couple and that turned out okay! It’s just for a few days! Think of how much fun it’ll be to take a vacation!”
He doesn’t respond.
“I haven’t seen Stephanie in forever!” I add.
“So then you go.”
I want to drop the issue, but I can’t. Stephanie asked about Aiden again today, wanting to confirm that I’d passed along the invitation. She really wants us both there.
“What can I do to convince you?”
“I’m not going. You need to tell Stephanie the truth.”
I clasp my hands together, pleading with him. “Aiden.”
“No.”
“Please.”
Chapter Seven
Maddie
“It should only be a few more miles,” I say, trying to sound chipper about it.
Aiden is driving. I’m doing the helpful task of fiddling with the radio dial in an attempt to keep my hands occupied. We’ve listened to every song on our road trip playlist—three times. Out here, in no man’s land, our radio antenna can’t pick up much of a signal, but it’s worth trying.
Songs jump in and out as I twist the knob. Static blares from the speakers, interrupted by sharp bursts of rap songs that fade out into pop choruses, followed by more static. Aiden puts his hand over mine to let me know he would really love if I stopped.
We pass another cluster of cacti, another bunch of yellow flowers, another curve in the road, and I can’t bear to look at him. When Stephanie told me we were going to a compound in West Texas, I figured we could make it there in no time. After all, isn’t Austin sort of in the middle of the state? Apparently, even having lived in Texas my whole life, I didn’t quite realize just how big this place is. We’ve been driving for six hours. We were supposed to be there by now.
I see a road sign that proclaims Marfa to be 50 miles ahead.
“If you hit Marfa, you’ve gone too far!” Stephanie told me yesterday during a brief phone call.
Our GPS is on the fritz. Out here, just like with the radio, my phone gets a terrible signal. Stephanie warned me about that, but I didn’t think it’d be an issue because she gave me backup directions.
I worry we’ll never find the house. We’re going to get lost and wander the desert aimlessly until we collapse from dehydration and exhaustion. Vultures will circle overhead, squawking with glee. They’ll eat our faces first, I think. I’ve heard they like faces.
Just then, a vulture swoops across the skyline, and panic grips my spine.
Oh-kay. Time for a distraction.
“Let’s play a game to pass the time. How about I Spy? I’ll go first.” I start before Aiden can protest. “I spy with my little eye…” I scan the skyline, looking for an item of interest. Anything. “Something brown.”
“The dirt,” he says, tapping his window. “Or the dirt over there. No wait, the dirt that way.”
Okay, he has a point.
“It was that hill back there. Are you sure we’re going the right way?”
“No, I have no idea where we’re going. Stephanie’s directions were horrible.”
I glance back down at the email I printed out yesterday. There’re phrases like Follow the horizon line, Look for the crater, and Let the wind guide you. I guess I should have paid more attention to it instead of just assuming we’d be fine.
“She said we’d know it when we saw it,” I pipe up, trying to be helpful.
This is turning out horribly.
I really wanted this week to be smooth sailing, especially because I somehow convinced Aiden to tag along.
In the end, it wasn’t an easy task getting him here. At first, he wasn’t budging. The morning after I told him the truth about all my nice gestures, I woke up early and whipped up some pancakes and bacon. With tiny chocolate chips, I spelled out PLEASE on the top of his short stack. Later that afternoon, I sent a huge fruit bouquet to his work. Still, he wasn’t caving.
That night I offered him a foot rub. He declined. I tried to think of something even more inventive. What is it guys really want? Oh, duh. My eyes scanned to his groin. Right. Well, there’s always that.
“Aiden,” I said, turning to face him. “I could…”
He narrowed his eyes at me, curious to know where I was headed.
I pointed suggestively at his pants. “You know.”
He shot off the couch, his hands tugging through his hair.
“Jesus, Maddie. Fine. I’ll go! I’ll go on your damn trip.”