“You never know when to shut up, Jenks,” Brazil said, disgusted.
America pulled on my arm. “C’mon. Let’s go.”
She didn’t waste time tugging me to her car. When she put the gear in drive, I grabbed her wrist. “Wait! Where are we going?”
“We’re going to Shep’s. I don’t want him to be alone with Travis. Did you see him? Dude’s gone off the deep end!”
“Well, I don’t want to be around him, either!”
America stared at me in disbelief. “There’s obviously something going on with him. Don’t you want to know what it is?”
“My sense of self-preservation is outweighing my curiosity at this point, Mare.”
“The only thing that stopped him was your voice, Abby. He’ll listen to you. You need to talk to him.”
I sighed and released her wrist, falling against the back of my seat. “All right. Let’s go.”
We pulled into the parking lot, and America slowed to a stop between Shepley’s Charger and Travis’ Harley. She walked to the stairs, putting her hands on her hips with a touch of her own dramatic flare.
“C’mon, Abby!” America called, motioning for me to follow.
Hesitant, I finally followed, stopping when I saw Shepley hurry down the stairs to speak quietly in America’s ear. He looked at me, shook his head, and then whispered to her once again..
“What?” I asked.
“Shep doesn’t…,” she fidgeted, “Shep doesn’t think it’s a good idea that we go in. Travis is still pretty mad.”
“You mean he doesn’t think I should go in,” I said. America shrugged sheepishly, and then looked to Shepley.
Shepley touched my shoulder. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Abby. He just doesn’t…he doesn’t want to see you right now.”
“If I didn’t do anything wrong, then why doesn’t he want to see me?”
“I’m not sure; he won’t talk to me about it. I think he’s embarrassed that he lost his temper in front of you.”
“He lost his temper in front of the entire cafeteria! What do I have to do with it?”
“More than you think,” Shepley said, dodging my eyes.
I watched them for a moment, and then pushed past them, running up the stairs. I burst through the doors to find an empty living room. The door to Travis’ room was closed, so I knocked.
“Travis? It’s me, open up.”
“Walk away, Pidge,” he called from the other side of the door.
I peeked in to see him sitting on the edge of his bed, facing the window. Toto pawed at his back, unhappy about being ignored.
“What is going on with you, Trav?” I asked. He didn’t answer, so I stood beside him, crossing my arms. His jaw was tensed, but it was no longer the frightening expression he had in the cafeteria. He seemed sad. The deep, hopeless kind.
“You’re not going to talk to me about this?”
I waited, but he remained quiet. I turned for the door and he finally sighed. “You know the other day when Brazil mouthed off to me and you rushed to my defense? Well…that’s what happened. I just got a little carried away.”
“You were angry before Chris said anything,” I said, returning to sit beside him on the bed.
He continued to stare out the window. “I meant what I said before. You need to walk away, Pidge. God knows I can’t walk away from you.”
I touched his arm. “You don’t want me to leave.”
Travis’ jaws tensed again, and then he took me under his arm. He paused for a moment, and then kissed my forehead, pressing his cheek against my temple. “It doesn’t matter how hard I try. You’re going to hate me when it’s all said and done.”
I wrapped my arms around him. “We have to be friends. I won’t take no for an answer,” I quoted.