Page 17 of Stops Along the Way
She shrugs. “It seems like it could be fun. We have our own car; we can go our separate ways at any point.”
“Maybe it could’ve been fun if he hadn’t just seen that ridiculous message you sent? Now he’s going to think I have a crush on him. And like I said, I don’t!”
“You’re protesting a little too much.”
“Oh my gosh,” I say, my cheeks bright red. “Because when you deny an accusation, it just makes people think you’re lying for some reason, even when you’re absolutely telling the truth.That’s like a whole big component of the board game I just designed!”
“I really had no idea he would see that text. That’s on you for handing over your phone without checking it first.”
I groan, exasperated. “Great. All this right before we’re apparently driving the whole way back though Pennsylvania”—I start spouting off states for dramatic emphasis—“Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa,andNebraska with him and his brother.”
“Wow, we won’t even need a map.”
I continue whining, fully aware that I sound like a petulant child. “Amelia!”
“Like I said, they’ll be in a different car. It’s totally fine.”
“Then what’s the point of even driving together?”
“Because we’ll have more people to talk to when we’re at rest stops after being stuck in a car just the two of us for hours and hours and h—”
“Okay, fine!” I cut her off, since the teasing gleam in her eyes suggests she’ll continue indefinitely if I don’t. “If you insist.”
“You are being weird.” Her voice slips into a sincerity we don’t often broach. “Because youdolike him…”
“No, I don’t—I don’t know, he’s like…my rival?” I cringe the second I say it. But it’s true. We regularly play against each other in a board game, a long-standing matchup in which he’s compelled to tally our wins and losses. That seems like a basic definition ofrivalsto me.
Amelia makes anawwface that makes me want to puke. “Aww, like, rivals who play Rivalry. That’s the most adorable shit I’ve ever heard.”
“This is mortifying.”
I’m sure I could easily clear up this misunderstanding. He apparently has an older brother. He has to understand sibling teasing.
I think back to the text. I suppose what’s really bothering me right now is that our playing field is totally uneven. It’s like another tally in his notebook of match victories. He’s probably feeling smug and assuming I’ve been harboring some sort of secret unrequited crush. I can’t stand Declan thinking he’s somehow got the upper hand.
Chapter Six
While Amelia sorts though clothes in her closet, I’m tasked with taking down her decorations. There’s a little string of photographs spanning the wall above her bed, with the images she brought from home and put up on move-in day. There’s one of her at an amusement park with her high school friends. At her graduation with our grandparents. Smiling with Mom and Dad on her birthday. The two of us at the lake.
Then, on the wooden wardrobe doors on the wall by this dorm room’s central mirror vanity, she’s collected a series of more updated images from her time in college so far, Camila being the friend that features most prominently in both group and solo shots. I carefully remove the tape from the back of each image and stack the four-by-sixes into a neat little pile.
“I forgot I had this.” Amelia holds up a gold dress. “Why did I ever think I would need this on campus?”
“You didn’t have any formal events?” I ask, grabbing the spare set of sheets and fitting them onto her roommate’s vacant bed.
“I did, but none that I wanted to wear my old homecoming dress to.” She laughs and tosses it into her suitcase.
I lie down on my freshly made bed and pull out my phone under the guise of not wanting to get in her way until she needs my help packing, but also to text my friends, since there’s been messages piling up in the group chat for a while now.
Elizabeth:I got my roommate assignment. Aah, is this going to be terrible?
Peyton:What do you know about her??
Elizabeth:Just that she’s also majoring in music and is from New Jersey? Peyton, are people from NJ nice??
Peyton:I’m only going to school there—I can’t vouch for all the people
Elizabeth:Like, why does she want to be a Cornhusker?
