Grabbing my phone from the cupholder, I hit my mom’s picture on the screen and press the speakerphone button.
“Hey, babe,” she says on the second ring. “How’s your day?”
“Horrible, Mom. Horrible,” I wail. “My friends convinced me to get a spray tan, and now, my car is broken down at the other end of my street.”
“Oh no …” She pauses. “Definebroken down.”
“Well,” I utter, cringing, “not like … really broken down. Just … you know, not exactly running either.”
“What does that even mean?” my mom asks. “You’ve lost me.”
I chew the inside of my cheek. “Uh, it appears that I forgot to get gas.”
“Isla, are you joking?” She groans. “Again? Seriously?”
“Don’t be mean to me right now, Mom. I have a really big problem here! What do I do?”
“Babe, it’s literally down the street. I think you’ll be good to walk.” She practically snorts. “And I’ll call Uncle Cade and see if he can bring some gas to the car.”
“Look, I have no idea what the weather is over your way,” I say blankly. “But it’s literally downpouring here.”
“You know, despite what your daddy says, you aren’t sugar, so you won’t melt,” she teases.
“Spray tan, Mom!” I whine. “And team pictures are in the morning!”
“Ohh, yes. Crap,” she utters. “And homecoming tomorrow night.”
“Yeah, well, I’m much more concerned about the pictures. I don’t even want to go to homecoming.” I scrunch my nose up. “The party’s at NEU’s biggest fraternity house, Mom. That doesn’t even sound fun.”
“That’s too bad because I love the dress you picked out, and I want pictures of how pretty my girl is to post on my social media. And then I want to brag about you to everyone I see, like one of those over-the-top mothers.” She laughs. “I want to act like your dad does whenever you have a big moment, I guess I should say.”
Even though she’s got a valid point there, I shake my head. “Mom, focus. You’ve had spray tans. Tell me what to do. The girl that did it told us all to avoid the rain.”
“I’ve had, like … three in my entire life,” she deadpans. “I’m hardly an expert. And this could have been avoided if you had just done this super-easy thing, where you pull up to a gas station, park at a pump, and fill your tank up!”
“Not helpful,” I mumble, but when I see a truck pull in behind me, I wish I could just disappear from the car right now. Especially when I see Hendrix freaking Hunt climb out of the driver’s seat and head toward me.
“I have to go,” I utter. “I’ll call Cade. You don’t have to.”
“Well, let me know when you get yourself and your car home, babe! I love you!”
“Love you too.” I end the call and pull my hood up just as Hendrix comes to my window.
Looking at him, I shrug, signaling that I can’t roll the window down. I could open the door, but I don’t want to. Number one, I look like hell. My hair is a mess, and the bronzer from the spray tan is uneven. Number two, it’s Hendrix. Also known as the last person I want to see, even on a good day.
He doesn’t leave me a choice though because before I can lock my door, he pulls it open. Standing in the pouring rain, he looks at me.
“What the hell are you doing, Nineteen?” He frowns. “And what’s on your face?”
Turning away from him, I groan. “I broke down, okay? Just go away. Someone is coming,” I lie.
There’s a short silence.
“Broke down? This is a brand-new Jeep. What could possibly be broken on this thing?”
“I ran out of gas, okay?” I explain. “Go ahead; laugh it up.”
Keeping my head turned away from him, I hear a deep chuckle. I wait for him to make fun of me or call me a princess or another name that says he thinks I’m a spoiled brat, but he does none of that.
