Chapter 1
In a small Northwest coffee shop…
Months worth of emails, chats and phone calls had culminated for me in a long distance relationship with a guy now ready to meet face to face. I had my plan laid out, but wanted to go over everything first with Maddy, one of my best friends. Here we are at a tiny table, sipping on overpriced coffee and, for my part, at least, feeling a little self- conscious about the whole meeting-a-guy-online thing.
“So when are you meeting this guy? Will it be in a public place? Have you checked his name on the court’s website?” Maddy interrogated me.
“Okay, one: in two weeks when he has some vacation time coming and I have a room rented for him. Two: yes, we’re meeting at the airport,” I ticked the items off on my fingers as I went.
“How romantic!”
“Shut up! And three: with Warren being Canadian I’m having trouble seeing if they have a similar site set up. Good enough for you Maddy?”
“Wiseass,” Maddy smirked. “Okay, let’s finish these up and go to the mall. Tell me you’ve budgeted for some new date wear.” At least I’m getting the Maddy seal of approval, but kinda hard to get a word in edgewise. “I’ve saved up some. Wait, we aren’t taking your clunker, are we?” I may have sounded a bit panicked, but my personal safety was somewhat more of a priority than criticizing her car.
“What’s wrong with Harold? He’s a collector’s item!”
“I just want to make sure that we don’t get ticketed for littering car parts on the way,” I teased.
“That was once,” Maddy interjected, a blush spreading across her porcelain cheeks, “and I’ll have you know he’s been to the shop since then. How about we flip for it?”
“Not fair!” It was too late. Maddy brandished a quarter with a grin before flipping it in the air.
“Well, that’s new,” I mused as steam hissed up from the dashboard by the window. We were pulled over safely on the way back from our shopping adventure.
“Blast! Okay over there, Jess?” Maddy’s black spikes were standing out everywhere.
Well, at least we’re almost home. “Yes, I’m fine,” I called as she cranked down a window. “Forget that, let’s just get out!”
Petite as she was, Maddy had a vice-like grip as she dragged me across her side to the door. “Oww, geez. I’m coming, Mad.”
“Sorry, I don’t know how bad it is and I know that door doesn’t open from the inside.”
“It’s okay, we’re fine. Why don’t you call your insurance? At least we’re not in a wreck or anything.” I wrapped a comforting arm around Maddy as she got her cell phone out and started dialing.
“At least I have roadside assistance,” she grumbled as she was put on hold.
“Hey, Jeremey’s just getting off at the garage, he can give us a ride. Lucky, huh,” I let Maddy know as soon as I got off the phone.
“Yeah, lucky,” she groused.
“Well, Jeremey and his lead foot aside, how else would you propose we get back?” I pointed out.
“Ugh, I know. Just let me wallow for a little bit won’t you? Ooh, I know. Why don’t we bet over who’ll get here first? Tow truck guy has at least a fifteen minute lead on him,” once again Maddy started to perk up.
“I still say Jeremey will get here first. What are we betting?”
“How about a coffee?”
“Done..”Terms settled, we sat curbside to wait for our rescuers.
Once the tow truck arrived and Maddy saw her “baby” off, we all piled into Jeremey’s car.
“Honestly Maddy, that thing oughta get dumped at the salvage yard, it’s not even a real classic,” Jeremey muttered.
“Hey! Yes it is and it’s still cheaper to fix it than to buy a newer car anyways,” she glared up at him from the backseat.
“Not at the rate that thing’s breaking down. What if you lost control and got into a wreck? By the way that’s probably your heater core so it’ll probably cost the same as a car payment to replace anyways.”
With that, the truck filled with silence. A tense, unhappy silence. Maddy groaned and rested her head against the back of the seat, her eyes closed. Hoping to lift the tension, I looked back and asked Maddy,
“So Maddy, how far is too far to go when you first meet?”
“WHAT?!?” Jeremey whipped his head around to shoot a look at me, veering a bit as he did. He quickly adjusted his steering to the tune of our squeals, and Maddy started hooting with laughter.
“I’d tell you, but I don’t want to be the reason your brother has to buy a new truck,” she managed as she caught her breath.
