“Sorry! Sorry! I’m really sorry!”
“Just call your sister before I lose control of the car again.”
I smiled at him. His smirk came about but he fought it, I could tell, with everything he had. I found my sister’s number and pressed the call button. I waited while it rang.
“You promised,” she answered.
“I know. I’m sorry but I got sidetracked.”
“But you promised,” she said, her voice breaking up like she was holding back tears.
“Aww, Mercury, don’t do that. You’ll make me cry, and if I cry then Ezra will cry; we’ll all be crying.”
Ezra threw an annoyed look at me, but I ignored it.
“What’s new there?” I asked her, trying to distract her.
“Nothing really. Have you been able to eat anything good yet?” Mercury and I were constantly scavenging for anything other than organic tomatoes. A bag of Cheetos in my house was worth two weeks of dish duty to the right person, and by right person, I mean Mercury.
“Yeah, actually, I ate a cheeseburger last night.”
“Cheese and crackers! You heinous brat. Tell me all about it.”
For the next ten minutes I described the cheeseburger I’d consumed the night before bite by bite, even going so far as to describe the various textures and temperatures of the pile of fries I’d hit Kai’s hand over once when he’d tried to pilfer one.
“All right, gotta go, Mercury.”
“You busy?”
“Nah, but I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”
“Okay, love you!” she said.
“Love you too. Remember, you’re the hottest planet, baby.”
“And you’re the heaviest.”
“Aw, man, I was trying to be nice, you punk.”
“That’s for not wanting to talk to me anymore.”
“Fine,” I said. “Bye, lint licker!”
I hung up before she could respond. I took a deep breath in satisfaction, my work done.
“Anyone want a cheeseburger?” Kai asked, making me light up inside.
“I should be a food critic, no?” I asked him.
He nodded with authority, which made me begin to question my life’s plans.
“I might change my major,” I told the car.
“What are you going to the University of Washington for?” Ezra asked.
He’d asked it so seriously, my whole body sobered. “Oh, I’m going to get a nursing degree as well as a nursing home administration degree.”
Ezra did a literal double take, which I thought was only possible in cartoons. “What?” he asked.
He hadn’t heard me apparently, so I spoke very slowly. “Me want to be nurse. Me also want to open a nursing home.”
“I heard you, smart-ass, I just— I just can’t…”
“What he’s trying to say is that he finds this an incredible coincidence, because he too would like to work with the elderly,” Kai chimed in.
“A geriatric physician,” Ezra explained quietly, studying me.
“Well,” I breathed, “that is interesting.”
Ezra stared at the road ahead of him. “I want to start something sort of different,” he continued.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“I want to start a joint nursing home and preschool. During the day the elderly could work side by side with the children, helping them, teaching them, giving them all something to work towards.” He glanced at me, the fire obvious in his eyes. “Preschool-age children have so much to gain from being around them, and they give so much love in return. It’s a win-win.”
My breath sucked into my chest. It was a brilliant idea, literally brilliant. “That is an incredible idea, Ezra,” I told him, thinking back on all my friends in my yoga class. They would have loved that.
“You think so?” he asked, that enchanting smile, the one that was so utterly Ezra’s, gracing his face.
“I think it’s genius, Ezra,” I told him quietly, and I meant it.
“Thank you,” he answered, making my heart skip a beat.
Please don’t fall in love with him. Please don’t fall in love with him.
Chapter Eleven
I slept right through entering Nashville, but woke in an unusual traffic jam right before the city itself, wrapped in that insanely soft blanket of Ezra’s. I buried my nose in it and breathed deeply. It smelled just like him and I closed my eyes, memories of growing up with Ezra assailed my mind.
My phone dinged so I threw off the top of the blanket and reached for it. It was a text from Frank.
what are you doing? she asked.
I am riding in a car with boys
lucky
dude things have been insane
sounds right up your alley
usually it is
okay spill
i’m a criminal. wanted by the law.
lol whatever
i’m not pulling your leg, I told her.
all right then cool
we started a fire on the side of the road
yowza
we put it out and nearly killed ourselves doing it
damn gina
then we left to get something to eat and drink and while we sat there this local news broadcast reported that a grass fire was encroaching on the nearby pines off the highway
oh my gato
i know
then what, she asked.
we filed
your taxes? lmaobyatwe
stupid automobile
What? Frank texted.
Stub stepfather!!!!
Jupiter?
*stupid autocorrect I just meant that we fled
Get in the Car, Jupiter Page 9
