Chapter 26

Haley

50 days, 12 hours

 

Izzy fiddles with the iPad for at least half an hour before she passes it to me. She’s such a little twit wit. And she only gives it to me then because I ask for it three times and Mom tells her to give it to me when we get back in the car after we make a pit stop in St. George’s. Mom had to pee. I told her she needed to be careful with those big gulp Icees. She kind of laughed. She used to laugh at stuff I said all the time. I can be pretty funny. At least Caitlin thought I was.

Back in the car, Mom’s talking to Izzy about some project for Izzy’s social studies class. Izzy wants to make an Egyptian stone tablet and Mom suggests getting wallboard from the hardware store. It’s an old trick; Caitlin and I both did it. I sit back against the seat, trying to look all casual so Mom doesn’t suspect why I really want the iPad. I’m relieved to find that Caitlin has iMes-sage. I text Todd.

You’re going to have to pick me up in Grand Junction. Sorry.

Colorado, I add, just because I pretty much already know his geography skills suck.

He doesn’t answer right away so while I’m waiting, I check out hotels in Grand Junction. Mom seems to have relaxed a little, now that she thinks I’m all in for her joyride and that a few days in a RAV4 will heal me.

“Ummm, there’s the usuals,” I say. “Days Inn, La Quinta. You get Marriott points, right, Mom?”

I see her in the rearview mirror; she nods. “See what’s available for around a hundred dollars. Two double beds.”

“I’m not sleeping with her,” Izzy declares. She says her like I have the plague.

Mom sighs. “Don’t make me wish I’d left you home. You can sleep with me.”

I text Todd again.

You there?

“Looks like there’s a couple of Marriott properties: Springfield Inn, Courtyard,” I name. To myself I’m saying, Come on, Todd, come on.

“Can you make a reservation online?” Mom asks.

“Yup. Let me see what’s available.”

A message pops up. Luckily, I thought to mute the iPad.

Colorado??

Just over the Utah border. Map it, I text quickly. On your way?

I know he’s at least an hour behind us. Farther than that, probably, but that’s okay. That’ll give me time to get out of the hotel room. I can just wait until Mom and Izzy are asleep and slip out and I’m free. By the time Mom realizes I’m gone, Todd and I will be headed for Canada. I figure we’ll take the Alcan Highway until we hit the end of it in Alaska and then we’ll just decide which direction to go, once Todd knows where his brother is. I just hope Todd remembered his passport. Mine’s in my backpack with the cash I scraped together from my room and Caitlin’s. Her ATM card is in there too.

“Hmmm,” I say, switching screens. “A couple of places near the airport, but it looks like the prices are better if we stay a little farther out.” I look up at Mom because I know she’s watching, trying to judge just how nutty I am. If I’m going to get away with this, if I’m going to get away from her, I have to make her think I’m okay. But not too okay or she’ll suspect something. That’s why I’ve been careful not to be too nice to Izzy. Because I’ve always picked on her. It’s what big sisters do.

“Marriott Courtyards are nice.” Mom sips from a bottle of water. We all got waters when we stopped. “See if any of them have a continental breakfast.”

“I like the places where they let you make your own waffles,” Izzy puts in. “You spin the waffle iron.” She demonstrates.

Come on, Todd. Answer me, I think. While I’m checking out the breakfast information for a Marriott Courtyard in Grand Junction, Nowhere, he finally texts back.

U want me 2 git u in Colorodo

I close my eyes for a second, wondering how he could misspell Colorado when he’s got autocorrect on his freaking phone.

Only 6 or 7 hrs from Vegas, I respond. See you tonight. Don’t text me back. Will send you address where I am soon as I can.

I wait and when he doesn’t answer me, I text OKAY???

I wait.

K

I exhale with relief, rub my forearm, and delete the messages. I go back to the Marriott pages to find us a hotel room. As I’m going through the screens, I hear something that sounds like a cat. I glance up, thinking maybe Mom or Izzy have turned on the radio. I know. Like there’s a cat station.

Neither has moved.

I check prices at the Courtyard and then go into the “Reserve a Room” page. “You have an online account, Mom?”

“My e-mail,” she says.

I hear the cat sound again. Definitely a meow. I wonder if it’s some kind of pop-up on the iPad. I showed Caitlin how to keep those things off her computer, but maybe she didn’t know to block them on her iPad. Just as I’m checking to make sure nothing else is open, Mom says, “What was that?”