Chapter 2

We got permission for the road trip from my parents. Any time I traveled, it pretty much had to be by car. In theory, the security checkpoints at the airport should have been able to make accommodations for medically necessary equipment, but sometimes things go wrong. After the last time, several bystanders had written to the authorities insisting that I be placed on the sex offender registry and the no-fly list.

Better yet, the road trip was going to be just us kids. Dr. Brown had even helped argue my case, saying that like any teen-ager, I needed opportunities to be independent every once in a while in order to grow. And so, Stacy and I set off cross-country to take a tour of Rourke University, with Lucas coming along to help keep me out of trouble.

Most of the first day went by pretty quickly. Stacy and I were goofy and excited, joking about the towns we drove through, and making up stories about the people in cars around us. Lucas was mostly quiet, exchanging lovesick puppy messages with Angie on his tablet.

By the afternoon, the novelty of it all had faded away, and we were all in our own heads. Being the conscientious driver that I was, I knew that there was a car next to us driving the same speed, but I didn’t really think much about it. That is, until Stacy brought them to my attention.

“Hey Kaitlyn,” Stacy said. “See those guys in the car next to us? They think you’re hot.”

“Huh?” I said. I looked over. There were two guys - two cute guys - about our age in the car. The one in the passenger seat kept alternately looking at his phone and over at us. When my eyes met his, he made a dramatic gesture, like a sigh and clutching his chest. Then he hurriedly went back to typing on his phone.

“Specifically,” Stacy went on, “they say you’re ‘like a white-hot shard of heaven fallen to Earth’.” Lucas shook his head and laughed.

I was flabbergasted. “What? How do you even know that?” I asked.

“I’m texting with them,” Stacy replied casually.

Obviously I was flattered, but also completely surprised. I wasn’t wearing my mask, of course - no need in the safety of my car. But my hair was kind of messy from driving with the window down earlier, and my clothes were bland comfortable things that I wouldn’t want to be seen in by anyone who knew my name. I guess I just sort of forgot what it was like to have boys notice me.

“Well I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you get all the admiration,” Stacy teased. She was in the back seat, and through glances in my mirror, I could see that she was taking off her vest, hat, and then T-shirt. She wasn’t wearing a bra, so she was totally topless when she rolled down the window and leaned out. Knowing Stacy, she was probably licking her lips or making fuck-me faces at the boys in the other car. Their car dropped back a few feet so that their passenger window lined up with Stacy.

After a few seconds Stacy sat back down and closed the window. That’s when she noticed that Lucas was turned around in his seat in the front, staring at her. “What are you looking at, perv?” Stacy said. It might have sounded mean if you didn’t know Stacy, but she meant it in a playful way.

“What, those guys get a show but I’m not allowed to look?” Lucas retorted. Stacy deliberately turned to face Lucas for a moment, hands cupping her boobs, with her chest and tongue stuck out. Then she got dressed and went back to texting.

“Well?” I asked eagerly.

“‘Fucking fantastic,’ and ‘Wet dreams for a month’ were their replies,” she said. After a moment, she added, “They’re still not sure which of us is hotter, though. They want to see your boobs.”

I chuckled. “Well, they can’t,” I said. “I’m driving.”

“So pull over,” Stacy said matter-of-factly.

“What? No!” I replied.

“Come on. It’s all in good fun,” Stacy pressed. “You’re the one who said you missed getting attention from boys. These guys are from a different town - they’ve never heard of your reputation. Nothing’s going to happen. Just pull over and listen to them say nice things about you for a couple of minutes.”

“Just flirting?” I asked. “Just for a couple minutes?” Stacy nodded. I’m pretty sure Lucas rolled his eyes. But he also seemed to be looking back at Stacy a lot.

I pulled off the highway, and the boys did too. There were some trees nearby providing a little bit of privacy and shade, so Stacy and I walked there. Lucas stayed in the car, but before we left, he told us, “Scream if anything looks like it might get out of hand, okay?”