“Get what, pipsqueak?” he asks with a smile. His blond hair is spiked and his tan from the summer makes him look like a surfer boy.
He’s my dream man.
Every time I play MASH with Luna, I add his name. The only reason Luna hasn’t completely banned it as an option is because she says if I marry her brother, we’ll be sisters for real.
“Your permit, you jerk. And stop calling me that.” He walks past the back of the couch, using a hand to mess up the top of my hair, and I swat at his arm. As he moves to the front of the couch, my body moves, turning to face him like he’s north and I’m a compass needle.
He flops next to where I’m sitting cross-legged, the couch bouncing, and throws a piece of paper in a plastic envelope at me.
“Got it,” he says with a smile.
It’s so freaking cool, is all I can think. This piece of paper means that freedom is so close for Zee.
I wish I were 16.
And not just because a permit would be cool.
Because then I wouldn’t be his kid sister’s best friend.
I wouldn’t be a pipsqueak.
“Only took you three tries,” I say with a smile, refusing to ever give into his teasing.
“Shut up!” he shouts, false shock on his face. “I can’t believe you said that to me.”
“You failed the written test three times and made two instructors quit. I feel like I’m allowed to remind you of that.” His blue eyes roll but he keeps smiling at me.
“You saying you wouldn’t trust me in a car?”
I think about that.
My dad would never in a million years let me get into a car Zander Davidson was driving.
But still . . .
I hop back up onto my knees, moving to face him.
“Take me on a road trip.”
“A road trip?” he asks with that smile that’s totally given him pick of any girl at Springbrook Hills High.
“Yeah! We can go to where it’s warm. Disney!”
“You want to take a road trip to Disney?” he asks with another smile.
It’s then I remember sixteen-year-old boys don’t like Disney World.
They like cool stuff.
“Or, you know. The beach. Or we could buy fireworks! Or—”
“Disney would be cool, pip,” he says with a smile.
God, I think I’m in love with Luna’s big brother.
“So you’ll take me?” I ask.
“One day, we can go on a road trip, pip.”
“You remember that?” I say, my voice low and shaky.
I barely remember that.
And I only do because back then, I was so incredibly head over heels in love with Zander Davidson that every interaction we had is burned into my subconscious.
“I remember everything that has to do with you, Zo,” he says.
His voice is low when he says it, a shock to my system.
I stare at him, silence filling the space as I try to understand.
I don’t know what to say.
I don’t know what to do.
This new information could drastically change, well . . . everything.
“So what do you say?” he asks, staring at me. “Road trip?”
“I don’t—”
“You busy?” he asks, cutting me off.
“What?”
“Why am I asking, already asked Lune? You’ve got nothing going on for a week. Your job interview is on the ninth, yeah?”
I’m going to kill his sister.
“Uh, yeah . . .”
“Just get a bag, fill it with shit, and let’s go.”
“I—” I start but then my mom’s head pops in.
“Jesus, Zoe. Go with the boy! When was the last time you did something fun? Something spontaneous?” She does a shimmy when she says spontaneous and I think I might die.
“I don’t like spontaneous. I like plans. I like structure—”
“A week won’t kill you. If you don’t go, you’ll be stuck here with your father and me. I think he’s taking time off, too, so we’ll both be around the house all day.”
“Fine,” I say, knowing there is no world where I want to be stuck in my childhood home with both of my parents. She smiles a smile like she won some kind of war and I know then.
She planned that.
My father isn’t going to be here all week.
I don’t know why I fell for it. It’s the oldest trick in the book.
“You gonna back out?” Zander asks, staring at me with a smile.
And he also knows I can’t back down from a challenge.
At the same time, my mind runs through all of the reasons I’m back home.
My life is too safe.
I’ve gotten too comfortable.
In a way, I’ve forgotten the girl who once loved adventure and thought for sure she’d settle down in Springbrook Hills with Zander fucking Davison.
So I answer.
“No,” I say, turning toward my room so I can pack. I look over my shoulder before I start up the stairs. “But we’re taking my Jeep.”
And when he smiles, I wonder for a moment how much I’d let him get away with to see that smile directed at me all the time.
SIX
ALL TOO WELL (10 MINUTE VERSION) TAYLOR’S VERSION FROM THE VAULT
-ZANDER-
An hour later, we’re standing in Zoe’s parents' driveway, staring at her Jeep.
I know Zoe better than she thinks I do.
I know that her dad does regular maintenance on this despite the fact that it’s been sitting in their driveway since she moved to the city.
I know that Zoe has a crazy fuckin’ kit in the trunk that she calls her emergency kit, and I know that taking her vehicle will give her some kind of comfort.
I know that she will be ten times more likely to go on a trip with me if she has that comfort.
But standing on the front step, staring at her little red two-door Jeep with its daisy tire cover and the mirror ball in the rearview mirror and a fuckin’ bumper sticker that reads, Honk if you love Taylor, I change my mind.
“I’m not going on a fuckin’ road trip in this, Zoe,” I say, crossing my arms on my chest.
“Then I’m not going on a road trip because I’m not going in that,” she says, tipping her chin to my car.
I stare at her.
I’m offended.
That car might be an old ass Mustang, but I take better care of that thing than some people take care of their dogs.
“Why not?”
“Because it’s disgusting and smells like boy.” I tip my head back and laugh full-out.
“What?” I say with a smile when the laughter settles and she’s staring at me like . . . like she saw something special for the first time. “What?” I ask, my brows furrowing.
Her head shakes.
“I’m not going in your car, Zander. Mine is clean, it’s bigger, and it has my stuff in it.”
“Your stuff? Your bag is right there.”
“Yeah, but that’s my bag. My emergency bag. It’s got . . . everything.”
“Ahh, your Type A is showing, Zoe.”
“Just because you Davidsons were raised on chaos and good vibes with a hint of football from your dad, does not mean that I need to live that same lifestyle.”