“More like Penny Lane from Almost Famous,” he commented. I almost went catatonic.
What a friggin’ compliment. Suddenly I was hyperaware of myself. I self-consciously patted my gown down as if it needed smoothing since it was made of fabric not much stiffer than the linoleum in my mother’s kitchen. I straightened my cap and checked the tassel.
“You’re always fidgeting,” he said, my hand freezing on the tassel.
I brought it to my lap and turned toward him. “I do? I don’t mean to.”
“Nervous?” he asked.
Sweating like a pig, I thought. If Ezra hadn’t been next to me, I probably would have been flapping my arms like a chicken to improve ventilation. “A little,” I lied again.
We stared at one another, stuck in a sort of mesmerized state, and a million thoughts raced through my mind. What are you doing? Are you talking to me because it’s the last day and you’re feeling nostalgic? Is it because of our shared collision? The fact I returned your letter? Why, you unbelievably hunky bastard?
“Brandon!” Justin said from behind us, like he’d been trying to get his attention for a while. “You’re up, dude,” he explained when we both turned toward him.
“Sorry,” Ezra rushed out as he stood.
We both sprinted to join the rest of the line from our row. As we edged up the amphitheater stairs Frankie had done my hair on, I felt a little nauseated. I hated it when people stared at me, and this was an entire amphitheater getting ready to watch my clumsy ass flit across the stage. Stop it, Jupiter. Stop. You’ll psych yourself out.
“Ezra Julian Brandon,” Principal Harris announced. A corner in the back of the amphitheater burst into applause. His family, I thought. He took the diploma that wasn’t really his diploma since they always use decoys, shook the principal’s hand, and walked across the stage flawlessly.
See? Not so bad. Now, just duplicate that, Jupiter.
“Jupiter Willow Corey.”
I took careful steps, wincing a little at my ridiculous name. I made it halfway across, shook the principal’s hand, and took my fake diploma.
Hooey! I got this. I got this. This stage is my biatch! I was confident. Too confident. I turned to wink at Frankie. She started to smile but then her eyes blew wide and I knew it was over. I knew I was in for it. I turned in time to see a large electrical wire catch the tip of my heel. I pitched forward, closing my eyes and bracing myself to toss forward on my face, but instead of the concrete stage, I was met by warm arms. I looked up to see Ezra’s face and blushed in equal parts mortification and relief. He set me right then helped me down the steps as the audience burst into applause. I could feel the burn of hundreds of eyes, and it brought the embarrassment up a notch.
“You okay?” he asked, his eyes imploring mine.
“Yeah. Thank you so much for catching me,” I whispered.
“No problem,” he said, the corner of his mouth ticking up charmingly.
He released the arm he’d been holding and I looked down at the white imprints his fingers had left, watching them fade as the color returned to my skin. All evidence of his touch vanished save for the feverish current that had taken residence in my belly when he’d rescued me on stage and had yet to leave.
His brows creased. “Your middle name is Willow?”
My face heated once more. “Uh, yeah,” I answered.
He nodded, an inscrutable look on his face.
I thought it was an odd question, but I didn’t get a chance to ask him why he wanted to know because he turned without another word and went back to his seat. I followed suit, feeling a little dizzy by the strangeness of the day.
Ezra didn’t say anything the rest of the ceremony, not because he was avoiding me, at least I didn’t think that was why. Instead, he seemed distracted by his own thoughts, retreating into himself in that usual way Ezra did, which curiously relieved a bit of anxiety I’d felt. He’d been acting so unpredictably it’d thrown me off.
It was quite incredible, that day. I’ll remember the smells of the youth surrounding me, i.e. the cologne baths, the smiles, and the unbridled potential. The valedictorian gave a rousing speech encouraging us all with the same eternal optimism that each and every one of us possessed, if for no other reason than because we were, each of us, packed full with dreams. Those dreams were bursting at the seams, ready to unfold, to uncurl in glory in the what-ifs. The sky was the literal limit.
