sure the vehicle is older than I
am. I wait for it to die on the spot, but it just chokes a
little.
“How drunk are you?” the guy says, popping
out of his driver’s side window. It’s the guy with blonde
dreadlocks who I saw on The Strip.
“Not drunk enough,” the guys says. He
half-waves to us before getting in his friend’s truck.
I watch them make a U-turn and disappear
back into the depths of Crescent Cove. It’s sort of weird
vacationing in someone’s town, seeing them live their normal lives
with normal jerky doctors who live in mansions, drinking beer at
their normal hangouts. And here I am standing on the curb with a
celebrity, who those normal guys probably didn’t even know. It
makes me smile. Maybe I wasn’t the last person alive who didn’t
know what Spaceships Around Saturn looks like after all.
Chapter Seven
It’s a little after noon when Noah shows up
at room 322. He’s unaccompanied by Big Tony, and I’m thankful. He
hurries inside, just to be safe, kicks off his flip flops, and
stretches out on my bed – flattening the pink paper with the purple
owl in the process.
“What is…” He reaches under himself and grabs
the paper. “The spring break bucket list?”
I want to dive across the bed and snatch it
from him, but it’s too late. He’s already skimming the list, his
eyes moving faster than I want them to.
“Ahhh,” he says, shaking the paper at me.
“This whole hanging out with me thing – all part of the master plan
to check off number three, right? I’m the ‘meet a celebrity’
guy.”
“Give me that,” I say, reaching across the
bed for the list.
He jerks his arm back, and I topple onto him.
He keeps his arm at a good length, so I can’t reach it, and hooks
his other arm around me, so I can’t really wiggle my way toward
it.
“You know, I kind of like this whole you
squirming on top of me thing. It’s a bit sexy,” he says, laughing
at my struggle. “Maybe we can add that to the list.”
I pull myself free from his grasp and plant
myself on what was formerly Erin’s bed. Then I give him my bitch
glare, as best I can anyway. It’s hard to pull off when his ‘I’m
playing innocent’ grin makes me want to laugh.
“Seriously,” he says, sitting up on my bed.
“What’s the story? I won’t laugh. I promise.”
I’d much rather have him know the truth than
to think he’s a pawn in my bucket of games, so I tell him
everything. I tell him about Hilary and how we had our falling out.
I tell him about everyone but Erin taking her side, and I even
admit that I don’t blame them. Hilary was going to LA with or
without me. It was the better spring break trip. I can’t say I’d
have chosen my side either, regardless who was right. They had to
be on her side at least until spring break was over, but I’m sure
they’re bonding and making the greatest memories of their high
school careers without me.
“Erin heard about this place and said it was
big on tourists and that we could maybe do our list here,” I tell
him. “Then we got here and realized how tiny and boring it was. The
joke was on us, I guess.”
Noah shakes his head and moves over to Erin’s
bed next to me. He examines the list again. “You know what? The
joke is on Hilary,” he says. “One, because she lost you which is a
damn shame, and two, you’re here with Noah Winters of Spaceships
Around Saturn, and anyone she meets for item number three won’t
even come close to me.”
I’ll give him that. She could meet freaking
Justin Timberlake, and I’d still have the edge over her because I’m
on Saturn, which might be better than LA in the long run.
“We’re going to cross off your list,” he
tells me. “I’m in. Let’s do it. We’ll narrow down what you have
left, and we’ll go on an adventure. You don’t need Hilary or your
no-good friends or Erin and her broken ankle. You can do it without
them. You’ve got me.”
I partially want to melt right here on the
hotel bed,
am. I wait for it to die on the spot, but it just chokes a
little.
“How drunk are you?” the guy says, popping
out of his driver’s side window. It’s the guy with blonde
dreadlocks who I saw on The Strip.
“Not drunk enough,” the guys says. He
half-waves to us before getting in his friend’s truck.
I watch them make a U-turn and disappear
back into the depths of Crescent Cove. It’s sort of weird
vacationing in someone’s town, seeing them live their normal lives
with normal jerky doctors who live in mansions, drinking beer at
their normal hangouts. And here I am standing on the curb with a
celebrity, who those normal guys probably didn’t even know. It
makes me smile. Maybe I wasn’t the last person alive who didn’t
know what Spaceships Around Saturn looks like after all.
Chapter Seven
It’s a little after noon when Noah shows up
at room 322. He’s unaccompanied by Big Tony, and I’m thankful. He
hurries inside, just to be safe, kicks off his flip flops, and
stretches out on my bed – flattening the pink paper with the purple
owl in the process.
“What is…” He reaches under himself and grabs
the paper. “The spring break bucket list?”
I want to dive across the bed and snatch it
from him, but it’s too late. He’s already skimming the list, his
eyes moving faster than I want them to.
“Ahhh,” he says, shaking the paper at me.
“This whole hanging out with me thing – all part of the master plan
to check off number three, right? I’m the ‘meet a celebrity’
guy.”
“Give me that,” I say, reaching across the
bed for the list.
He jerks his arm back, and I topple onto him.
He keeps his arm at a good length, so I can’t reach it, and hooks
his other arm around me, so I can’t really wiggle my way toward
it.
“You know, I kind of like this whole you
squirming on top of me thing. It’s a bit sexy,” he says, laughing
at my struggle. “Maybe we can add that to the list.”
I pull myself free from his grasp and plant
myself on what was formerly Erin’s bed. Then I give him my bitch
glare, as best I can anyway. It’s hard to pull off when his ‘I’m
playing innocent’ grin makes me want to laugh.
“Seriously,” he says, sitting up on my bed.
“What’s the story? I won’t laugh. I promise.”
I’d much rather have him know the truth than
to think he’s a pawn in my bucket of games, so I tell him
everything. I tell him about Hilary and how we had our falling out.
I tell him about everyone but Erin taking her side, and I even
admit that I don’t blame them. Hilary was going to LA with or
without me. It was the better spring break trip. I can’t say I’d
have chosen my side either, regardless who was right. They had to
be on her side at least until spring break was over, but I’m sure
they’re bonding and making the greatest memories of their high
school careers without me.
“Erin heard about this place and said it was
big on tourists and that we could maybe do our list here,” I tell
him. “Then we got here and realized how tiny and boring it was. The
joke was on us, I guess.”
Noah shakes his head and moves over to Erin’s
bed next to me. He examines the list again. “You know what? The
joke is on Hilary,” he says. “One, because she lost you which is a
damn shame, and two, you’re here with Noah Winters of Spaceships
Around Saturn, and anyone she meets for item number three won’t
even come close to me.”
I’ll give him that. She could meet freaking
Justin Timberlake, and I’d still have the edge over her because I’m
on Saturn, which might be better than LA in the long run.
“We’re going to cross off your list,” he
tells me. “I’m in. Let’s do it. We’ll narrow down what you have
left, and we’ll go on an adventure. You don’t need Hilary or your
no-good friends or Erin and her broken ankle. You can do it without
them. You’ve got me.”
I partially want to melt right here on the
hotel bed,
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