moved on. “I haven’t even seen my aunt in about two years. It’ll be kinda random and awkward to just show up. You know… without Anne.”
“Trust me. It won’t be awkward. You’re going to enjoy the weekend. Joy’s gonna have a great time, too.”
Ollie started asking all kinds of questions about Joy, but Sparks told him it would be much be better if he just found out for himself. “Don’t you want to have something to talk about in the car?”
“I just don’t wanna screw it up, okay?”
“Ollie, you couldn’t screw this up if you tried.”
“Really?” Ollie was genuinely surprised.
“No. Not at all,” Sparks said. And then he grinned.
“Shut up, Bomber. You’re a jerk. You know that, right?”
Chapter 7
Ollie spent the next morning washing his car. He needed some distractive therapy, and that was his favorite. He was able to think things over. He wasn’t being antisocial, or purposefully trying to cut Keith and Richie out of his life— or D either, for that matter. He needed space and time to be able to think. He didn’t feel much like one of the boys. He wasn’t used to sharing much of his life with them anymore, not since things had become serious with Anne and he’d become used to spending every waking minute with her. Now, with so many crazy things going on since the Anne era had come to a crashing end, he was at his limit. Try to explain any of it to Sparks as well? He didn’t want to go there.
He took his time washing and polishing, and when he finished up he went inside.
“Hey,” Keith said, “Richie says you were out there washing your car again today. What’s that all about? You washed it the day before yesterday.”
“I’m taking a trip for the weekend,” Ollie said simply.
“And?”
“And what? I just wanted it washed before I left, that’s all.”
“I think I know you well enough to know you’re not telling me something.”
“Like what?”
“Like why you washed your car. You never wash your car just because you’re going somewhere. Where are you going and who’s going with you?”
“Just a couple of girls.”
“That explains the clean car, but not the secrecy. Is Anne one of them?”
“Don’t be dumb.”
“Dumb? How’s that dumb? Who is it, then?”
“Just some girls I found on the ride board. I’m gonna spend the weekend at my aunt’s place in Colorado.”
“And you weren’t going to tell any of us?”
“What for?”
“Why not? Maybe it’s nice to know a little bit about your life in case you ever decide to go hiking alone or end up stuck in jail somewhere. Especially since you’ve recently taken to punching holes in things and knocking over catchers.”
“I’m just going for a short trip. I’m fine.”
“Okay, okay. I’m just a little worried. That breakup hit you pretty hard.”
“Keith, I know. I shoulda told you I was going. It’s been a crazy week. I could just use a couple days away from here, so I’m taking some textbooks with me and spending the weekend at my aunt’s place.”
“Hm. See Ollie? That wasn’t so hard, was it? Just keep us in the loop, would ya? We’re all a little worried and that’s okay. Let us worry about you. That’s what friends do.” Keith waited for a moment, but when he got no further response, he turned toward the door. “Alright then, have a fun time.”
“Okay.” Ollie headed upstairs to pack. He pulled out a duffle bag and started shoving clothes into it. In a way, he felt like he was going on this trip because he was being asked to go, but at the same time he really did look forward to a break from his normal routine. It didn’t hurt that he was going to have a beautiful traveling companion, but he knew he needed some time to get away regardless of his potential new romance. The contact he’d had with Joy had been short and sporadic over the couple of days since they’d met— just enough to plan for their trip.
Memories of Anne still dogged him on campus everywhere he went. Every sidewalk, every store, every couple walking hand in hand housed a trigger that jogged a memory of them together. He really needed this road trip. What made it worse was that Sparks was only feeding him information on a need-to-know basis. That meant there were a couple of informationless days during which he thought about little other than Anne. Yeah, a weekend with Joy; some time with family will be