“Sorry, I don’t give rides to strangers.” He completely shut me down, and everyone burst out laughing. I was the girl nobody wanted to ride with, left standing there awkwardly. Sarah was laughing the hardest.
“What’s so funny?” Riley asked her. “You can’t
ride with me either.”
Sarah’s laughter died instantly. “Like I would
want to!” she snapped.
“You seemed pretty eager to grab that passenger seat earlier,” he pointed out.
Another friend, Mark, intervened, offering me
his seat in the back and taking the front with
Riley.
On the highway, Sarah and Ethan were chatting
and laughing in the front. The group chat was
blowing up while we stopped at a rest area.
Mark: “Ethan, don’t be a jerk to Amy just
because she likes you.”
Mark: “You know she has a thing for guys like
you, and you’re trying to set her up with Riley.”
Ethan and Riley were polar opposites. Ethan
was the charming player, and Riley was the
aloof, straight–talking type. Nobody would ever
put me and Riley together.
DogWhisperer: “Amy and Riley are a match
made in heaven.”
NotADog: “?”
Mark: “Who is this guy? When did he get in
here?”
“NotADog” removed “DogWhisperer” from the
group.
Riley immediately messaged my burner account.
NotADog: “Say that again, I dare you.”
10:26
<
DogWhisperer: “I have pictures of you two holding hands.”
42
I glanced over at the driver’s seat of the other car. Riley was calmly looking at his phone, his profile sharp and defined, his bangs falling over his eyes. He didn’t look like someone who was currently sending me pleading emojis in our private chat.
NotADog: “Dude, come on. Everyone makes
mistakes.”
NotADog: “Give a brother a break.”
“NotADog” invited “DogWhisperer” back to the
group.
NotADog: “Nothing to see here, just some
random guy.”
NotADog: “He likes stirring up trouble between
me and Ethan.”
Mark: “Your usernames are a match made in
<
heaven, though.”
Mark: “Don’t worry, nobody believes him
anyway.”
Mark: “A match made in heaven, hahahaha.
Amy would rather date Sarah than you.”
NotADog:
Ethan came back from the convenience store
and handed Sarah a bag of snacks as he got back in the car.
“Aw, thanks, Ethan!” she said, happily pulling out a mango juice.
“That one’s for Amy.” Ethan took it back and tossed it to me without looking. “She only drinks this flavor.”
Sarah’s face froze. “Yeah, I was just about to
give it to her,” she said stiffly, glancing at me before nudging Ethan’s arm.
<
ร
“Ethan, the group chat is hilarious! Riley added
some comedian in there.”
Ethan glanced at his phone, scrolling quickly,
and chuckled, not seeming to care.
As the car started moving again, Sarah turned to me and whispered, “Too bad you’re not in the group chat. You’re missing out on the joke.”
We built a bonfire. Sarah sat next to Ethan,
eating the barbecue he was feeding her. I
grilled some shrimp and was the last to sit
down, taking the spot across from Ethan, next
to Riley.
Before I even settled in, Riley jumped up.
“Mark, let’s switch spots,” he said, not looking
at me.
“Huh? Why? I’m comfortable here.” Mark had just gotten settled. “Is there a ghost sitting next
to you or something?”
<
26
Everyone looked at me, sitting next to him.
“There’s no ghost,” I said, offering Riley a
skewer of shrimp. “Are you seeing things?”
42
He clenched his jaw, sat back down, and took
the shrimp. “You’re the ghost.”
Ethan’s gaze lingered briefly on the shrimp in Riley’s hand before moving away.
Everyone started chatting and gossiping. When
the conversation turned to relationships,
someone said, “I can’t stand those girls who
live in their own little fantasy world. They get
addicted to being lovesick puppies.”
Though the comment wasn’t directed at me,
everyone looked over. Sarah smirked and
purposely turned the conversation towards me.
“You hate those kinds of girls too, right,
Ethan?” she asked.
>
Ethan looked up, his eyes flicking between me and Riley, who was barely a foot away.
“Yeah, they are pretty annoying,” he said, a smirk playing on his lips. “And their tactics are so predictable. Like using another guy to make me jealous. So unoriginal.”
He’d seen right through me, calling me out in front of everyone, leaving me with nowhere to hide. Those who understood his insinuation
exchanged knowing glances and started whispering. Sarah looked smug. “Oh, that’s kind of pathetic,” she added.
There it was again. That feeling of being isolated, exposed. Ethan always managed to
drag me through the mud like this. And just
when I thought I was drowning, he’d throw me a
lifeline, a backhanded compliment after the
insult.
Sure enough, he stood up and offered me a cob
of roasted corn. “Here, you unoriginal dummy.”
But another hand intercepted the corn. Riley
pushed Ethan’s hand away from me. “It’s not
cooked yet,” he said.
Ethan’s hand froze in midair.
“Ethan,” Riley asked, his eyes still fixed on the
corn, “have you ever considered that you might
be ‘the other guy‘?”
Ethan’s face darkened. “What’s the meaning of
this?”
Riley still hadn’t looked at me, but his hand
remained a barrier between Ethan and me.
“Maybe she’s been trying so hard to get close to you, just to get to someone near you.”
Ethan smirked and sat back down next to Sarah, tossing the corn onto the grill. “She
<
better be,” he said. A fresh plate of barbecue
arrived, and the conversation shifted to matchmaking Ethan and Sarah. Everyone was having a blast.
I quietly finished my plate of oysters and then felt a familiar pang in my lower abdomen. “You said the stars were beautiful here last time we
had clam chowder,” Sarah said to Ethan. He just smirked, not really engaging, fiddling with a skewer. Mark chimed in, “So you two had a secret date already?”
