Chapter Eight

AS JOEY AND Taylor sat in the backseat of Taylor’s parents’ car, Joey tried to not picture her family reading the notes she’d left them in the bag she’d left with Betty to hold. It included her car keys and instructions for Betty to keep the car until she came home, along with letters for each of them with her best explanation on where she was going and why she had to do it.

She knew on a certain level it was still the end of an era, her childhood, whether she got engaged to Dan that night or took off for London, but there was something so much more final about putting thousands of miles between them with no warning. If she stopped to think about it, she never could have done it, so she instead looked to her left and sighed.

Taylor was shocked by the turn of events, but also the kind of person to not ask too many questions. Joey was especially appreciative of the second trait as they rode to Sky Harbor Airport. Apparently, Taylor’s parents were also unperturbed by the change of plans and didn’t question at all that Taylor’s friend needed a ride to the airport as well. It put Taylor’s shyness into full relief and Joey felt like she understood her so much better already. Growing up in a quiet house would probably make anyone pretty quiet.

As they pulled up to the departures level of Terminal Four, they didn’t even question why Joey had so few bags. For Joey, someone who overthought everything and always packed carefully, it was unnerving to realize she hadn’t even made a list of what to bring, but since she was trying out a new life, she thought a new “just go with it” attitude was worth also trying out.

Joey stood awkwardly as Taylor hugged her parents goodbye and choked back tears, failing miserably at shutting out the images of her family, Dan, and Dan’s family, all standing there without her. She knew if she’d gotten near them, she wouldn’t have been able to escape without explaining, and how could she explain? Making up her mind alone in her room had been one thing, but under the eyes of her closest family and friends, she knew she’d take the easier, well-known path.

As Taylor’s parents pulled away, she turned to look at Joey with tears in her eyes.

“You know, it’s weird,” she said. “I’ve been so scared to leave and thought I’d have some big breakdown when they drove away, but now you’re here with me…”

Joey used the back of her hand to wipe away her own tears and smiled. “I know what you mean. I think I’d be sobbing if it weren’t for you.”

“It’s like camp.” Taylor picked up her backpack and adjusted the rest of her bags as they began to walk into the terminal.

Joey blushed, remembering their last night in the dorm and wondering how they’d gotten to that topic so quickly, before Taylor continued, “I was so scared when they dropped me off, but you were there and I felt brave.”

“I didn’t know you were nervous,” Joey said. “You always seemed so happy.”

They lined up behind a few other travelers to check their luggage and stood quietly for a minute, realizing these weren’t the kinds of conversations to have within earshot of strangers. But as she stood, Joey thought back on her memories with Taylor and realized she did seem to be more at ease whenever Joey was around. Maybe coming back to this date would be just as important to Taylor as it was for her.

After they dropped off their bags, Joey reached down to check her phone. She’d turned it to silent during the ceremony and purposely not checked it since they left. She had even considered leaving it behind, since she was pretty sure it wouldn’t work in London anyway, but as she didn’t have most phone numbers memorized other than her own house, she thought she should keep it with her.

Twenty-seven missed calls.

That seemed about right. Taylor noticed her looking at it and said, “So, did you tell anyone you were doing this?”

“Nope,” Joey said. “I left them letters, but knew they’d try to talk me out of it if I said it out loud.”

As they made their way up the escalators toward security, Joey’s finger hovered over her voicemail button.

“Maybe wait until we get there?” Taylor said, looking down at her hand. “I can ask my mom to call your mom when we arrive so they know you’re safe.”

Joey felt like a coward, but knew Taylor was right. Emotional messages might be enough to talk her out of getting on the plane and she was still pretty sure she wanted to leave. Probably at least 87 percent sure.

“Hey, so, where are you planning to stay when we get there?” Taylor asked as they waited with the rest of the travelers to have their bags and bodies scanned.

Joey was called up by the TSA agent at that exact moment, and she tried not to seem too panicked as it occurred to her that she was about twelve hours away from arriving in a strange city with no place to live. She handed over her passport and took what she hoped was a “don’t worry, I’m not a threat” deep breath. The agent seemed to think she was okay and sent her on her way, but now Joey thought it wasn’t just the cellphone full of messages that would keep her from boarding.

She had money saved up from babysitting and other jobs through the years, but London was one of the most expensive cities in the world. She knew she could talk to the school about her scholarship and hopefully still use it for tuition, room, and board, but the first day of school was over three months away. Leaving on graduation night suddenly felt reckless and stupid. Why couldn’t she have just turned Dan down tonight and left in September?

“I mean, my room is probably really small, but you’re welcome to crash for a bit if you want,” Taylor was saying as she caught up to her at the X-ray machines.

“Wait, what?” Joey said, as she reached down to pull her purse from the conveyer belt, nearly falling over from losing her balance as she yanked it a bit too hard. Or maybe it was from shock and relief.

“Oh, I mean, you don’t have to,” Taylor said. “But it’s a single and I’ve got the room until classes start. It’ll be like camp!”

Now it was Taylor’s turn to blush and Joey realized the weight of her offer was hitting them both. Crashing with a friend was one thing, but suddenly living with someone who you had feelings for was a monumental step in a relationship. Or friendship. Joey was perhaps again over-thinking things, but could she call this a relationship? Taylor didn’t know that Joey was walking away from a proposal that night and it would be extremely unfair to put that kind of pressure on something so new.

They walked again in silence after collecting the rest of their bags. As annoying as the new airport restrictions were since everything that had happened last September, Joey was suddenly relieved for one new security measure. Dan couldn’t come chase her down at the airport without a ticket, and she was pretty sure he wouldn’t buy one. Had she tried to leave abruptly last year, she was certainly facing a dramatic Love Actually moment.

Oh, hey, has that come out yet? she wondered as they walked to their gate.

They found two seats together and sat down with their bags placed in front of them.

“I’d love to crash with you, if you’re sure you don’t mind,” Joey said, breaking the silence at last.

“Oh, great!” Taylor said. “I think this could be the best summer ever.”

Joey took stock of where her life was heading, versus where it had the last time she’d lived this day. She looked down at her left hand where her engagement ring should be. A ring that was probably still in Dan’s pocket, if he hadn’t thrown it in the trash by now. If they were meant to be, maybe she’d be back in a year and ready to say yes to him, assuming he still wanted her.

And assuming she still wanted him, for that matter. As the flight attendant called for early boarding, Joey looked at Taylor and reminded herself that Dan had tried to keep her from following her dream. That betrayal and how distant he’d become in their other timeline felt like the perfect bookends to their story. In keeping her from her dream at eighteen, had he accidentally turned her into a thirty-eight-year-old woman whom he no longer loved?

That thought made boarding the plane easier than she thought it would be. If she could just alter their timeline enough to ease any resentment between them, maybe they’d both end up happy in the end, no matter who they married.

Or maybe she’d just ruined both of their lives and erased her three perfect children from existence.

As the flight attendants closed the doors, she hoped with all her might it was the former.