We all rose at the end. Ezra turned toward me, a small lopsided smile upon his lips. “Congratulations,” he whispered.
“Congratulations,” I told him, my heart pounding with his soothing inflection.
Then we tossed our caps into the air with the rest of our class. I closed my eyes for a moment as they rained back down to the earth, a sea of onyx seeking their owners. I opened them again to see Ezra’s and my caps tumbling through the air, spinning and carefree, briefly tangling with one another before wresting free from each other, and falling with finality in the row ahead of us.
I leaned forward to retrieve mine but Ezra stopped me with a hand on my forearm. He bent at the waist and scooped them both up, glancing down at them, then handed one over to me.
“Here you are,” he said, looking down at me.
He was at least a foot taller than I was, and I strained to peer into his face. My hands gripped the edges of my cap as I held it against my stomach.
“Well, I guess this is goodbye,” he said.
“I guess so,” I practically whispered with a wobbly smile.
To me it was goodbye. Even though I knew we were both going to the same schools, I also knew the likelihood of running into him there was pretty slim.
“Goodbye, Jupiter Willow Corey,” he said with finality, pitching toward me, his voice going deeper at my name.
“Goodbye, Ezra Julian Brandon.”
He turned away, his cap in hand, and headed straight toward the parking lot in the direction of his car, not bothering to say goodbye to any of the kids we’d grown up with our entire lives. I watched until he was no longer visible.
“He’s a strange cat,” Frankie said beside me.
I gasped at her unexpected presence. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!” I said in my best Irish accent, which was terrible.
“Come on, doofus,” she said, dragging me by the arm toward the parking lot.
“What are you doing?” I asked. “Aren’t we going to stop and say goodbye to everyone?”
“What are you talking about? We’ll see everyone tonight at the bonfire.”
“Yeah, but everyone’s in their caps and gowns now. It’s different.”
“Stop being stupid, Jupiter. We have to catch Ezra before he drives off.”
I stopped in my tracks but my arm went with Frankie. I winced at the pain and pulled my wrist away, using my other hand to rub away the sting.
“I’m not doing that,” I said, meaning it.
“That’s okay, you don’t have to. I will,” she said, continuing her pursuit of Ezra.
“Stop! Are you trying to embarrass me, you brat?”
She laughed at that. “I’m always trying to embarrass you, idiot.”
“Yeah, but this will mortify me, even worse than my almost crash and burn on stage just now.”
She laughed again. “That was epic. Really epic, actually. But the crash and burn isn’t what made it epic,” she said, rounding a huge SUV. “What made it epic was the palpable freaking tension between you and that boy right there,” she said, pointing at Ezra as he got into his GTO. “You don’t have enough brass to ask him for the ride, but I do.”
“Please, Frankie. Seriously, Frankie. Don’t. You’ll seriously embarrass me.”
She slowed but didn’t stop. “Then you better get your behind over there and start asking before I do.”
I caught up with her, a little out of breath, and stared at her as we drew closer to Ezra’s GTO.
“Don’t make me do this, yo.”
She smiled. “Dude, bite the bullet.”
r />
“I can’t,” I whined.
“You can,” she mocked.
“I don’t want to.”
Frankie stopped and pointed her finger toward Ezra’s car. “Do it or God as my witness, I will do it for you, and you won’t like how I’ll do it.”
I crossed my arms, my lips pursed, feeling pissed. Ezra started to back out of his space and Frankie made a move like she was going to go after him.
I jumped in surprise. “Fine! Fine!” I huffed, and she stopped where she stood.
“You’re the meanest person I’ve ever met, Frankie Zajkowski!” I called out.
“You’ll thank me later, idiot! Now go!”
I reluctantly ran toward Ezra’s car and came upon him just as he’d cleared his space. He’d started to hit the gas to drive forward but stopped when he saw me running toward him, a look of pure confusion crossed his face and stayed there.
