Again, But Better

Packed! For Travel!
site, getting ready for my
upcoming first day of work. At some point, Atticus comes in
and asks us about our trip.
As we fill him in, he stabs animatedly at a frozen meal and
stuffs it in the microwave. When we finish our highlights reel,
he launches into a story about a strange show he had to go see
for class that revolved around the life of a toad. We get a play-
by-play of the entire thing, and it’s ridiculously entertaining
through Atticus’s sarcastic retelling.
Thirty minutes into the toad show recap, the kitchen door
swings open. Pilot strides in and flops on the black leather
couch, looking exhausted. I feel a nervous smile pop up onto
my cheeks. Last night—I mean, something changed between
us.
“And then the whole cast is just squatted on the ground
ribbiting for, I swear, five minutes straight with no dialogue
—” Atticus, who had been pacing around the table, stops
short, looking at Pilot.
“Hey! I’m telling them about the toad play!” he says
cheerily. Pilot huffs a sarcastic laugh and lets his head fall
back against the couch. “How’d your call go?” Atticus asks.
A call? I push Sawyer aside so I can see Pilot better. Could
it be a break-up-with-Amy call?
Pilot runs a hand down his face and looks at the ceiling. 
Oh
my god, something’s wrong. Was it a breakup call?
“Um,” he starts, “Amy’s going to come visit me next
month during her break. She wanted to see me, so she bought
a ticket to come. Visit.”
I suck in an audible breath as the cloud I’ve been dancing
on dissolves under my feet. Pilot’s eyes flit to mine and then

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down to the floor. Babe shoots me a sympathetic look.
“That’ll be nice!” Atticus exclaims from his position
leaning against the counter near the sink. “You guys should go
back to Paris together, city of 
love
and all that.”
I pull my computer screen in front of my face and stare at
it blindly.
“Yeah that’s … that’s where she wants to go,” Pilot
mumbles. He doesn’t sound excited. I don’t know if that
makes this better or worse. I need to get out of here. I need to
leave the room.
“Even though you were just there?” Babe asks hesitantly.
My limbs refuse to move. They need to hear all the details.
“Yeah, she really wants to go.”
“It’ll be fine. There’s always more to see in Paris,” Atticus
says, taking a seat at the table.
Pilot stands abruptly and strides for the door. “Yeah, I have
to—I have a paper,” he says.
I give it a minute before I pack up my computer to leave
too. I want to be sad in the privacy of my top bunk. As I stand,
the chair I was on topples backward, clanging obnoxiously
against the floor.
I whip around to glare at it. “Fuck off!”
Babe and Atticus watch me silently with wide eyes. I
swallow before placing Sawyer back on the table, picking up
the chair, and breezing out of the room.

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