Page 31 of Places We've Never Been

“There are twelve of these ghosts just outside of town meant to represent the Last Supper scene. So save some of your good poses for that,” Austin said to the group.

“I only have three pose-with-a-ghost looks,” I said.

He smiled.

I let the guys fill in around the bike first, then took my place on the opposite side of the group from Skyler, next to Paisley. After our moms took pictures, I made them take a few together and then we took some as separate families. All in all, we took entirely too many pictures with a ghost by a bike. I hadn’t saved any of my faux scared faces for a whole other set of ghosts.

Mom gave a loud whistle and pointed toward the RVs. “Let’sgo, let’s go. It’s getting late and we have a five-hour drive ahead of us.” She patted Ezra’s arm and held out her hand, palm up. “Keys.”

“What?” Ezra exclaimed.

“I should drive this leg.”

“Why? I’m young, Mom. I’m way more likely to stay awake behind the wheel than you are.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. Mom had never had problems staying awake driving.

“Funny,” Mom said, her hand still out. Didsheknow thatheknew whatever it was thatIdidn’t know?

“It wasn’t a joke,” he said with his cheeky smile.

“Please, Miranda,” Paisley chimed in. “Norah was going to give me some drawing tips.”

Mom looked at Olivia, who shrugged. “Fine,” she said. “But if you get sleepy, call me and we’ll switch places.”

“You too,” he said. “If you get tired, we can always pull over for the night.”

She hugged me and Ezra; then she and Olivia headed to the other vehicle.

“I can go with you guys,” Skyler said, catching up to his mom. “In case you need a spare driver.”

“Nice try,” Olivia said. “You can’t drive the rental.” Then she said something under her breath to him. Probably something likeYes, you have to keep dealing with Norah even though you don’t want to.

Whatever she said, he gave her a half smile, then sauntered over to our RV. Paisley rushed up the steps in front of him.

I stepped forward at the same time as Skyler and then weboth stopped, gesturing for the other person to go. Then we both stepped forward again.

“Go ahead,” I said.

He gave a short nod and climbed up, then shut the door behind him. I grunted, thinking he was just being thoughtless, but when I reached up to open the door, it was locked. My breath caught in my chest. We used to do this to each other all the time. Was this his call for a truce? Or maybe it was at his mom’s suggestion.

I pounded on the door. “Skyler, don’t be a punk!”

The latch clicked and the door swung open. Paisley stood there, a confused expression on her face.

I walked in and smacked Skyler on the shoulder as I passed him by, my call for a truce. He chuckled.

The RV rumbled to life and Paisley took her place, cross-legged on the bed with the old notebook. I joined her and decided to sketch the sand dunes I’d seen earlier before they slipped from my memory. But what I ended up sketching was multicolored glass bottles scattered all over the page, their support system dissolved.

“What are all these pics on the bottom corner of the pages?” Paisley asked just as I settled into my zone.

“Which ones?” I asked.

She turned the notebook toward me and pointed.

“Oh,” I said. “Animation.”

“Bring it here,” Skyler said, and she did.