“This is not a time to have standards. You’re the only one who can fit in the middle.”
“Oh, so now you’re going to admit I’m skinny?”
“Wow. Can you stop thinking about yourself for one goddamn second?”
“Can you stop being an arrogant ass for once? I have to sit next to the window, or else I’m going to yak all over you.”
“I’ll find you a bag.” He motions for me to get in the car.
“Gavin, I’m serious! You sit in the middle.”
Gavin peeks into the truck. “That space isn’t big enough for one of my ass cheeks, let alone two. So you sit in the middle.”
“No,yousit in the middle.” I haven’t eaten anything all day, and the acid is rising in my stomach, making me put a hand to my mouth and retch a little.
“Oh my God. You don’t have to be so dramatic.” He throws his arms up by his sides.
“What are you two arguing about? Elena, stop being a nuisance and get in,” Mom calls out to us from inside the back seat of the truck.
Unsurprisingly I’m the one being called a nuisance, even though she has no idea what we’re fighting over.
The commotion gets Dad to peek his head out of the passenger door window. “Everything under control, Gavin?”
“Yep,” he says to Dad, then turns to me. “Fine, if it means that much to you.” Of course Gavin gives in as soon as Dad gets involved. He reluctantly does the shame crawl into the middle seat of the car.
As soon as I get in and close the door, claustrophobia sets in. The last time I crammed into the back seat of a car this small was when I was backstage with Justin Bieber after his concert and we hopped into the back of his manager’s Porsche to avoid the swarming paparazzi. Which issonot the same as this scenario. I haven’t had to sit next to Gavin in the back of a car in years.
“Make sure to turn your phones on airplane mode. Else it’ll drain your battery,” Rick advises before we leave.
“Airplane mode?” Gavin pipes up.
“Mr.Ahn went over all this.” Dad turns his head to face us. “Blaire is in a National Radio Quiet Zone.”
“I thought that meant, like, quiet hours or something. Which is why I brought my AirPods.” I wave the case in front of his face.
“I think you’re thinking of noise ordinances. The Quiet Zone is in reference to radio frequency. As in, Wi-Fi and radio stations.” The more Rick explains, the less I understand.
“Didn’t you listen to anything Mr.Ahn said?” Mom says.
Not gonna lie, with all the bad news he gave us, I sort of tuned Mr.Ahn out. Kind of like how I’m tuning Mom and Dad out now. After I put my phone on airplane mode, I lean my head back and close my eyes, pretending this is all a bad dream.
—
Two hours later, when the car pulls over to the side, I wake up disappointed to find myself still in the back seat of Rick’s truck and still sitting next to Gavin, the annoying mouth-breather that he is. Even more disturbing is what’s happening outside of the truck. It’s dusk, with just a sliver of light peeking from behind the horizon, revealing nothing but dirt and tall grass. No strip malls or gated communities. No tall buildings. In fact, no buildings at all. Civilization as we knew it, gone. Suddenly Rick startles us by getting out of the car and disappearing into the darkness. All we can do is sit and watch helplessly.
“Rude,” I say. “He could have at least waited until we got to a gas station before pulling over to pee on the side of the road.”
“I’m not sure that’s what he’s doing,” Dad says, following Rick with narrowed eyes.
“I think there’s something out there,” Gavin says ominously.
A light turns on, and we collectively gasp. “Is this a torture chamber? Is he abducting us?” I shriek. Brynn told me about a case her mom worked on over some C-list celebrity who was embroiled in a human trafficking scheme on the side. Even though we’ve lost all our fortune, I’m aware that I’m a hot, young Asian girl with dewy skin and zero cellulite. I bet people would pay a lot of money for me. What am I saying? Peopledopay a lot for me. But this would besodifferent.
“The tenants moved out not too long ago. I knew it would be somewhat dilapidated. But this is…” Dad doesn’t have to finish his sentence for us to know what he thinks.
“This…is a house?” Even Gavin’s having a hard time covering up the dread he feels, which humanizes him in a way. At least beneath the facade he’s not as down-to-earth as he pretends to be.
“This is where we’ll live for the next two weeks,” Mom confirms. “Our new home.”
