The Next Whatever by Rebecca Phillips

Author:Rebecca Phillips [Phillips, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Rebecca Phillips
Published: 2021-06-08T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Mom has a full yoga schedule on Sunday, so I’m not able to get the car for our day trip to the corn maze. Samantha’s Volkswagen isn’t nearly big enough for all five of us plus Liam’s crutches, so I figure either the trip will be postponed or they’ll go without me. But at the last minute, Ravi convinces his mother to let him borrow her minivan for the day, and we’re back on.

The weather is perfect—sunny and calm, with just enough chill in the air to require a sweater. I wait for everyone outside on the steps, half enjoying the early-autumn sun and half worrying that I’ve inadvertently horned in on their yearly corn maze tradition, and even though I was invited, they don’t really want me along and they’re only including me because I happened to be there when the subject was brought up.

My brain is an exhausting place sometimes.

I relax a little when the van pulls up to my house a few minutes after eleven, Ravi behind the wheel and Samantha in the passenger seat beside him. I slide open the door to see Liam in the middle seat, his back against the window and his booted leg stretched out in front of him. Kath’s sitting in the way back, most of her face hidden behind giant sunglasses. Everyone smiles when they see me, and the last of my anxiety fades.

I step over Liam’s crutches and slide in next to Kath. For once, she’s not attached to her phone.

“I left it at home,” she says when she catches me looking at her empty hands. I swear she can read my mind sometimes, or at least my expression. “Today is all about having fun and relaxing with my friends.” She glances at Liam. “How was that?”

He nods, as if judging her performance. “Not bad. I give it a six out of ten.”

She sticks her tongue out at him, but she’s smiling at the same time, letting us know she’s not really bothered by the prospect of a technology-free day. Maybe she even welcomes it.

Up front, Ravi flicks on the stereo, and we’re off. After a bit of Google Maps research last night, I know that Milner Farm is an hour-and-fifteen-minute drive from Granesville, in a teensy town called Newcomb, directly off Exit 14. I couldn’t find the population, but I’m sure it’s in the low triple digits.

The drive goes by quick. When I’m not chatting with Kath and Liam about anything other than Brooke, I’m gazing out the window at the trees along the highway. The leaves are just starting to turn, their green speckled with various reds and oranges and yellows. When I’m not gazing at the trees, I’m secretly watching Liam, fascinated by the way the sun brings out the golden highlights in his hair. By the time we get to the farm, my fingers ache with the effort it took not to reach out and touch it.

“Ho-ly crap,” Ravi says when we pull into the grassy parking area.

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