Most Likely (Most Likely #1) - Sarah Watson Page 0,60

across her chest.

“So,” Scott said, sliding into the driver’s seat, “where do you live?”

Before the question was even out of his mouth, Jordan realized she had a major problem.

“Uh,” Jordan said, starting to panic. “Um…” This was not good. This was not good at all. There was no way she could let him see where she lived. Unless she could come up with a really good explanation why a freelance journalist could afford to live in a very large four-bedroom ranch-style house.

“Address?” he prodded. His phone was out and his GPS was ready.

“Uh… um… my address…”

“Yes,” he said, not understanding why she was being so weird. “Your address. That would be helpful.”

If she told him the truth, it would ruin everything.

“Jordan? Is something wrong?”

“1558 Bader Court!” She blurted it out so forcefully that she almost felt like she should apologize. It was Martha’s address. “1558 Bader Court,” she repeated. This time more calmly.

He plugged it into his GPS. “On our way.”

Martha watched with a bit of awe as Victoria carefully placed a gummy bear onto a stack that was already seven gummies high. Victoria pulled her hand back, careful not to let the charm on her bracelet knock the whole thing over. When it successfully held, she shouted out in her strange hybrid accent, “Boom, bitch!”

Martha was stunned. “That’s not even architecturally possible. I think that actually violates the laws of physics.”

“And yet there it is. Your turn.”

The game was Victoria’s invention. A way to combat the boredom of a slow evening. Martha took a fresh gummy bear out of the pack, licked it, and approached the tower slowly.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Victoria said.

“Not if you’re doing it to try to distract me.”

“What are you doing here?”

Martha didn’t turn away from the tower. “I told you. I misread the schedule. So stupid, right?”

“Did you really?”

Martha felt her cheeks go warm. She stuck the gummy bear and backed away. “Your turn.”

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” Victoria said. “I’m glad you’re here. I was just wondering if you were avoiding home for some reason.”

“Oh,” Martha said. “No. Nothing like that.”

Martha watched Victoria take another gummy bear from the bag. She liked that Victoria wanted to talk about real things. “I love my home,” Martha said. “It’s just me and my dad, and we get along really well. Which is good, since I’m probably just going to go to Cleveland State next year.”

“Really? I thought you wanted to go to MIT.”

Martha had brought up MIT only once. Victoria was such a good listener.

“I mean, it’s one of the best engineering schools. And Boston seems cool. I’m just not sure it would be worth it. If I go to Cleveland State, I can probably graduate debt free. Or close to it. I mean, why wouldn’t I do that? The idea of all that debt. And leaving my dad. It’s all so… terrifying.” That final word just sort of slipped out. She hadn’t meant to admit she was scared. Victoria stepped away from the stack to look at her.

“Can I say something?” Victoria asked.

Martha nodded.

“Do the thing that scares you. The best things in my life have happened when I’ve been scared.”

She turned back to the stack and delicately lowered the bear. Victoria held her breath as the tower wobbled, then settled. Martha held hers too. “Your turn,” Victoria said.

“Like what?” Martha asked. “What have you done that’s scared you?”

Victoria smiled. “Oh, like telling someone I wanted to kiss them when I wasn’t sure if they wanted to kiss me back.”

“And…” Martha asked. “Did they?”

Victoria laughed. “One time, yes. Another time, I got my heart broken. But I’m still glad I told the truth.”

Martha noticed that Victoria didn’t look away. She wasn’t afraid to make eye contact. But Martha was. Flustered, she took her phone out of her pocket and cycled through all the usual distracting apps. She found a text that Jordan had sent earlier in the evening. Her face must have shifted when she read it because Victoria asked her if everything was okay.

“Yeah,” Martha said. Jordan had texted to say that the park might not be dead after all.

“You sure you’re okay?” Victoria asked.

Martha slid her phone into her back pocket. “Yeah. It’s good news.”

“Then why do you look…”

Martha sighed. “Because my friend is at this big-deal meeting. Trying to change the world.” Martha gave a self-deprecating smile. “And I’m here. Building a tower made of movie-theater snacks.”

“You say that like this is just any old tower,” Victoria said.