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“Eighty percent.”
Ryan nods. “Sounds about right. And where did I stand, two minutes ago?”
“Forty percent? Thirty-seven?”
“So what should we do? I want to get back up into the nineties.”
Avery doesn’t know much of what there is to do in Kindling, but there is one place he’s sure will be better than here.
“Let’s go get your aunt’s boat,” he says. “I want to head back to the water.”
—
Ryan texts hisaunt, who tells him to take the boat whenever he wants. It’s warm enough that the river isn’t touched by ice, but cold enough that there isn’t another boat in sight. Avery offers to paddle, but Ryan asks him if it’s okay if he paddles solo. He’s still wound up, and paddling will help. Avery says that’s fine.
Even though the boat is the same and the river takes the same shape, gives the same path, it doesn’t feel the same as it did yesterday. Way back then, it felt like they were journeying into something together. Now it feels like they’ve already experienced some of the journey.
“It just makes me so mad,” Ryan says. “The fact that they can be like that, and nothing will happen to them.”
“I know,” Avery tells him. “It’s not fair at all.”
“But it doesn’t have anything to do with us,” Ryan surprises Avery by saying next. He sounds as if he’s almost convinced himself it’s true, and saying it out loud will help solidify the conviction. “Nothing they say has anything to do with us.”
“And now look what’s happened to them,” Avery ventures.
Ryan’s confused. “What do you mean?”
“We didn’t warn them about the thirteenth hole.”
Now Ryan smiles. “Oh yeah. The thirteenth hole.”
“The sharks…”
“The bears…”
“The piranha fountain…”
“The pop-up chain saws…”
“And that trapdoor, when you fall into a pit with no food, no water, and ‘U and Ur Hand’ playing over and over and over for days until you repent your full asshole life.”
“I’m glad we didn’t warn them about the thirteenth hole.”
“Me too.”
“And, Avery?”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry again. Anger’s its own trap, and I walked right into it when I should have been focusing on you instead.”
“I understand.”
They’re facing each other in the boat. Now Avery stretches out his legs so they touch Ryan’s like they did back in the pancake diner. Ryan leaves the paddle in the bottom of the canoe and leans forward so their hands can entwine and their lips can touch.
I don’t want to mess this up,Ryan thinks.
Avery thinks,I’m glad I didn’t leave.
