binder, flipping through plastic
folders and dividers covered in pencil-scratched band names and
lyrics. After what felt like a long time, he pulled out a sheet of paper, handing it to her.
“What’s this?”
“Neko Case is playing tonight. I know San Francisco isn’t exactly
a life-changing trip, but we’re gonna make it feel as epic as possible.”
214 NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMES
His words didn’t really sink in right away, nor did her eyes focus on
the page. It was a printout receipt for concert tickets in San Francisco.
For eight o’clock that night. “It’s a thank-you. For the promposal and
how awesome you were.”
“Dave. These are Neko Case tickets.”
“We leave right after school. I had exactly enough money left over
to buy the tickets, so you’re paying for gas.”
“These are Neko Case tickets for tonight.”
“Did you have a stroke or something?” He laughed.
“What did you tell Gretchen?”
Dave furrowed his brow, a confused smile tugging at the corner of
his mouth. “About tonight? That I’m taking my best friend on a Nevers
road trip. What else would I say? She says you’re a genius for planning
yesterday.”
“Oh.” Julia was still holding the printout in her hand. “Well, this is
pretty cool, then.”
“Understatement foul. I know it’s not cross-country or Holy Grail
epic, but we’ll make it as epic as possible. We’ll blast music and pick
up hitchhikers and have epiphanies. If they don’t come naturally, we’ll
find a bunch of peyote and wander the desert. We might have to find
a desert. Plus, check this out.” He stowed the binder back into his bag
and reached into his pocket.
“You have a driver’s license?”
“Yeah, Gretchen took me over the weekend.”
Julia grabbed the license out of his hand, just to get Gretchen’s
name out of the conversation. “You look like a murderer.”
JULIA 215
“Isn’t that the point of picture IDs? That way if you become a
murderer they can flash your picture on the news and everyone will be
like, ‘Yup, that guy totally kills people.’”
“How did you even get your eyes to do that?”
“I’d love to take all the credit, but that, dear friend, was good fortune smiling down upon me.” She handed him back his license and he shut
his locker. “As I am the official driver of our Nevers-breaking road trip, I’m bestowing upon you the role of Snack Master. I know you’ll take
your duties seriously.”
“Prunes and warm milk, got it,” Julia said, more out of a habit to
always keep the joke going than anything. They were at the hallway
where they would split in different directions until lunch.
“I’m thinking we’ll take the One the whole way there, and after the
concert we’ll have late-night Thai food somewhere in the city. Maybe
even do a bit of stargazing on one of those little beaches on the way
back? If the fog isn’t too bad. We’ll pull an all-nighter, make it back to school in the morning exhausted and hating life. It’ll be great. You’ve
always wanted to see Neko live.”
“Yeah,” Julia said. “I have.”
“If you’re nice, we can even play the boxers or briefs game.”
“That sounds sketchy. What’s the boxers or briefs game?”
“That’s where the passenger holds up a paper to cars passing by that
tells them to honk once if they’re wearing briefs and twice if they’re
wearing boxers. If they don’t honk, you assume they’re free as a bird.”
“Gross.”
216 NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMES
“It’s important sociological research, Julia. It’s supposed to be
gross.”
Julia and Dave stood in front of her car in the parking lot. Her once-
white car was now everything but white. Markers in every color of the
rainbow had been used to ask Gretchen out to prom, most of them not
the washable kind. Julia had been more than okay with that, wanting
to go all out. Now, in the light of the afternoon, knowing she’d be
driving somewhere other than the SLO High parking lot, something
inside her cringed.
“I think I was hoping this would disappear overnight,” Julia said,
arms crossed in front of her.
“No such luck. Now quit stalling and hand me the keys.”
“You’re serious about this? I thought that license you showed me
was a fake. Are men even allowed to drive?”
“The times they are a-changin’.” Dave stuck his hand out.
“This feels so weird.” She placed the keys in his hand but refused to
let go. “My whole world is falling apart. Up is down, black is white, the Cretaceous period came before the Jurassic era.”
“That was so nerdy.”
“David Goffrey Pickleback, you’re really downplaying how big of a
moment this is for me. I feel the very fabric of reality unwinding.” Julia could feel the warmth of his palm beneath the keys, and it was strange
what a specific desire she suddenly felt to have him wrap