The pain in my abdomen intensified. Crap, my period was early. Tears welled up in my eyes. Riley glanced at me. I took a deep breath and
rested my head on my knees, trying to hide the
pain. I needed to get to a bathroom. Meanwhile,
encouraged by the others, Ethan was describing his ideal first love. It sounded exactly like Sarah,
and nothing like me. While everyone was
cheering them on, I quietly slipped away and
went to find my bag in the tent.
10:26
12
A tall shadow loomed over me in the small tent.
“Don’t cry,” a voice said. “I take back what I
said before.”
I turned to see Riley, his expression softening. “You’re really crying,” he said.
“Don’t be sad. It’s not you, you and Ethan just aren’t a good match.” He coughed awkwardly. “You just need to find someone else to like.”
I blinked at him.
“What are you looking at?” His ears turned pink.
“You’re really cute,” I said honestly. The dim
lighting softened his sharp features.
He scowled. “Be serious!”
“I’m not crying,” I said, wiping my face. “I just
started my period and I didn’t bring any
tampons.”
<
ushed, clearly not expecting me to be so
blunt. “Then…then what do we do?” he
stammered, looking flustered.
“Can you drive me down the mountain to buy some?”
The mountain wasn’t that high, and the roads were clear. We could be back in half an hour.
“I don’t give rides to strangers.”
I touched the pristine door of his passenger seat and smiled at him. “Well, then I guess we’re not strangers anymore.”
His hand tightened on the steering wheel. He
looked away, avoiding my gaze.
“You were playing me this whole time, weren’t
you?” Riley asked. “You still like him, don’t
you?”
<
“Yeah.”
“Why did you mess with me like that?”
“Because I saw the messages in your group
chat.”
He flinched, glancing at me.
I continued, my voice calm. “You said I was
clingy, that I was out of Ethan’s league, that I
was delusional. You were right.”
“But I don’t understand why loving someone
sincerely is considered pathetic.”
I looked him straight in the eye. “Does mocking
someone’s feelings make you feel superior?”
He was silent, his lips pressed together. The car
was quieter than the night outside. The
mountain air was cool.
10:27
<
42
He drove quickly and smoothly down to the small convenience store at the bottom of the mountain. I bought some tampons and used the
store’s restroom. The dark mountain loomed in
the night, a shadowy silhouette against the sky. I took a little longer than I expected. When I came out, Riley was leaning against the wall, waiting for me, blocking my path back to the
car.
Under the flickering yellow light, he looked imposing in his black jacket, his eyes cool but
patient. “Not many people around here at
night,” he said. “Just wanted to make sure you
were safe.”
So he stood there, getting eaten alive by
mosquitoes, waiting for me.
Back in the car, the heater was blasting, but my
stomach still ached, and I was breaking out in a
cold sweat. He handed me a bottle of pain
relievers from the glove compartment.
10:27
<
“Why do you have these in your car?” I asked.
“Just a habit,” he said.
As he closed the glove compartment, I caught a
glimpse of a bottle of sleeping pills tucked
away in the back.
I peeled back the foil and swallowed the pain
reliever.
“Amy Carter,” Riley said, using my full name, which he rarely did.
I turned to him. “Yeah?”
“I’m sorry.” He looked genuinely apologetic, the
warm light from the car softening his features. “I judged you based on what Ethan said. I had
the wrong impression of you.”
“You’re not clingy, and you’re not out of
anyone’s league. I was the one who was out of
10:27
<
line,” he said.
- ))
42
We drove back up the mountain, parking near the campsite. He walked behind me, shining his flashlight on the path. A gust of wind made me shiver. He draped his jacket over my shoulders. “Just borrowing it,” he mumbled.
The jacket was soft and warm. I couldn’t resist
running my hand along the edge.
He caught my movement. “Don’t mess with it,”
he warned.
I looked at him and did it again. He caught my
hand. “Why do you like messing with people so
much?”
I looked at his warm hand. “Weren’t you the one
who swore you’d never hold my hand?”
“How did you-?”
AL Lin
I intertwined my fingers with his. His hands.
were long and slender, beautiful. He froze, then
quickly pulled away. “Let me say this again. I’m
not going to fall for you.”
“I don’t need you to fall for me.” I said
seriously. “But there’s one thing I wasn’t lying
about.”
“What?” he asked.
I didn’t answer. We just stared at each other.
The silence hung heavy in the air, reminding him
of our flirty chat from the other night. His ears
turned bright red.
“Don’t even think about it!” he blurted out. “I’m
not like Ethan, I don’t hook up with just
anyone.”
“I… I’m saving that for someone I really care
about.” He turned away, suddenly looking
vulnerable, a stark contrast to his usual tough
10:27
exterior.
“Ask for something else. Just leave me alone.”
I looked at him, thinking. “Then change your
phone’s passcode to my birthday.”
He looked startled.
“Just for tonight,” I added. “You can change it
back tomorrow.” I gave him a genuine smile.
“I’ve been chasing someone for years, and I
don’t even know what it feels like to be liked
back.”
I knew Ethan’s birthday by heart. But what it
felt like to be loved by him? That was a
mystery.
As I approached the campsite, I saw Ethan
standing in the moonlight. He spotted me
immediately and walked towards me, his brow
furrowed. He was about to say something,
<
probably to scold me, but he stopped when he
saw Riley behind me.
“What are you doing standing out here in the
cold?” Riley asked him. Ethan’s eyes were fixed
on Riley’s jacket draped over my shoulders.
He ignored Riley and spoke to me. “Don’t you
check your phone?”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket. There were
over a dozen missed calls from the number I
knew so well.
“I had it on silent,” I explained.
He stared at the number on the screen, then
asked a seemingly irrelevant question. “You
don’t have my number saved?”
