“Dani is right though. I could never date a seventh grader. Can you imagine? And I’m totally over all the guys in my class. The guy I’m talking to,” Haley says, holding up her phone, “is going to be a freshman.”
Chase turns around and grabs the phone out of her hand. “Who is Hottie God?”
“Oh, I know!” Jennifer says. “That’s what Keatyn called Aiden in The Keatyn Chronicles movies.”
“He was so dreamy,” I agree.
“So’s the boy I’m talking to,” Haley says with a happy sigh. “He’s perfection. Thus the name.”
“I’m going to find out who it is,” Chase says to her. “You know that, right?”
“If it gets to a relationship status, which I fully expect it will,” Haley counters, “you’ll be the second to know. I mean, after I scream it across all my social media.”
“Regardless, this is completely sexist,” Chase says, turning his attention back to me. “As you well know, guys date younger girls all the time. Older guys date you. And, apparently, my sister,” he mutters. “Why is that okay, but Kelsey being interested in me isn’t?”
“You make a good point,” Jennifer says.
But I shake my head. “I agree with you in theory,” I say sympathetically, “but it’s what society—or at least, high school—dictates.”
“Oh, wow. We’re entering the forest, I think,” Jennifer says, changing the subject. “All the trees are gorgeous.” We all turn to look at the scenery when she adds, “Eek! Now, I see what Danny was talking about. This is going to be so much fun to drive on!”
All of a sudden, the big SUV shifts, rolling around a sharp corner before the corner curves back onto itself.
“Look at the street signs,” Chase says with a laugh after a few twisty turns, pointing out how each one seems to be different, like someone hand-painted it to match the actual road.
The car lurches forward, speeding up on a straightaway, only to brake hard into a corner and then turn again in the complete opposite direction.
“This is crazy,” Chase says.
“Um,” Haley says from the back, “could you turn up the air? It’s getting a little hot in here.”
“Sure,” Jennifer says happily. My dad was right. She’s loving this.
But I’ll be honest, the snacks and loose-meat ordeal aren’t sitting in my stomach all that well right now.
Another ten minutes of twists and turns, I’m feeling a little green, and even Jennifer doesn’t seem to be having as much fun.
“What’s that smell?” Chase says.
“It’s Emers,” Haley groans.
“I’m gonna be sick,” Ryder shouts. “Stop the car!”
“There’s nowhere to go,” Jennifer yells back, her eyes frantically searching for anywhere safe to pull off.
And that’s when I hear, Urrrp.
Then, I smell it.
“Ryder just puked all over the car,” I say, as if everyone didn’t already know it.
Jennifer rolls down the windows and takes another corner way too hard.
A half-mile later, she puts her flashers on, slows down a bit, and throws her head out the window, puking as she’s driving.
“Oh my gosh! Stop puking! It’s coming back in my window,” Chase yells out, trying to roll up his window, only to be denied due to the childproof locks that are turned on.
The smell of a loose-meat burger mixed with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos puke is bad enough, but throw in a poopy diaper, and I’m feeling pretty nauseous myself.
Finally, I can’t hold it in any longer. I have no idea why I don’t turn and throw up out the passenger window or why I launch my body over Chase’s and stick my head mostly out the window next to him to puke, but that’s what I do, just as Jennifer finds a little gravel road for us to pull over on.
I look down, noticing something else that smells bad, and realize I didn’t quite reach the window. Puke is sliding down the door next to Chase.
I see Jadyn pull in behind us, hop out of the SUV, and rush up to the window, wet wipes in hand. Grandma Mac is right there next to her with a trash bag and a handful of ziplocks.
“I should have given you barf bags when we left the restaurant, but I forgot,” Grandma Mac says.
We all pile out of the car, breathing in the fresh air, but Jennifer walks over to the other side of the road and starts heaving again.
Haley unbuckles Emersyn from her seat, hands her to her mother, and then proceeds to puke on the other side of the road. Gotta give the girl credit for holding it in for so long.
Chase pulls me into a hug and gently rubs my back. “You okay?” he asks.
And I instantly feel bad for telling him the truth about dating down. I should have just let him find out on his own. I did sound mean. And possibly slightly jealous.
I know I date other guys, but Chase has always been mine.
He’s my best friend.
He’s my everything, no matter what guy is in the picture. And the guys I’ve dated don’t see him as a threat.
At least, not yet.
I get tears in my eyes and shake my head against his soft tee.
Because he is the sweetest boy ever.
“How’s the barf crew doing?” Damon’s voice booms.
“Fine,” Chase says. “Hopefully, we’re almost there.”
“Just thirty-four more miles of roads like this,” Damon says, grinning.
He doesn’t look the least bit green, and I can tell he finds this whole thing amusing.
Mimi joins us and starts rubbing oil on everyone’s wrists. “Ginger is good for nausea,” she explains. “We’ll switch up the cars again, take the turns smoother, and if you do start to feel your stomach roll, just hold your wrist up to your nose and take in a breath. Those of you feeling sick will want to sit in the front of the car and stare out the front window. You’ll feel better soon. I promise.”
When we finally arrive at our destination, I glance at the clock. Our fun little three-hour road trip actually took over six hours with all our stops.
I’ve never been so happy to get out of a car in my life.
Thank goodness we’re going to be here for a while before we have to make the trek back home. It will probably take me that long to recover from what will forever be known as the trip from hell.
“Let’s deal with the luggage later. How about a house tour and I’ll show everyone to their rooms?” Jadyn says, making me even more excited as everyone piles out of the cars.
The first thing I see when I step through the front door of the house is a three-story great room with a floor-to-ceiling marble fireplace on one wall, surrounded by comfortable couches, forming a large seating area. Beyond the great room is a dining room table that looks to seat twenty in front of a wall of modern black-framed windows. We all walk straight to the windows and take in the view of the sparkling lake.
“Look at this deck!” Mimi gushes. “It’s huge! What a wonderful place to have breakfast every morning.”
Jadyn hits a button by the door, causing hidden wall-sized screens to roll down, closing off the area. “And no mosquitoes.”