Why am I doing this? Nina thought as she pulled into Mel’s driveway at nine on Sunday morning.
Of course she knew why she was doing this. She had just outed Mel and potentially ruined her life, so if Mel wanted to go to New York to reunite with the girl who dumped her, then Nina was going to drive her. She was going to do whatever Mel wanted her to do for the rest of her life because what she’d done was the kind of thing you can’t really make up for with a chai and an e-card.
But it was still a really, really bad idea. One, because as much as she missed Avery—and she did miss Avery—Avery had done a lot of really wrong things. And two, it was about to snow. Seriously snow. The forecast was calling for about a foot, and the only way she’d been able to go out at all was by telling her mom that she was spending the day at school and attending a com-pletely fictitious faculty-student curriculum panel, promising that she’d walk home if the roads were bad. She foresaw some serious stopping and sliding and cleaning off of windows. They’d probably only make it an hour down the highway.
Mel came out, bundled in her heavy green winter coat and green-and-white mittens and hat. She had a duffel bag slung over her tiny shoulder. And behind her was Parker. Mel got into the car as if nothing strange was going on at all. Parker climbed into the back without a word.
“Okay,” Mel said cheerfully. “So, I’ve packed stuff for the trip. Maps and directions, snacks, some CDs. I even made a thermos of hot chocolate. See?”
She held up a silver workman’s thermos like it was a trophy.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Nina asked. “Outside, please?”
They got out of the car and walked to the end of the driveway.
“Why is Parker here?” Nina asked.
“I thought it would be good to have a guy along,” Mel said innocently. “If we have to push or if we have trouble parking or something.”
“God, Mel.” Nina let out an exasperated sigh.
“If I get one favor, ever, I’m asking for it now.”
Nina could have easily pointed out that many people would consider driving four hours through a blizzard to be a favor, but again, she was in no position to argue.
“Okay,” Nina said, throwing up her hands. “If we’re going to do this, let’s do it all the way.”
Since she was never famous for her conversational ability, Mel was at a loss to fill the deafening silence that filled the car as they drove. She tried a few times to get something going, but Nina was intent on her driving, and Parker refused to say a word. So Mel spent most of the time looking out at the heavy snow sky and the bleak view of bare trees and road. About an hour in, the snow began to fall. The first few minutes brought flurries, but these soon became wet, heavy flakes, blanking out the horizon.
Nina tried to keep going, but it was almost impossible for her to see, even with the windshield wipers at full blast. The snow blanketed the other windows, making the inside of the car dark and close and even more quiet. Nina was becoming visibly upset at the worsening conditions. She shifted down and went even slower, but other cars were losing grip and fishtailing. A rest stop finally came into sight. She eased the car off the road and drove into the parking lot, which was already full of people who seemed to have the same idea. Parker opened his door.
“Anybody want anything?” he asked unenthusiastically.
Both Mel and Nina shook their heads. Parker got out and headed into the service plaza. Mel turned to Nina, who stretched her arms out and held them stiff against the steering wheel.
“Neen,” Mel said, “maybe just try to …”
“He doesn’t want to talk.”
They watched Parker hastily making his way into the plaza. She couldn’t really disagree with Nina on that one. He wasn’t even trying.
“I need to stretch,” Nina said.
Nina opened her door and got out, leaving Mel sitting in the car alone. Mel watched Nina wrap her arms around herself tightly and walk up the sidewalk. The snow caught in the tips of her hair, giving it a strange white frosting.
This plan was horrible, Mel realized. This was why Nina had always been the planner. Throwing two people together in a car, forcing them to drive to New York together wasn’t fun—it was stressful. And now she was going to get them all stranded or killed.
Nothing to do now but wait it out a bit. Hopefully Avery would still be in New York by the time they got there. Of course, they’d probably miss her completely, and since she didn’t have a cell phone, they’d never be able to find her. This whole trip would be a huge exercise in pointlessness.
Sighing, she decided to go inside and at least make another attempt with Parker. Or maybe she would just hide in the bathroom and try not to cause any more problems. That was probably the wiser move. She opened her door and stepped out into a good inch of sticky snow. Nina turned and started to run over to her.
“Mel …” she cried.
Mel shut the door and hurried toward her, hoping that she’d changed her mind, that she was going to try to talk to Parker again. But Nina just looked horrified and stared at her car.
It took Mel a moment to realize that she probably should have turned off the car and removed the keys from the ignition before she’d gotten out.