Page 73 of The Moment I Knew

“On whether you trust me.”

I laughed. “That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only one you’re getting.”

I watched the road signs tick by, surprised that I wasn’t feeling more stressed the further we got from school.

“You do realize,” I said, “that if I end up stranded somewhere with no signal, my siblings will track you down.”

“I’m not leaving you stranded somewhere, Princess. I’ll be with you the entire time.” My heart beat a little faster at the realization that it was just the two of us, heading onto whatever secret mission he recruited me for. I smiled a bit. He turned to me and added, “Much to your dismay, I’m sure.”

I laughed, causing him to smile slightly before refocusing on the road. The car slowed as he turned off the main road, tires crunching over gravel. I raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, absolutely not,” I said. “This is how horror movies start.”

“Relax,” he said. “No one’s getting murdered. Probably.”

“Probably? Now you sound like Ainsley.”

He laughed, actually laughed, and something in my chest loosened in response.

“So,” I asked, “did something inspire this, or did you just wake up this morning and randomly decide you wanted to kidnap me?”

“I’m not sure it counts as kidnapping if you willingly got in the car,” he said.

“I was bribed with coffee and baked goods. I was lured in.”

“Willingly,” he repeated, his voice amused and teasing. “I’ll be sure to tell the police officers that when you get me arrested for it.”

I laughed softly. “Well, at least you’ll feel nice and at home in the jail cell.”

“Were you completely ignoring me when I told you my life story?”

“Seriously,” I said. “What’s with this running away scheme you planned up?”

“Honestly,” he said, his voice softer now. I found myself leaning in to hear what he said next. “I just thought you needed a day away from everything.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Away from everything?” I repeated.

“Yeah,” he cleared his throat. “I mean, last night you seemed...” He looked away and kept his eyes focused on the road, but I saw the way his hands tightened on the steering wheel, the way his jaw tensed. “You just take everything too seriously.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” I hated how small my voice sounded.

“No, it’s not that. I mean…” He sighed, running a hand through his hair as he seemed to rethink his next words. Then he finally said, “Everything just hits you harder. You care about life.”

“And you don’t care about yours?”

“I care about living life, I just try not to let the bad stuff get to me too much. If I did, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the things that do make me happy.”

“What does make you happy then?” I asked.

He tossed me a teasing smile as he said, “Picking up trash by the side of the road.” I rolled my eyes. “Anyway,” he continued, “I think you just need to remember what it was like before all this happened.”

Then, he turned into a parking lot. When I looked up and saw the name, I gaped. “You brought me to Sky Zone?” I asked. “You had me skip school to jump on some trampolines?”

“You mean like a kid having the best day ever? I did.” He turned off the car and hopped out. I was still staring at the Sky Zone logo on the building when my door opened and I jumped. A smile touched his lips and he extended a hand to help me out of the car.

He grinned. “Come on, let’s go remember what life was like before everything happened.”