Rule #38: Be Ungrateful
Rebels don't need to become indebted, or attached, to anybody.
- () -
Before long, Friday arrives. The police haven't called me since I turned in a report so I give the go-ahead on the road trip. After arguing with my mom for a straight hour, she allowed me to go to miss one and a half days of school in order to go to my old school's graduation.
Peyton's Road Trip List
1) Food -Â I packed enough granola bars and sandwiches for all of today's trip. The rest of our meals will have to come out of money.
2) People - Originally, I planned the trip to be just Archer, I and a couple of other friends. But Archer, being Archer, managed to gather a group of twenty-six people that all want to go with us.
3) Ride - Obviously Archer's Audi isn't enough to fit all of us. Two of his friends on the swim team managed to get large vans for us to cross the country on.
4) Shelter - I booked a couple of rooms in the cheapest hotels I could find - one in Kentucky, one in Illinois - after chasing a few people down for money.
"Sounds like you have everything you need," Dr. Robinson says. "Nervous?"
"A little," I put my chin in my hand. "So you don't think it's a bad idea for me to go back and talk to Xavier?"
"On the contrary. Sometimes confronting our demons is the only way to defeat them," The chair crackles as she leans back. "You might find out that he's not as intimidating as you make him out to be in your head."
I doubt that. "What should I say if I meet them?"
"That's up to you," Dr. Robinson tilts her head to gauge my expression. "Is there something you want to say?"
"I want to punch him in the face," I say honestly. "But that won't help anything, will it?"
"Most likely not."
"Maybe I'll just talk to him about the nudes. Get it over with."
"If that's what you think is best."
I don't say anything, just hide my scowl behind my hand. Dr. Robinson catches it anyways and raises her eyebrow, not the least bit offended. "Is something the problem?"
"Why can't you just give me a yes or no answer?"
"I can't be certain of the outcome, Peyton. What I think is best might not work for you. There is no specific set of rules on meeting ex-boyfriends," She reminds me. "Or therapy in general. "
"I like rules."
"Yes. Most people prefer things to be black and white, don't they? Sometimes, however, we must settle for the colors in between."
Despite my annoyance, I'm a little impressed. "You're a wise chick, Dr. Robinson."
"Thank you. It's how I got my PhD."
- () -
"Call me every three hours."
"Okay."
"And make sure to keep a track on time. I don't want you running into any trouble, or missing any more school than you already are."
"Okay."
"And stay safe," Mom trails behind me, a pack of water bottles in her hand, as I push the last of the luggage in the car. Archer originally wanted one pair of clothes and some snacks to pack, but I got the extra utilities - first-aid kit, three more pairs of clothes, an extra GPS, a survival pack, an extra toilet - that I deemed necessary.
I grab the water bottles and place them on top of the snack pile. "You've already told me this."
"I can't help it," She gushes. "You know how I worry."
"If you want to worry about somebody, worry about Melody," I wonder if what I'm going to say is appropriate, but nobody else will talk about it. Dad avoids the topic and Melody's too scared to bring it up. "If you don't talk to her soon, she'll turn out like me."
"Like you?"
"Bitter," Frustration builds up in my head. "Angry at you. Angry at your family."
"I -"
"When I was fourteen years old, you call me a slut. Remember?" I slam the door shut. "I already called myself enough names after I sent the nudes, I didn't need you to call me one too."
Mom frowns.
I take a deep breath, upset at how vulnerable I feel, and continue. "Being gay is hard enough in our family. It'd be even worse if you knew your parents didn't have your back. So you should talk to Melody before it becomes worse."
"I'll - I'll think about it."
You better. Instead, I hold my tongue. "I'll see you in three days."
"See you."
She gives me a hug, awkward and quick, before I leave. I wave goodbye to dad before climb into the front seat of the van. Everybody's already inside when I get in, chatting excitedly. Archer plugs instructions into the GPS. He glances at me when I slam the door shut.
"How'd it go?" He says, voice so low that nobody but us can hear it.
"Not sure. I think it went well, but you never know."
"Did she say yes?"
"She didn't say no," My phone buzzes in my pocket. Without looking at the message, I block the number. "I guess that's the best I can hope for."
"Melody will appreciate it."
"We'll see," I click on my seat belt. "Let's get this show on the road."
"Yes ma'am," Archer says and starts the car.
I don't talk much on the ride, unless somebody asks me a question, and focus on the view outside the window. I've told Melody to take care of Lucky, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't need to. In just a few months, Lucky's become completely self-sufficient.
