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Holden: I didn’t say I was alone. I have a girl with me.
My heart sank. How do I even respond to that?
My finger hovered over the keys.
And then he sent me another photo. Holden had a guinea pig sitting on his bare chest. He was feeding it greens.
What the?
Lala: Who is that?
Holden: Colby’s daughter is getting a surprise tomorrow.
Lala: OMG what?
Holden: Colby pissed me off the other day. So Saylor is getting a gift.
I cracked up.
Lala: Oh you’re bad.
Holden: He told her she couldn’t have a dog right now. He never specifically mentioned anything about guinea pigs. She’s gonna love me. Favorite uncle award is mine.
Lala: Awfully cute.
Holden: Her or me? ;-)
I rolled my eyes and laughed.
Lala: Sigh. Thank you for cheering me up.
Holden: Why? Everything okay over there?
I kept typing and erasing words, unsure if I wanted to get into the California thing with him.
Lala: Something did come up today, but I don’t want to rehash it right now, if you don’t mind.
Holden: Talk to me.
Lala: I’ll fill you in soon. It’s nothing bad…just something that might make my life a bit complicated. I’m too exhausted to get into it tonight.
Holden: Got it. Won’t push.
I looked back over to another photo of Holden and Ryan.
Lala: I’m looking at you right now, actually.
Holden: Crap. You can see I’m not wearing pants?
Lala: No, on Ryan’s bedroom wall.
Holden: Wait…you’re in Ryan’s room?
Lala: Yeah. I come in here sometimes.
Holden: That’s cool to know your parents still keep it the same.
Lala: They do. It was the same when he moved away to college and the same when he came back.
Holden: I’d love to visit sometime.
Lala: You should come by the next time you’re home visiting your parents.
Even though my parents might give you the stink eye now.
Holden: I might.
Then Warren popped up on my phone.
Warren: Goodnight, my love. Heading to bed. See you tomorrow before you head back.
Laney: Me too. ’Night, babe. Xo
I was just about to put my phone down when another text came in.
Holden: Damn guinea pig just stole one of my Hot Cheetos. Can they have those?
Holden is nuts.
Lala: I’m thinking…no.
Holden: She better be okay.
Lala: Maybe you should put the Hot Cheetos down.
Holden: She has the hiccups now! What the fuck. I didn’t sign up for this.
My shoulders shook with laughter.
Lala: LOL I’m sorry.
About a minute passed before he texted again.
Holden: I just Googled it and some guy says he gave his guinea pig Cheetos and it DIED. Holy shit!
Lala: You can’t believe everything you read. It was just one Cheeto she had, though, right?
Holden: HOT Cheeto. But yes.
Lala: I think it’ll be okay.
Holden: I should’ve stayed out tonight. This never would have happened. Fuck! I’m afraid to go to sleep now.
This wasn’t supposed to be funny. But I couldn’t stop laughing.
Lala: Do you need me to stay up with you?
A couple of minutes passed before he responded.
Holden: No. She seems good.
Lala: Yeah. It was only one Cheeto.
Holden: I think she’s gonna live.
Lala: Me too.
Holden: Thank you for your support during this trying time.
I wiped another tear of laughter.
Lala: Of course.
Holden: You’re laughing at me, aren’t you?
Lala: Yes.
He sent a voice recording. When I hit play, it was the sound of the guinea pig hiccupping. I burst into laughter again. Holden had managed to break me out of my funk from earlier.
Lala: You weren’t kidding.
Holden: No. Even I can’t make up shit like this.
Lala: Thanks again for the laugh.
Holden: Anytime, Lala.
Lala: I’d better go to sleep.
Holden: Sweet dreams.
Lala: ’Night, Holden.
I fell asleep in my brother’s bed that night, with thoughts of Warren, California, Holden, and hiccupping guinea pigs swirling around in my head.
CHAPTER 7
Lala
What the heck?
I’d stepped on the gas to speed up before changing lanes, but my car had slowed down, rather than going faster. I pressed the pedal all the way to the floor, yet I kept decelerating. Ugh. You’ve got to be kidding me.
Searching for the hazards button on the dash, I kept driving, but moved over to the right lane, rather than the left that I’d been trying to merge into. Less than a minute later, the car was practically crawling, and I had no choice but to get off at the nearest exit. Luckily, there was a gas station at the first intersection, so I pulled in and parked. But when I got out, I realized there was no mechanic’s garage. It only had one of those mini marts attached.
Shoot. What the heck do I do now? My first instinct was to call Holden, but I was only an hour and fifteen minutes into the two-and-a-half-hour drive from Philly. So I went into the mini mart to see if there was anywhere nearby I could take my car.
“Hi. I’m having some car trouble and was wondering if you could tell me where the closest mechanic is located?”
