more issues with him getting time off from work, but since he’s never used a sick day, his boss basically pushed him out the door. So here we are, pioneers out on the open road. Only a thin scrap of car metal between us and vultures pecking our skulls clean.
Now, I offer him another handful of Gardetto’s (America’s road trip fuel), but he declines.
“I need real food.”
I blanch and look around me. We ate through our small store of beef jerky when we were still in Austin. The apples went next.
I make a point to not look at our water supply. Had I known we’d need to conserve it, I wouldn’t have picked such salty snack foods. My mouth feels parched. Am I already feeling the effects of dehydration?
There!
Up ahead!
“AIDEN! TURN!”
On an unmarked road about a quarter mile up ahead, we see a huge iron arch with dozens of wind chimes hanging down. Let the wind guide you!
We turn onto the road and pass through the entrance. From there, we crawl down a gravel road, passing more cacti but not much else. My confidence wanes as minutes pass. My fingers are gripping my knees, digging into meaty flesh as I silently pray I haven’t led us astray.
“Is that a crater?” Aiden asks, pointing out his window.
Sure enough, there’s a shallow bowl-shaped hole a few yards off the road.
Stephanie isn’t dumb! Her directions worked!
I grab Aiden’s shoulder and shake him silly. “We did it! We found it! We aren’t going to die!”
He laughs. “We were never going to die.”
Right. Good. At least one of us maintained a brave face.
We keep driving down the road, following the line of mountains in the distance, then after another sharp bend, I see the compound coming into view. Stephanie wasn’t exaggerating about it being nice. Only one story high, the sprawling complex of modern modular buildings sits oriented with the landscape. Made of dark brown metal and stucco and huge picture windows that span entire walls, it looks like the sort of habitat they’d build on Mars.
Three matching black Range Rovers are arranged in a neat line at the end of the row of buildings. Stephanie mentioned she’d be caravanning down from Dallas with her friends and offered to have a car pick up Aiden and me as well, but I figured it was best if we had our own means of transportation. Y’know…just in case things get really weird and we need to bail.
Aiden pulls up to park his Jeep in line with the Range Rovers and kills the engine. Then I hear a loud shout from outside.
I open my door and step out, my muscles sore from being tensed with anxiety for half the day. Stephanie is strolling out of the main house wearing a white bathing suit cover-up underneath a sash that reads Bride To Be.
“You made it!” she squeals, rushing forward to grab my shoulders and pull me into a tight hug.
It feels good to see her after so long. We’ve both been busy with life and haven’t made the time to get together as much as we promised we would. Suddenly, I’m more glad than ever that I made the effort to come this week.
“And Aiden! I’m so glad you could come too. The guys will be happy they aren’t outnumbered,” she says with a laugh as she pulls him into a hug as well.
Stephanie’s always been the sort of person who could win anyone over with persistent enthusiasm and charm. It doesn’t hurt that she’s beautiful. Dark skin, hazel eyes, infectious smile—growing up, she never had to endure an awkward phase like the rest of us. Even braces looked cute on her.
“Now that you two are here, the party can really get started! Come, come!” She grabs my hand and starts tugging me toward the house.
“Oh, I have to get my bags,” I say, pointing back to the car.
“We have help for that.”
Well then…
“Everyone! Everyone!” Stephanie says, gathering the group’s attention once we’re inside. “I’d like to introduce my friend Maddie. Some of you have met her before, but she’s one of my oldest friends. We played Barbies together—that’s how deep our roots go. And this is her boyfriend, Aiden.”
BOYFRIEND.
I glance back at him. If he’s upset or weirded out by the boyfriend comment, I can’t tell. He offers a nod to the group, and then one of Stephanie’s friends wastes no time in bringing me a sash of my own. All the girls are wearing them, so I