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“So there’s a choice?”
She slapped his back and pulled at the covers. “Of course, there’s not. But you could at least play along. Anyway, so… I’m about to turn fifteen, and I’ve never seen a beach.”
Jack peeled back the covers. “What? You’ve never seen a beach? Ever? How is that possible? You live in Texas, for god sake...”
Amelie shook her head. “Never.”
“So you want to go to the beach?”
She smiled. “Yeah, but that’s not all.”
Jack sighed and pulled the covers back over his head. After a few seconds, he changed his mind and decided to hear her out. He tossed the covers aside and sat up. “And why am I not surprised?”
Amelie searched his face as though she were trying to place something.
“What?” he demanded.
“Nothing. Anyway… here’s my idea… You said you had two days before you had to be back home, right?” She didn’t wait for a response. She didn’t even pause to take a breath between words. “Ok, since we have two days, and there are two of us, I say each of us should get to pick where we want to go. And what we want to do with our time.”
Jack looked confused. That was her big idea? Seriously? “All right,” he said.
“Ok. Good. Now… here’s the kicker. If my day is more fun than yours, then we make our little road trip three days instead of two.” And there it was. He should’ve known there was more. She continued. “But if your day is more fun, you take me home. Just like we planned.”
“And how is this in any way beneficial for me?”
“Duh! For one, you get to have fun. Something I’m pretty sure you’ve never had.”
She had been wrong. THAT was the kicker. Right to his balls. She thought he was boring. “You think I’m not fun?”
Amelie’s smile faded, and her expression turned serious. “I wouldn’t know because you’re always so pissed off. Do you even know, Jack? What do you think? Do you think you are fun?”
“Yeah. I do.” Another lie. He half-heartedly threw a pillow at her, and then climbed out of bed.
Amelie cornered him at the tiny sink. She sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you mad. I was just trying to be honest.”
Jack looked down at her and smiled. She wanted to bet… ok. Fine, he could handle that. It was too bad for her she didn’t quite understand that betting was his forte. “Ok. But if I win, you have to promise me that you’ll keep your virginity for at least another year.” He paused and rubbed his hand along the length of his jawline. “Wait… you are a virgin, aren’t you?”
The look she gave him told him exactly where he should go. “Why would I promise you that?”
Jack smiled. “Because you want to go to the beach. And I have a car.”
She hesitated. He didn’t. “And because apparently, you have no idea just how fun I can be.”
Jack stuck out his hand. She smiled wryly and placed her hand in his. “Here’s to you, Jack Harrison, proving me wrong.”
He shook. “To y
ou, Amelie Rose, for not proving me right.”
Jack and Amelie took turns showering, turned in the keys to the camper, and headed south toward the coast. They’d decided day one would be hers (ladies first) since they were doing what she wanted to do anyway by going to the beach. They stopped to buy Amelie film and the snacks that she insisted upon—snacks that Jack was pretty sure would kill him before he turned of age. She forced him to at least try one of each of them, because it was her day after all. She also demanded that they stop to photograph every single thing that peaked her interest. She forced him to pull over so that she could photograph trees, bridges, cattle, and once a train. Come on, she’d said. “Someday we’ll have grandchildren, though not together, and they’ll want to see these pictures. It’s practically our duty to have as much fun as possible before we get old.” But Jack knew better. His grandkids would careless about seeing old photographs.
Since it was Amelie’s day, she’d informed Jack that she also had control of the radio. She played and sang aloud to music that Jack thought might be ok, if one were mostly deaf. Although, the way she sang without reservation, the way she giggled when she got the words wrong, made Jack hate it just a little bit less. And though he pretended otherwise, Jack was fairly certain he was having the time of his life. This must be as good as it gets, he told himself. That, and he found himself noticing things he might not have otherwise. If only he hadn’t made that damned bet. He noticed the way the sun reflected off her hair, the way the blue sky matched her eyes, and the way her pinky toe was just ever so slightly different from its counterpart. To clear his mind, Jack put the top down and let his mind drift to nothing but the road in front of him. They drove on for a very long time without speaking. She reached for his hand, and he didn’t pull away.
It was Amelie who broke the silence. “Jack?”
He glanced over and raised an eyebrow.
“Thanks for being my friend.”
