Page 115 of Places We've Never Been

CHAPTER 28

The next morning, I lay in bed staring up at the can light in the ceiling, trying to convince myself that the night before hadn’t been a dream.I kissed Skyler. Well, he kissed me. Or we kissed each other simultaneously. Whatever. We kissed!I texted those words to Willow to make them more real. Plus, she was my best friend and we always told each other who we were kissing.

YOU KISSED HIM?!?! I KNEW IT!! Was it my note that finally convinced you?

What note?

The one that said “kiss him already.”

No, I didn’t find that note. I only found the one that said I owed you two dollars for the slushy you bought before I left.

Well, that’s true too. How was it?

The slushy?

The kiss, dork.

Amazing!

I smiled, then reached over to the windowsill for my flashcards. It was now my habit to flip through them when I woke up every morning. That afternoon we were leaving Spokane and would be one day closer to my interview. I bit my lip as my smile got bigger. My past and future had come together in a magical collision. I hadn’t thought it was going to be something this big, but it felt good.

I dropped my cards back by the window, too distracted to look through them, and rolled out of bed. After rushing through my morning routine, I went outside to see if Skyler was up yet. His mom was by the portable grill taking the covers off the burners, but he wasn’t with her. She looked my way when I stepped down from the RV.

“Good morning,” she said.

“Hi, good morning. Are we the first ones up?”

“We are.”

How early is it?My phone showed it was seven in the morning.

I sent off another quick text to Willow:Why are you up at seven in the morning?

You woke me up, loser. Now let me sleep.

I tucked my phone away and sat at the table.

“How was the bonfire last night?” Olivia asked.

I felt the smile on my face that I couldn’t control.

“That good, huh? Did you meet someone?” Her eyebrows moved up and down, making her look a lot like Paisley.

“I…” Were we telling our parents? Skyler and I hadn’t discussed next steps the night before. We were too busy making out. If we told our moms, would they make us drive in separateRVs again? Not give us as much alone time? Constantly monitor us? I wanted all the time I could get with Skyler before the trip was over. “Yes, I did.”

“Fun!” She moved a skillet to one of the burners.

“Can I help with breakfast?”

“Of course. Thank you.”

As I was digging through the ice chest a couple minutes later looking for the eggs, Skyler walked out of his RV. My heart doubled its speed, making it hard to breathe. He gave me his adorable half smile and started walking straight for me when his eyes focused on his mom. His cute smile turned to a questioning look and I shook my head. He gave a single nod as if he had assessed the pros and cons of parental involvement as well and completely agreed with me. Yes, I was relying on my best friend mind-reading powers in that moment, but all evidence pointed to that conclusion when he changed direction and ended up at his mom’s side instead of mine.

He kissed her cheek and said, “Good morning. What can I help with?”

She said something too quiet for me to understand.

He laughed a little. “What? I’m not.”