Page 19 of Stops Along the Way
Elizabeth:Send me a picture of this guy. I forget what he looks like!
Peyton starts spamming the chat with screenshots of a few pictures that have been uploaded to the store’s message board over the years. Lots of blurry photos of people hunched over tables playing board games. Nothing flattering of Declan…or me, for that matter.
Iris:At least find something from his social media
Peyton:Do you follow him??
Iris:Yeah, but he never really posts
I know. I’ve recently checked.
Amelia pulls out an ugly neon green sweatshirt from one of her drawers. It has a faded Kermit the Frog on the front and is so comfortable, and I love it, and it’s been missing from my life for too long.
“Hey! You stole that,” I say. “I’ve been wondering where it went.”
“Well, since it’s mine, it got packed and brought to college.” She holds her arm up high, out of reach, and dangles it in the air.
“You’re definitely misremembering something.”
She shakes her head and tosses the sweatshirt to me. “I didn’t end up wearing it, so it can be yours.”
I hug the fabric tight to my chest. “Like it always was…”
Iris:Hey, I gotta help pack now
Peyton:Keep us updated
Elizabeth:And send a better photo of him!!
Iris:No, I’m not going to take a random picture of this boy?
I slide my phone into my pocket and jump up to help Amelia, who is standing on her toes trying to inch another big suitcase out from overhead in the closet with just her fingertips. I’m ever so slightly taller than her these days, but it doesn’t make much of a difference. Nevertheless, we hoist it down to the ground, and she unzips it, frowning at the couple of sweaters that are already inside.
“Maybe I should’ve had you fly with an empty suitcase so I had more room to pack things.”
“Yeah, cause TSA would love that,” I say. “It was pretty incredible going through the airport without any luggage other than my backpack.” I walk over to the counter where her roommate left behind extra cleaning supplies and grab a trash bag from the box. “Good thing you can just throw everything in some of these and fill up the car trunk.”
“I guess so.”
Amelia tosses a few T-shirts in my direction. I put them into the bag and throw the entire thing back at her, but she’s already turned back to the closet, so it bounces off her butt and falls to the ground. Very helpful of me.
.....
It takes us a few more hours before Amelia’s entire college existence is consolidated into movable bags and boxes, aside from the pajamas and toiletries and things we’ll need for tonight and the drive home. We crash together on the floor, sitting along the wall, feasting on the remnants of food from her snack box and rented mini fridge.
“At least your exam week was pretty short,” I say, grabbing a handful of pretzel sticks.
“Well, I was supposed to have a test on Thursday and another on Friday, but those professors both wanted to start summer early, so they gave us the tests during the final class period instead of the scheduled exam period.”
“I’d definitely prefer that.”
“It was a unanimous vote.” Amelia sniffs the yogurt before searching around for a plastic utensil.
“Talk about class solidarity.” I glance around the room. “I’m glad we had some time without your roommate.”
With the spoon in her mouth, Amelia widens her eyes and nods. “Me too.”
“She seemed nice enough yesterday, but you made her sound like the worst.”
