Theo's car takes a few tries to sputter to life, then starts to heave itself down the road, wobbly and halting like some sort of baby animal. “This is not going to help him not throw up,” I say.
“Eh, he's asleep,” Theo says. I look into the backseat and yes, he still is. Josey is scooched to the side to avoid because crushed by his sneakers, and she has her eyebrow up and flicks her nails a little, and for the first time I understand her as someone who smokes cigarettes. Maybe through one of those long plastic handles like a Victorian lady, or whenever they used those.
Honestly, you'd think someone in flannel wouldn't be squeamish of a pair of sneakers. “So that's your stepbrother?” Theo asks.
“My mom's fiance's ex-wife's new husband's son.”
“Of course.”
“Of course.”
“Your mom's getting married?”
“In May.”
“That's awesome. Almost as exciting as starting a brand new school a year before graduation.”
“Two years. Junior.”
“Ohhh, a junior. That's a shame.”
“Pshh, whatever.”
“Seriously, junior year is where it starts to get really bad. All the college stress and shit.”
“You're a senior?”
“Yep.”
“Aren't you supposed to still be all stressed out about college?”
“It's a different kind of stress at this point,” he says. “The applications are practically finished, all about to be turned in, we have the grades we have, SATs are done...it's just waiting now.”
“His applications are not practically finished,” Josey says.
He shrugs. “I'll get around to it. I'm just not freakish type A like she is.”
“It's called being organized,” she says.
“Josey's been reading Princeton Review shit since she was five.”
“Four years before you learned how to read at all!”
“Oh, ha ha.”
“Have you guys known each other that long?” I ask.
“No, no. I just know her type. We met freshman year.”
“Friends forever, huh?” I say.
“Friends forever,” he agrees, and then he does the funniest thing: he reaches one hand over his head and to the backseat and Josey reaches up and they link pinkies. Just like Aanya and I do.
“You guys are making me miss my best friend,” I say. “Well. This whole night made me miss my best friend.”
“Nothing like a shitty party to make you want your people around,” Josey says.
“So it really was shitty? It wasn't just not knowing anyone that made it excruciating?”
“Eh,” Josey says. “It's not my kind of party. I like fewer people.”
“Preferably no people,” Theo says.
“Yeah,” she says. “No people is the best.”
“You said Springborough?” Theo says to me.
“I'm pretty sure. I've only lived there for two days.”
“Where are you from?”
“Miami.”
He gives me a quick glance and says, “And do we love or hate Miami?”
I laugh. “I love it.”
“Miami! I love Miami!”
“Guh,” Josey says. “As if here isn't hot enough.”
That's sort of rude. I mean, I just said I loved it, and half a week ago it was my home. I heard one time Conor Oberst did a concert in New York and spent the whole time complaining about how he hated New York, and I'm not some kind of New York fangirl but I was really into Bright Eyes. Until that really bothered me.
“Josey can't stand hot weather,” Theo says. “She's an abominable snowman.” I look back at her and she nods gravely and winks at me. Okay. That helps.
Do you like him? she mouths.
I mouth shut up! back and stick my tongue out, and she laughs. Honestly, it's a little out of character for me to not have already made a move. I'm very, very free when it comes to first base. I'm pretty much waving everyone in all the time. Or encouraging them to run on foul balls. However baseball works.
Sue me, I like kissing.
“This street?” he asks.
“Oh! Yes. Yes. This is close. Um...go down this one?”
The first cul-de-sac I guess is wrong, but the second one is right. I have this stupid moment of there's my house! pride as we pull up. It's August, and I'm already envisioning Christmas lights all over the front porch, candles glittering in the windows, maybe some big tacky blow-up Santa for Alexis.
Theo parks in the driveway and he looks at Josey, who gives him a very deliberate look back and then says, “I'm going to help Lucas here to the door, how about that? Come on, Lucas,” and she hauls him out and leaves me in the car with Theo.
“She's very subtle,” I say. “I like that.”
He laughs. “She likes to say she's in mergers and acquisitions.”
“Come again?”
“Merging people. Acquiring people.”
“Still in high school and already she's got a corporate job.”
“That's Josey.”
She's at the front door talking to Dominic. Dominic's sighing and shaking his head, but he doesn't look furious or anything. I see him say my name, and whatever Josey says in response makes his shoulders relax a little.
“Cipriano?” Theo says.
I turn back to him. “Yeah?”
“Welcome to Arcadia.”
“...Seriously, that's your line?”
“What?”
“You say Welcome to Arcadia in that melty voice with those melty eyes and then we make out. That's how you're envisioning this?”
“Oh Good Lord, you're a headache, aren't you,” he says, and I laugh and tug him in by the collar and kiss him, because why the hell not. He made my night bearable. I'd kiss Josey too, if she wanted. I'd kiss Lucas on his gross sweaty forehead for giving me an excuse to ask them for a ride. I might potentially have friends now. Even if one of them wears inexplicable pants and one of them
