lap. I plucked out a powdered one. They had to have been from the gas station as well.

He gave me a sideways glance.

“You should let me drive your car.”

He snorted out a laugh at me.

“I’m not joking.”

“I kind of feel like I’m being manipulated,” he said.

“That’s because you are. Is it working?”

He shook his head. “Not yet.”



***



I tossed my phone into the backseat, knowing it was probably going to get lost amidst all of Max’s belongings. I didn’t care. In fact, that was kind of the point. If I had to look at one more text or hear one more voicemail that had anything to do with Collin, I knew I might have another meltdown.

We’d been driving for hours, nearly the whole day. Sometimes we were silent, sometimes we reminisced, a good portion of the trip we just sang along with the radio. Now the monotony was starting to bare down and I groaned out loud.

“What?” Max asked.

“This is so unfair,” I grumbled. “Everyone I know got to witness the most humiliating moment of my life.” I paused, taking a break in my lamenting. Walking in, that had been the most humiliating. “The second most humiliating,” I amended.

“The only person who should be embarrassed is Collin. I don’t think he’s smart enough to know that, though. As for you, I’m glad and you should be, too,” he said. His tone was matter-of-fact.

“You’re glad?” I asked in disbelief.

“Well, yeah. He’s a jerk. And now you’re not stuck with him.”

“Okay,” I said as I sat up straighter and crossed my arms over my chest. “Your turn.”

“For…?”

“Tell me something I don’t know about you. Tell me something completely, totally embarrassing.”

He leaned back in his seat and laughed.

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s my answer,” he argued.

“Come on,” I wheedled. “Don’t you want me to feel better?”

“My humiliation would make you feel better?”

“A little bit,” I decided.

He glanced at me and shook his head. I smiled at him and I could see his resolve slipping away.

“Oh, Max,” I cooed and batted my eyelashes. “Come on, I bet you can’t even come up with anything that bad.”

He smirked but didn’t give in to me.

That was okay. We had time, loads of it. A fact he was as aware of as I was. We’d already crossed through Montana. More often than not, I’d been able to spot antelope off in fields on the sides of the road. I’d been delighted the first time I saw a baby near the edge of the interstate. The fluffy little tails on their rumps possibly made them the cutest thing I’d ever seen.

Driving through the mountains hadn’t been nearly as treacherous as I’d feared. Though I’d turned in my seat and kept my eyes glued to Max the entire time. I knew better than to even try to look out my own window. I probably would’ve thrown myself into a panic attack.

Driving through Coeur d'Alene, Idaho was my favorite part of the trip so far. The view of the river had been amazing. Now we were creeping through Washington and there wasn’t a whole lot to see. The most exciting view so far had been the funky little swirling dirt devils that danced across the open spaces. I’d never seen anything like them but my intrigue quickly faded as the novelty wore off.

They were everywhere.

I squirmed in my seat, trying to relieve my numb backside. With nothing else to do, I decided to keep bothering Max to keep myself entertained.

“Oh, Max, I know you want to. You want to tell me a secret. Tell me something about you that I don’t know.”

His gaze flicked to mine before landing back on the road. His face was oddly expressionless.

“Tell me something embarrassing. Something that will make me feel better.” He shifted in his seat. A sure sign he was about to crack.

“Why would I willingly do this?” he wondered.

“Because you love me,” I teased. “Tell me a secret.”

Max glanced at me before saying, “I love you.”

I said, “I know. Now tell me something embarrassing.”

He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “No. I mean…Never mind. You’re right. When it comes to you, I have no shame.” He tossed a wicked grin my way. “You want to hear about my first kiss?”

“Only if it was awful.” I squirmed around in my seat, like I was getting situated to hear a good story.

“You want to hear about how I humiliated myself and we both ended up in tears?”

“I sure do,” I admitted with a smile.

“It was awful,” he admitted with a grimace. “In fact, it didn’t end with a kiss. I made her cry. And I almost humiliated myself further by crying as well.”

“Oh,” I said sympathetically, “what happened?”

“This girl,” he said with a sigh. “She had super curly hair. I mean, super curly. Anyhow, we were thirteen. It was the first boy-girl birthday party I’d ever gone to. We were playing that game. The one where they lock you in the closet.”

“Seven Minutes in Heaven,” I supplied.

He scowled. “Yeah, only it was more like Seven Seconds in Hell. She tumbled out of the closet crying giant crocodile tears.”

He stopped talking and I waited. When I realized he might not be planning to continue, I prodded him along. “Why?”

“Just as I leaned in, she turned her head. She got her curls stuck in my braces. I tore a chunk of her hair right out of her head. She jerked away so fast she pulled the bracket right off of my front tooth. Hurt like hell!” he said. “I didn’t even try to kiss another girl for two more years. Not until the damn braces were off and not until I knew we were moving. You know, just in case I managed to make a mess of things the second time.”

“How was the second time?” I asked, hoping he’d gotten over being traumatized.

“Much better,” he admitted with obvious relief.

I was smiling as I took a minute to look out the window. There was really nothing to see. Just fields. I wasn’t even sure what I was looking at. Farmland maybe? Or just wide, never ending space. For some reason, I was expecting there to be more trees.