It takes around an hour to move from the base of Florida to another state. In the back, our crowd plays card games, which keep getting disrupted when Archer breaks or accelerates.
After taking a break for lunch, everybody gets tired. Archer turns on the radio to a soothing jazz station. Soon, everybody falls asleep. Kya naps on Sebastian's shoulder. Even Archer yawns. To keep him falling asleep at the wheel, I decide to start a conversation.
"So, here's the plan," I tilt to my head to look at Archer. "We should reach Chicago about eight o'clock Saturday morning. Depending on how tired we are, we can eat breakfast or just go sight-seeing. We have a couple of hours before graduation starts."
"I want to see the bean."
"I'll add that in."
"And eat pizza."
"Fine," I refrain myself from rolling my eyes. "You're such a tourist."
Archer simply smiles. "Let's talk about you then. What do you have planned?"
"Nothing much," I pick at my nails, acting casual, even though I rehearsed the entire day in my head before going to sleep last night. "I'll congratulate Jake and Irene, slam my fist into Andrew's face, and then go interrogate the suspects -"
"Suspects?"
"All the people I've miffed over the last three years," I clear my throat. "Xavier and Gwen, obviously. Then, there's some members of the girls' swim team - Portia, Ellen, Jill - the administration, like Principal John, Vice Principle Jack..."
Archer seems more amused than surprised. "You think your high school principal would leak your nudes on a website?"
"You'd be surprised at how much he hates me," I grumble. "I had a detention almost every day after school, not to mention my two suspensions."
"My little delinquent."
"I'm not little," I close my eyes, trying to recall the rest of the names. "There's the boys swim team. I got a couple of people who I bullied when I was popular, but I can't remember anything I did that would warrant revenge four years later, so they're low on the list."
My phone buzzes. I ignore it and go through my internal list, checking if I have any more potential suspects. Archer's quiet for a minute as we breeze across a long, empty road. It's all fields and windmills here.
"What about other suspects not from your high school?" He asks.
"Hmm? Oh, I already eliminated Grandmother. After yelling at me for a straight ten minutes, she told me that doesn't use the internet because she's afraid it'll give her radiation poisoning."
"What about Bettie?"
"Bettie?" Startled, I glance over at Archer. His expression is unusually solemn. "You think she could be responsible for this."
"I don't know. Maybe. She seemed pretty annoyed with your last phone call."
"Yeah," I pause for a second, then continue. "Actually, I called her a couple of times yesterday. She didn't reply to any of them."
Archer drums his fingers on his wheel. "Call her from my phone."
I give him a dubious look. "Are you sure?"
"She'll pick up when if she sees it's me calling."
"Yeah, but your - um - friendship might become strained."
Archer shrugs. "Our relationship isn't on the best of terms. It won't break any hearts if you strain it a bit more."
I grab Archer's phone, sleek with a red and white phone case he made himself, and unlock it with one finger. I hesitate, then gauge Archer's expression. He watches the road, showing no inclination of how he feels. I call Bettie. Unlike me, it only takes her half of a ring to pick.
"Listen, Archer, if you've called to apologize," She says. "I don't want to hear -"
"It's Peyton."
There's a long pause on the other hand. When Bettie comes back, her voice is significantly more distant. "Oh. Is something wrong with Archer?"
"No. You didn't answer any of my calls."
"Must have been busy."
"Some of my old nudes were leaked on a weird website online, along with my phone number," I decide to cut straight to the point. "Did you have anything to do with it?"
"What happened to the whole 'I forgive you and myself' gimmick you said?"
"It still stands," We enter a town. I eye the run-down buildings without much interest. "Unless you actually did leak my nudes?"
"I didn't."
"Do you show them to anybody else? Or even mention them?"
"Your sluttiness isn't usually a topic that I bring up for conversation."
Wow. Even though she can't see me, I raise my eyebrows. "Not even with Derek?"
"No. Is that all?"
"Yeah, but if you're lying, I'll -"
"Whatever," She snarls, voice cutting me like a razor. "Oh, and if you're with Archer, tell him that I don't want to talk him anymore and that he go screw himself."
She hangs up.
I stare at the blank phone screen. What was that all about? Bettie's usually mildly irritated when she talks to me, but this is taking it to another level. With a bemused shake of my head, I put Archer's phone back down and turn towards him.
"Bettie suggests that you should go screw yourself."