“Ezra,” I said, out of breath from the brisk walk but also from the nerves.
“What are you doing here?” he asked over his rolled-down window.
“Sorry, but, uh, I wanted to ask for a favor.”
“Okay?” he asked, puzzle apparent in his tone, making me exceedingly anxious.
I took a deep breath and ordered myself to act cool. “It’s kind of a big favor, but, well, as it turns out, we’re both going to the University of Washington,” I began.
Ezra looked baffled. “Why didn’t you say something before?” he asked.
“Well, ’cause, well, I didn’t think we’d actually see one another or anything. It didn’t even cross my mind that you’d, ya know, care that I was going to the same school or whatever.”
“Why wouldn’t I care?” he asked, surprising me.
“Uh,” I stuttered, “I don’t know.” I shook my head to gain control of myself. “Anyway, uh, well, I have no way to get to school. My parents aren’t exactly thrilled that I’m leaving or whatever. So basically, I need a ride.”
“Oh,” he said, obviously astonished at my request.
“Listen, it’s okay if you’re, like, not comfortable or anything.” I laughed nervously. “I mean, I get it. Honestly. It’s a huge favor, so don’t worry about saying no, ’cause it’s a lot to ask.”
He studied me with an inexplicable look I would have given anything to decipher. I’d rested a hand on his door but let it drop when he didn’t answer immediately. I looked down at my shoes so I didn’t have to look at him any longer. My neck felt hot and I contemplated turning tail. I took a deep breath to compose myself and met his gaze.
“Okay, so I guess—” I began, but he interrupted, my head whipping up.
“You can ride with me,” he said. “My cousin Kai was coming down from Chicago to help me with the drive. You okay with that?”
“Uh, sure,” I said, almost in disbelief he’d agreed to let me tag along.
“I promised my mom that I’d spend a few days in Chicago to break the drive up, but also to see my aunt and uncle. Are you cool with that, too?”
“Yeah, no problem.”
He leaned over and picked up his phone. “What’s your number?” he asked, my adrenaline kicking into high gear.
“Three-zero-five. Five-five-five. Seven, four, nine, three.” I just gave Ezra Brandon my number. He punched in the numbers as I’d rattled them off then looked up at me, another unreadable look on his face. “I’ll text you the day before we leave to get your address.”
“Okay,” I said, numb with the coursing blood running through my hyperaware body.
Ezra put his black GTO into drive. “Oh, and Jupiter?” he asked, the vibrations from the engine thrumming through my stomach, heart, and head.
“Yes, Ezra?”
“Travel light,” he said with a smile that could only be interpreted as mischievous. “It’ll be a tight fit.” He looked ahead then pressed the gas.
“Well, well, well,” Frankie said at my right, slinging an arm around my shoulder, “I do believe we have ourselves a solution to your previous problem.”
I took a deep, shaky breath. “Yeah, I have a ride now,” I commented.
Frankie laughed. “That wasn’t the problem I was referring to.”
Chapter Five
Three months later…
What’s your address?
The text sat on my screen. It’d scared the shit out of me when I’d first received it. The strangest feelings of anticipation, fear, nausea, elation, and anxiety flipped through my body like a folding Rolodex. I didn’t really like it. It felt stupid. Liking Ezra from afar was one thing, but my reaction to him when he was real, tangible to me, knowing we’d be spending weeks in close confinement was another, and it made it feel too real. I had to abandon the fantasy and embrace the reality, and I wasn’t sure I was prepared for that.
I’d spent the summer working at a retirement home, giving yoga camps to all the residents there. I’d earned enough to pitch in for gas for the cross-country trip as well as purchase a few things for my dorm when we finally got to UW. The rest I had plans to save for those unpredictable things that life threw at you and since I’d know no one in Seattle, save for Ezra, I wanted a contingency plan, a cushion of sorts.
I opened a checking account at a bank I knew was also in Seattle, which felt so foreign, such an adult thing to do. Basically, butterflies had taken up permanent residence in my stomach.