“So what do you usually do on this trip to keep busy?” I asked.

“Usually we fly,” he said.

“Well, you’re lucky you have me to keep you company. What else should we talk about?”

He let out a little laugh. “Who says I want to talk about anything?”

I shrugged. “What else is there to do?”

He seemed to think it over. “Okay. I have a question for you. What were your parents thinking anyway? I never understood why they were so set on you and Collin marrying.”

Max had never really asked me about Collin before. I figured it was because he was a guy. Asking me about another guy just wasn’t the kind of thing guys did. Instead, we talked about everything else: The uselessness of small dogs. Why peanut butter tasted so much better with chocolate. The negative impact global warming could have on grape production. We frequently discussed our odd accounting teacher, Mr. Chanter. He wore his toupee at random. Either wear it, or don’t. Switching it up doesn’t impress anyone.

But never had he really asked me about Collin before.

“I thought we weren’t going to talk about him.” My right hand automatically flew to the opposite wrist, which suddenly felt inexplicably naked.

“I’m making an exception.”

I gritted my teeth for a second and then sighed. “I don’t know. Our moms have been best friends since we were little. We grew up together. Most of our family vacations were together. When we were just kids, they used to tease us, telling us that we’d get married someday. Only, I don’t think they were teasing. I really think they expected us to. I guess we both grew up thinking that we would. I mean, we always got along.” I frowned. “Or at least I thought we did. Then when Collin decided to go into architecture, he got really close to my dad.”

My words got caught in my throat. Was Lanna right? Had Collin really ever been interested in me at all? Or was he just trying to make our families happy? And trying to start off his career in the best way he could? Was I nothing more than an inconvenience he had to tolerate?

I shook my head, telling myself that wasn’t true. He had loved me. I was sure of it. Maybe not enough, maybe not in the right way. But he had. Maybe he even still did. But apparently that wasn’t enough, either.

Maybe we were both guilty of caving to the pressures we didn’t even realize we were under. Maybe it was simply that we were too young. Maybe we both needed to grow up a little. Maybe if we’d waited longer, things wouldn’t have turned out the way they had.

There I went again, chasing after the “maybes”. Those “maybes” that I would probably never know the answer to.

Maybe it all happened for a reason I was never going to understand. I wasn’t sure I could live with that. Then again, maybe I wasn’t going to have a choice. Sometimes, there are things that can’t be explained away, no matter how badly you want them to be.

“Holly.” My name emerged from his mouth sounding like a sigh.

I swiped at my face, realizing I was crying again.

“Sorry,” I sniffled. “It’s not just Collin, or cancelling the wedding. It’s everything. What am I going to do now?”

“You’re going to get on with your life,” he said simply.

“Right,” I said around a sniffle. It was a simple solution for a complex problem.

“I’m sorry. That was a completely jackass thing to bring up.” He tapped on the brakes and the car began to slow. “I know it’s really none of my business but it just never made sense to me. We have our whole lives ahead of us. I just never saw the point of rushing into something like that. If it’s meant to be, it’ll be. So why rush things along? Why not take your time and enjoy it?” he asked as he pulled over.

I glanced around. The only things in sight were the never ending fields and a body of water that might be a poor excuse for a lake.

“What are you doing?” I asked. He’d come to a complete stop on the shoulder.

“Hop out, switch me places,” he commanded. “I made you cry. The least I can do is let you drive my car.”

He didn’t give me a chance to protest. Not that I wanted to. I just thought it might be the polite thing to do. He jumped out and I followed, scurrying around to the other side.

“Hop in,” he said as he held the driver’s door open for me.

The look on his face was reminiscent of Mrs. Cooper’s the first time she left her infant alone with me back in my babysitting days.

“You don’t have to,” I finally managed. As far as protests went, it wasn’t very convincing.

He seemed to think it over. He looked at his car and back at me.

“Just,” he took a deep breath, “be careful.”

I spent a few seconds readjusting everything while I waited for him to get in. I smiled as he grimaced.

“Don’t go over the speed limit,” he instructed as I eased back onto the road.

“Yes sir,” I said. In no time, I realized why he gave me the warning. The car took off way faster than I expected it to. “Nice!” I said in appreciation.

“Yeah, I know,” he muttered.

I reached over, ready to give his knee a reassuring pat. He caught my wrist before I reached him.

“Both hands on the wheel, Holly. Both hands on the wheel.”

He set my hand back down on the wheel, where it apparently belonged.

“Got it.”

“And eyes on the road.”

“Max! I’ve been driving a car longer than you have!”

“By two months!”

“Well, you’re kind of taking all of the fun out of it. I mean, come on.” I motioned to the highway ahead of us. There was nothing. And it seemed to go on forever. “Relax.”

He leaned back in his seat. “I’ll relax if you will.”

I smiled over at him, feeling more relaxed already.

I was done with Collin. Done.

Done talking.

Done thinking.

Done dwelling.

Done moping.

Done with all of it.

Even though I knew it wasn’t going to be the easy way, it was the only way.

The more distance Max and I put between us and Chamberlain, the more miles that passed by, the firmer my resolve grew. That wasn’t to say I was over Collin. I wasn’t.

But I was done with Collin.