Chapter 2

"So who's driving?"

Tami looked at me as I stowed the cooler in the back of the van. "I thought you were."

"Not me. I have to finish making up with Robbie. Just like you told me. We'll be in the back seat if anybody wants us."

"Was that making up, or making out?" Mikee asked with a smirk. She was close enough, so I swatted the top of her head.

Tami sighed. "I hate it when a plan backfires."

"I'll drive," Traci volunteered.

"Me too," Kelly echoed.

"I don't think so," I said, closing the back end.

"Mikee can drive," Kelly said. "She's got her permit.

Mikee chewed her lip. "I don't think so. Not on the freeway."

Tami looked at Darlene. "Looks like it's you or me. Rock, paper, scissors?"

Darlene nodded and put her right fist on her left palm. "Loser drives to Tacoma?"

Tami nodded.

"One, two, three, shoot," they said together. Tami had scissors and Darlene paper.

"Looks like I'm driving," she said, and I tossed her the keys.

Darlene climbed in the driver's seat and started adjusting it. Tami got into the passenger seat, while Traci, Kelly, and Mikee took the middle seat, leaving the back for me and Robbie.

"I didn't know we had more making up to do," she said coyly as we settled in.

"You were mad for a long time. There may be hidden issues."

"Do those issues involve removing parts of her clothing?" Traci asked from the seat in front of us.

"Tami, can we stop at UPS and ship her home? I'll put air holes in the box."

Tami turned around and looked at us sternly. "Children, behave."

Traci turned her head and stuck her tongue out. I grinned. It was going to be an interesting couple of weeks.

By the time Darlene got us back on Washington-18, Robbie and I had our heads together, talking softly. Mostly we talked about baseball. We'd both played varsity, Robbie at second and me at short, and while we talked and played together, we hadn't really talked. Now we had a chance to relive the season and enjoy each other's exploits.

We'd won the league championship, but got knocked out in the first round of the state playoffs. Robbie, Ricky Calloway, and I had all made all-district, and Ricky actually got three votes for all-state. We were too old for Babe Ruth this summer, and both of us had decided individually not to play American Legion. Me because I was working, and Robbie because she said she wanted a break.

Darlene took the exit and turned onto Interstate-5, heading south.

As Darlene took an exit off the freeway into Tacoma an hour later, I looked at Robbie. "You know, it's been a long time since I kissed a quarterback."

Robbie smiled. "Mike Reed seems desperate. He'd been hitting on me since Cory and I broke up."

"You and Mike is one combination that even Mr. Spock with his Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination philosophy couldn't imagine."

"I don't know, he's kind of cute in a Neanderthal sort of way."

"More Cro-Magnon."

"Oh shut up and kiss me already."

Like I said at the beginning, sometimes I do what I'm told.

Darlene parked at a Wendy's while Robbie and I were kissing.

"Well, at least they kept their clothes on," Traci said as she opened the side door and got out.

Robbie drove after our lunch break. Tami and I sat in the back.

"Are you two all made up?" Tami asked.

"I think so. It's good to have us back. I missed her."

"I know you did." Tami moved over and sat across my lap. She looked deep into my eyes, then whispered loudly, "You might tell your sister that if she doesn't turn around and watch the scenery in front of her, I'd never ship her UPS, but I might put her on a Greyhound."

Traci grumbled and turned around.

"Are our lives back to normal?" she asked softly.

I cocked my head to the side and sighed. "What passes for normal in our world, anyway."

She kissed me gently. "I'll take our normal. Anything else would be boring."

I kissed her a dozen times, all over her face. "Boring might be nice for a day or two."

When we got to Raymond, Robbie pulled over at a Dairy Queen. Tami bought us all dipped ice cream cones. I tried to pay.

"This is my grandma's trip. You shell out so much as a dime and she'll haunt you forever," she said forcefully. I don't believe in ghosts, but on the other hand, I don't disbelieve either. I let Tami pay.

"Who's driving now?" Robbie asked, holding out the keys and jingling them.

"I think it's Mikee's turn to earn her keep," I said with a grin. Mikee didn't look thrilled by the idea.

"Can I walk?" Kelly asked.

"Sure." I pointed down the road. "It's about forty-eight miles that way. Some of the signs may say Fort Canby instead of Cape Disappointment, but just keep going, they changed the name a couple years ago."