As I Am

Chapter Twenty

            “We’re running a bit late,” he says nervously, looking over my shoulder. When I turn around I see both of my parents standing in the archway to the kitchen, watching us. This is a whole new level of strange, even for them. “Sorry, my mom needed help with something.”

            “It’s okay,” I smile. I grab a light sweater from the coatrack and wave at my parents before they can stop us. “Be home later!”

            “I’ll have her back before eleven,” Evan says before I close the door, separating him from my parents.

            “Can you tell me where we’re going?” I ask as we walk our separate ways into the Jeep. Evan shakes his head with a smug smile on his lips. As I buckle myself in, I can’t help but pout. I hate not knowing things. “Oh, come on. Just tell me.”

            “Nope,” he says, popping the p.

            “A hint?”

            “I don’t think so.”

            “A minor detail?”

            Evan turns around to back out of the driveway and once we’re safely on the road and he’s shifting into drive, he gives me an amused expression. “You really can’t wait, can you?”

            I smile. “I was one of those children who constantly asked my parents when we were going to get there.”

            Evan laughs and steps on the gas. “Of course. That explains everything.”

            We drive in silence through Mermaid Bay and I stare out the window the entire time. The glass is rolled down on either side of us and the radio is turned off, so I listen to the sound of children laughing and the waves hitting the shore. I let my hand glide through the air, feeling the breeze push it back and slide through my fingers.

            As curious as I am, I stop pestering Evan for answers. Even long after we’ve left Mermaid and forests and fields begin to surround us, he doesn’t say anything to compensate the silence. I think he’s nervous, just like he was at my front door. Maybe I had mistaken his anxiousness for my parents, when really it was for tonight.

            It doesn’t take long for the next town over to come into view and soon we’re driving in it, covered in the orange light of the setting sun. It’s the place where my dad works, and unfortunately, the place where I have to visit my therapist in a day. I make sure to glare at the closed windows of the office as we drive past it while coasting through downtown.

            “Okay, you got me,” I finally say, unable to keep the silence going. There aren’t even any cars on the road or people walking here. It’s completely quiet. “I give up, you win.”

            Evan grins but it still looks forced, like he’s fighting with his feelings. “We’re basically here, anyways. So have a good look, Bam. I don’t think even the building is going to give away what we’re doing here.”