I glanced down at the text and those butterflies fluttered and flew, reaching into my throat.
I don’t think you even need my address, I texted back.
why, was his simple reply.
because everyone knows my house they just don’t know who lives in it, I wrote.
lol okay hit me with it
Ezra writing “lol” felt odd to me. It added a human element to him I’d never really lent to him before.
promise not to laugh? I texted.
scout’s honor, he wrote.
I took a deep breath. I live in the UFO house
There was a pause. I assumed he was laughing, and that did something funny to my insides. It hurt he could be laughing at me, at my family’s home, unusual as it truly was.
seriously? he texted. I love that house. always wanted to know who lived there
His answer took me by surprise. well it’s me haha I live in that house
and I guess I did always know who lived there, he texted.
yeah
Just reminding you that my cousin is coming to help with the drive
ok cool
Name’s Kai. We’ll be staying with his family in Chicago for a few days
that’s cool with me
B there at 7am K?
7 got it, I replied.
I set my phone on my desk then threw myself over the side of the bed. My hands went to my face.
“Oh my God!” I screamed, but it was muffled by my hands.
“Oh my God, what?” Frankie asked, prancing into my room with a bowl of granola. Frankie was always eating.
She set her bowl on my desk then threw the suitcase I’d been packing onto the floor and laid next to me.
“Ezra Brandon will be here at seven a.m. tomorrow morning.”
“Yeah, baby,” she teased.
I laughed. “Shut up.”
“No, you shut up.”
“No, you shut up.”
“Why don’t you both shut up?” Mercury said, leaning against the jamb of my bedroom door.
She walked into the room, grabbed a few pieces of my mom’s homemade granola from Frankie’s bowl, and sat at the desk.
I stood up, grabbed my suitcase, and laid it back on the bed. I started gathering all my stuff and carefully grouping what I would actually need and what I wanted in two separate piles. I piled everything I needed in my small suitcase and gauged what else I could fit.
“What are you doing?” Mercury asked.
“Trying to decide what I should leave and what I should take.”
“Just get another suitcase,” Frankie said, swinging a dangl
ing leg back and forth.
“This is the only suitcase I’m bringing,” I said.
Frankie sat up and Mercury looked at me like I was crazy.
“Why?” they asked in unison.
“Because there’s three of us traveling in Ezra’s GTO and I want to take up the least amount of room possible.”
“You can’t be serious?” Frankie observed before adding, “And who is this third person?” She was annoyed I hadn’t told her.
I laughed. “Ezra’s cousin Kai. He’s from Chicago. He came down to help with the drive. We’re going to be spending a few days at his parents’ house to break the trip up, too.”
Frankie looked at me as if I’d sprouted another head. “Why in the hell wouldn’t you tell me there was a third person going with you?”
“Because it’s not relevant?”
Mercury shook her head at me.
“It is too relevant, dinkus!” Frankie burst out.
“Okay, well, maybe I didn’t say anything because I know you.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’m trying to say that you are a voodoo priestess or something and can make weird things happen, and I didn’t want you to meddle.”
Frankie fell over laughing before sitting back up. “I would have too,” she said. “I would have made sure this Kai guy wouldn’t be there.”
“See?”
“Still should have told me,” Frankie complained.
“If she had told you, she’d have been more miserable than she is now,” Mercury chimed in.
“You think she’s miserable about sharing close quarters with Ezra Brandon?” Frankie asked, leaning toward Mercury.
Mercury, in all her innocence, replied emphatically, “Yes! She probably wouldn’t have even gone if you hadn’t stuck your big nose into things.”
Frankie had the decency to appear sorry. “Mercury,” she said softly, “Jupiter would have made it there one way or another.”
Mercury started tearing up, so I went over to her and kissed the top of her head before hugging her shoulders. “No worries, Mercury. It’ll all be okay.”
“No, it won’t,” she cried. “You’re going across the country!”