"I'll take it into consideration," He says, taking a sharp turn to the right. "So I'm taking it that she didn't have anything to do with the phone calls?"
"I don't think so," I lean back on the seat with a soft sigh. "Bettie's talks a lot of trash, but I don't see any reason of why she would this. She was seriously pissed at you, though. What's going on between you two?"
"She said some things I didn't agree with."
"Was it about me?" I hope I don't sound egoistic.
"No."
I decide not to pry farther. "Well, if you ever need me to me to beat her up..."
"I'll keep it in mind," Archer's voice is still cold, but his lips twitch up in a small smile.
- () -
We reach our motel at one o'clock in the night. Everybody's exhausted by the time we get out of the car, Archer most of all. He can barely keep his eyes open as we stumble into the lobby. Even though this was the cheapest hotel I could find, I'm mildly surprised by the cleanliness of the indoors.
The receptionist, with tired eyes and a forced smile, greets us.
"We have a reservation for five rooms," I push Archer, who attempts to nap on my shoulder, away and smile stiffly. "Under Monroe."
"Yes, you were due an hour ago."
"Traffic."
The man shrugs, hands us five sets of keys. I hand them off to each group, who walk away with drooping eyes, then grab Archer's hand and drag him to our room.
"Where's my key?" Archer mumbles.
"We're sharing. There's two beds," I add when he perks up. "So don't get too excited."
Our room is on the second floor. I make Archer take the stairs since he'll probably fall asleep on the elevator. Right after I swing open the door, he flops on one of the beds, face-down. I roll my eyes, then go to change into my pajamas. When I come out of the bathroom, he's in the same position.
"Hey," I poke him on the shoulder. "Wake up. You have to change."
"Tired."
"I know, but you have to get up. Archer, come on."
He doesn't move.
I turn my eyes into the ceiling. There are multiple options ahead of me. I could just leave him in his clothes and stupid position, but what kind of girlfriend would that make me? With a sigh, I turn Archer so he lies on his back. His eyes are closed, chest rising and falling in a steady pace.
I take his fuzzy pajamas out of his suitcase and throw it on him.
He doesn't move.
"Archer," I shake him some more. "Get up."
Still nothing.
I sign in frustration. What now?
As he continues to lie immobile, I climb on the bed. The ancient mattress groans under my weight as I lean over him. A bit of his hair falls over his eyes. I place my hands on the first button of his shirt, then hesitate.
This feels awkward.
But I'm his girlfriend, I reason. And I've seen him without his clothes before. This isn't taking advantage, is it? I'm just trying to make him more comfortable.
Still, my hands shake as I unbutton his shirt. The back of my knuckles skim across the lines of his chest as it rises and falls. I pull Archer out of his shirt, then force him into his pajama shirt. When it's done, I release a relieved exhale and pull the blanket under him.
Just when I try to tilt his head so it lies on the pillow, his eyes flicker open. "No pants?"
I nearly fall off the bed. "You were awake this whole time?"
"Wasn't before," He rub one eye and sits up. "Am now."
With a warm flush all over my body, I ball up his pants and throw at him. "Idiot. Get changed so I can turn the lights off."
With a little smile, and still sitting, Archer shuffles his pants off. To make sure I won't look at him, I fiddle around with the luggage. He walks up behind me as I zip open the second bag to make sure I have everything.
Voice still soft from sleep, Archer rests his chin on my shoulder. His voice brushes my neck as he whispers, "Now that you don't have Charlotte with you, come cuddle with me in bed."
"Think again," I pull out a fuzzy teddy bear from the bag. "I'm always prepared."
Archer chuckles, then kisses my jaw. With the soft brush of intimacy and my muddled brain, I can't even come up with a list of pros and cons before I say, "Fine. We'll sleep together. But no funny business."
He kisses me again, sloppily. "Will Charlotte stay?"
"Of course."
"She's a third wheel."
"Exactly."
I turn the lights off.
- () -
FUN FACT: When I was first writing RoaR, I gave Peyton a traumatic backstory of getting into a car crash, but changed it later on. This is why Peyton never rides a car in the book.
"..."
(0,0)
/)....)
""
Dedications go to lowriharrison, quietcloud, larrystulinson974, paridhym09, Neethu124, and romancepoetryme.
Thanks for all your comments last chapter! Covers 2 and 3 were the most popular, so I've come with a compromise. Presenting the new cover for my next book:
Just kidding. But thanks for reading!
QotC: What characters would you take on a road trip with you (real or fictional)?