Josh’s mom had been a complete bitch. When she answered the door and Chloe asked for Josh, Mrs. Houser had looked at her like she was some kind of stray animal.
“Josh isn’t home.”
“Oh.” Chloe waited for the woman to offer more information, but she didn’t.
“Do you know when he’ll be back?”
“He’s out for a run. And he’s not going out again after that. Have a nice day.”
“You too! Thank you for your time!”
Chloe did her best to sound warm and friendly even as the door was being shut in her face.
Walking back to the bike and backpack she’d left at the bottom of the short driveway, her cheeks grew hot with humiliation. She slung the pack over her shoulders and steered her bike into the street, unsure of her next move.
She could go alone to the Blackwells’ and wait for Josh to arrive, but the thought of wandering around that massive house all by herself creeped her out.
Or she could camp out somewhere nearby and wait for him to come back. The swings at the playground across the street from his house would’ve been ideal, but then she’d be in full view if Mrs. Houser looked out the window.
She chose the tennis court bleachers instead. They were far enough from his house that Josh’s mom couldn’t see her, but close enough that Chloe would be able to intercept Josh as he came up the street. Unless he arrived from the other direction, in which case she’d have to wave or yell to get his attention.
Chloe hopped on her bike, rode the short distance to the bleachers, and sat down to wait.
Why didn’t we make a plan before I left yesterday? Stupid.
Their habit of unspoken communication hadn’t served her too well in this case. She looked up at the sky.
Just please get back before it rains.
It was at least half an hour later, and her mind had gone to all kinds of dark places when Josh finally came into view, wearing a sweatshirt and compression shorts as he jogged toward his house from the opposite direction. Chloe jumped up and waved her arms to get his attention.
But he wouldn’t look Chloe’s way, so she had to yell and hope his mother didn’t hear her.
“JOSH!”
He stopped in the middle of the road a few feet short of his property line, cocking his head to one side like a curious retriever.
She waved to him.
He waved back. Then he kept moving in the direction of his front door.
What the hell?
“JOSH!”
He stopped and looked at her again. Finally, he started to jog toward her.
Something was off. The look on his face as he approached was disturbingly blank.
“Hey,” he said, slowing to a walk when he was still twenty feet away. “Is your semi today?”
“No.”
Of course not. What the hell kind of question is that?
“Oh.” Still several feet from her, he stopped and bent his leg back, grabbing his ankle in a quad stretch. “So what are you up to?”
ISN’T IT OBVIOUS?
“Waiting for you.”
“Oh. Shit, I’m sorry. I can’t really hang out today.”
“What do you mean, ‘today’?”
“I just gotta stick around home. Y’know?”
Chloe could feel the blood draining from her head. Black spots were starting to dot the edges of her vision.
“I thought . . . we were going to the Blackwells’.”
“Yeah, I can’t today. Sorry.” He switched legs, hopping on one foot to keep his balance.
It’s his mother. It’s his fucking mother.
“You don’t have to listen to your parents,” she told him. “They’re crazy!”
“No, they’re not.” He looked offended.
“Are you kidding? They think the Democrats shut the power off! That’s insane! You said so yourself!”
He snorted. “Yeah—it’s insane of the Democrats.”
“Ohmygod!” Her stomach had fallen to somewhere near her ankles.
“What?”
“I thought . . . you said you wanted to stay at the Blackwells’ with me!”
His eyebrows rose and his jaw fell, stretching out his face like some kind of funhouse clown. “Oh! Damn. I thought you were kidding.”
Ohmygod. Ohmygod.
She ran for her bike. He took a few halfhearted steps in her direction.
“Sorry if I gave you the wrong idea. I just can’t really be in a relationship right now? Like, maybe once swim season’s over—”
Ohmygod!
Chloe threw her backpack on and mounted the bike, nearly falling over in her haste to get away from him.
“Are you okay?”
She righted herself and pedaled off as fast as she could, her eyes welling up and her nose starting to run in the cold air.
Just please let me get to Emma’s before I lose it.