“Twenty
minutes?” Dani said. “Is he dropping everything and coming right away? You got
this kid, like, waitin’ on you or something?”
“He kind of likes me,” Mary said,
“I’m trying to figure out why.”
“Likes you, like, wants to take you
out to a movie sometime and awkwardly try to smooch you during an expositional
scene that tells you the reason the plot twist actually sort of made sense?
That kind of like you?”
“Yep.”
“I did not see that,” Dani said, “I
always thought he was just sort of like a little brother to you.”
“That’s pretty accurate too,” Mary
said, “But he doesn’t see me as a big sister.”
“That’s pretty awkward,” Dani said,
“Maybe you shouldn’t be texting him and asking him to give you rides and
things. Maybe he’s getting all excited about this?”
“He’s mature,” Mary said, “And plus
this is probably the only time I’ve ever asked him for a ride. Usually I can
just ride with you.”
“I see?”
“Yeah, be that way,” Mary said,
“Anyway, I’m just working up a way to say, hey, ‘I know you like me but could
we maybe not turn this friendship awkward?’ Once I say that, the awkwardness
will be gone.”
“For you, probably,” Dani said, “But
for him? I mean. Have you seen Romeo and Juliet? He’s going to be looking up
into your window at night. You’ll hear softly spoken verse.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m saying that he’s going to be
stalking you.”
“Ha ha,” Mary said, “That’s really
funny. But I know Neil well enough to know he’ll back off once I break the
news. Like I said, he’s mature. Smart. Whatever.”
“Smart and whatever are, like, not
the same word,” Dani said.
“I don’t bug you about your
relationships,” Mary said, “Could we stop talking about mine?”
“But you never talk about your relationships,” Dani said, “This is
practically the first conversation that involved you and potential romance
since you first laid eyes on that one guy at the convention.”
“What convention?” Mary asked,
“Wait, don’t answer that.”
Dani grinned facetiously, which is
to say, inappropriately. Mary just saw it as an awkwardly timed grin, which, in
the starlight, was somehow creepy.
“Stawp
it,” Mary said, “Seriously that grin is a monster from a half remembered
horror novel.”
“Ok,” Dani said, “But only until
tomorrow. I don’t want you to be prepared for this awkward car ride with your
admirer.”
“You can have shotgun,” Mary said.
“Nope,” Dani said, “That’d be
awkward for me. I hardly know Neil. Me in the front seat would be like you and
Kyle Avem on a moonlight boat ride on the Mississippi.”
“That’s really specific.”
“Yeah, that was really specific,
maybe it’s meant to be.”
“I don’t even know him though.”
“That was the joke, Mary,” Dani
said.
“Yeah.”
“Ok, ‘yeah’, I’ll shut up now, just
for you,” Dani said.
Time passed. They walked along the
road back towards Falling Rocks. A few times cars passed them but none slowed
down except for one driven by an old man driving in the direction of Urualton.
“You ladies need a ride someplace?”
He had the face of an earnest man,
but Dani shook her head before Mary could reply.
“He was a creep,” Mary said finally,
even though she hadn’t clearly seen his face and had only heard his voice, “Who
picks up hitchhikers anymore?”
“We weren’t even hitchhiking,” Dani
said, “If Neil wasn’t on his way right now maybe I’d have said yes.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, maybe,” Dani said, “He looked
pretty feeble.”
“What if he had a gun?”
“He probably would have pointed it
at one of us when he rolled down the window,” Dani said. She shrugged,
“Whatever.”
“I mean obviously that was the right
choice,” Mary said, “I’m just saying I’m surprised you would have.”
“Have what?”
“Have oh look Neil’s dad’s truck.”
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