Part 14 (1/2)
”We're working on it. It's hard to get everyone's schedules in sync.” I have been talking about it with online friends, but doubt it'll ever really happen.
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sixteenthings.indd 86 9/9/13 2:21 PM.
1 6 t h i n g s i t h o u g h t w e r e t r u e ”Whatever,” she says. ”I'm going to pay for our trip to BC. Are your Twitter friends doing that?” She catches up with me and tugs on the back of my T- s.h.i.+rt. ”Slow down, okay?”
I walk a little slower. She's offered her car and her money. She wants to be my friend. Is that so wrong?
”Amy,” I say, ”you don't have to pay for everything.” I dig in my pocket and take out the twenty dollars she gave me. ”Here.”
She shakes her head and holds up her hands. ”No. Keep it. I feel stupid for lying to you, taking your money.”
I try again, but she steps back, so I shove it back in my pocket. ”Fine.
But we'll split everything on the trip. You're doing me a huge favor.”
”Well, you're doing me one too.” Her cheeks turn pink and she glances away from me. ”More than you know. Anyhow, don't worry about me. I can afford it.”
”No. We split it. But I'm going to book a hostel. Not a fancy hotel. It'll be cheaper.”
”A hostel? Wow. Like world travelers. Poor ones.” She sticks out her hand. ”Deal. I will travel like the poor people.”
I laugh but reach out and take her hand and squeeze lightly.
”Friends,” she says. ”I'd like to get more followers on Twitter, like you. I only have six.”
My cheeks glow with pleasure. ”I'll help,” I tell her as we reach the spot where we go separate ways. ”You really want to drive all the way to Victoria?” I ask.
”Totally,” she says with a grin. And then she giggles. ”With Adam too. And his junk.”
I ignore that. ”I have no idea how else I would swing this.”
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sixteenthings.indd 87 9/9/13 2:21 PM.
J a n e t G u r t l e r ”Yeah, you don't.” She grins and holds up her wrist, which has about twenty colorful bracelets wrapped around it. ”I'm going to make you a bracelet for the trip.
I look at the bracelets. They're pretty cool. Some are string, some are beaded, and some have charms hanging off them.
”You made those?”
”I'm crafty. Since I was a kid. I make lots of stuff.”
”Cool.” I nod.
”I made one for Adam too. Do you think he's the type of guy who would wear bracelets?”
”I doubt it. But maybe he's the type of guy who needs to.”
She grins. ”Yeah. He is.”
I wave and laugh and run to the gift shop, arriving a couple of minutes late from my break.
”You look pretty happy about leaving me one less gift shop employee next weekend,” Theresa says when I rush behind the reg- ister to relieve her.
”You know already?”
”Who do you think gave the okay? Adam texted me.”
”Thanks so much,” I say.
She jokes around some more before she leaves me, which is kind of new and kind of nice. When she leaves, I find myself humming.
I don't bother to pull out my phone. I don't even check for updates.
My break is over and it doesn't even bother me.
And then, all of a sudden, that worries me too. If I don't reach five thousand, something bad will happen. I know it. I'm as super- st.i.tious as my mom.
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sixteenthings.indd 88 9/9/13 2:21 PM.
chapter eight.
T here's no getting around the fact that I'm nervous. There are comfort zones and then there's this- traveling with two people I barely know. To Canada. My comfort zone resides in Tadita, most of it online. I don't let my mind wander too much to what's at the other end of the trip.
I can't believe I'm actually going to see my dad. It's something I've dreamt about my whole life. The thought of him as a real person makes me want to hyperventilate. My insides get quivery at the thought of what might happen. Maybe, just maybe, he'll see that I'm not so bad. Maybe he'll accept me, even after all this time. As much as I try to deny it, I can't bury my hope. Maybe he'll see that I'm worth knowing.
I tell myself that whatever happens, happens. That I'll deal.
Secretly I'm a little proud. For the first time in my life, I'm doing something about this. I'm going to meet my dad. My father. I'm not going to hide. I just hope I can handle it.