Chapter 7 Ellis
ELLIS
If there were a prize for the fastest emotional breakdown after committing a felony, I’d already have it framed and mounted on the dashboard.
My fingers clenched the wheel hard enough to turn my knuckles white, and the thudding pulse in my ears was only barely drowned out by the rumble of the Mustang’s engine.
I was sweating everywhere and suddenly too hot in my jeans and sweater, my hair too itchy, my mind too loud, as I struggled to come down and make peace with what I had just done.
I felt like I could still taste those rogue ashes on my lips, the powdery dust permeating my brain, locking itself into a core memory that would probably wake me in the middle of the night, gasping for air.
“… And now we need our photo op at the start sign,” Liv called from the back seat, loudly reading off the schedule.
My schedule.
The schedule I built off her schedule, which was already ruined.
Hours I had spent color-coding and printing, arrival times bolded, carefully organized breaks, meal stops, and maybe spots all neatly mapped out, now completely thrown off thanks to Dove’s felony detour and Liv, who already seemed determined to veer even further off course.
Liv kept listing bucket-list stops and historic landmarks while Dove listened and asked questions, half turned in her seat, head resting in her hand like this was some casual Sunday drive and not the aftermath of suburban grand theft ashes, with two of the dead now riding in the car with us.
I glanced at the clothing-challenged girl beside me, trying to reconcile her chaotic style with the calm, calculated person who had just orchestrated a literal heist of bodily remains.
It didn’t fit.
But I had watched her calmly prepare to go into the house.
Watched her pivot the plan when Liv insisted we all go in.
Watched her let herself in through the back gate like it was her second home.
She’d even had the nerve to get frustrated with me for pointing out the fake security cameras.
Then she broke in and carried out her plan without flinching.
It only went sideways because her uncle had, in fact, been home, something Dove had sworn was impossible.
No, there was more to the girl sitting beside me. And it was unnerving.
Somehow, through the fog of panic and disbelief, I’d managed to make it downtown and park on a quiet side street. The official Route 66 starting sign would be just around the corner, along with a coffee shop and, with any luck, a few minutes for me to catch my breath and pull myself together.
“Okay!” Liv chirped as Dove and I unclicked our seatbelts. “Photo time!”
“I’m getting a coffee,” I said flatly. “We’re already off schedule thanks to that detour, and now I’m making one of my own. One that’s legal and won’t result in jail time.”
I climbed out of the car and slammed the door a little harder than necessary. Dove scrambled out after me, and Liv floated effortlessly through the closed door, sending a shiver down my spine.
I locked up and turned on my heel, heading toward the coffee shop tucked between a boutique shoe store and a health food shop.
The bell over the door jingled as I stepped inside, the smell of espresso hitting me full in the face. I inhaled deeply, then made my way toward the vacant counter. The smiling girl behind it tapped at the screen in front of her as I approached.
“Welcome to Macy’s!” she said warmly. “What can I get you?”
“Black coffee, please,” I murmured, feeling myself thaw slightly. “To go.”
“Make that two,” Dove jumped in.
I glanced over my shoulder at her, watching as she stood there casually, hands hidden in the sleeves of her oversized sweater, her hair twisted into those ridiculous space buns looking relaxed and entirely unbothered.
“What?” I scoffed, suddenly drawing a parallel between her and the failed date I’d been on. “No matcha?”
Dove wrinkled her nose and blinked. “Ew, no. I hate matcha. I like my coffee simple. Also, matcha can block iron absorption.”
The answer threw me off. I wasn’t sure why, but I couldn’t find anything smart to say in response. So I stayed quiet, paid for both coffees without thinking, and stepped aside to wait, glancing around the café.
“So…” Dove started, rocking on her heels. “Did you have to leave anything behind at the last minute to do this thing?”
I didn’t look at her, too embarrassed to admit that no, not really. I didn’t have a life. I didn’t own a cute shop downtown. I could, in fact, drop everything for a spontaneous trip because there was nothing to drop.
And that nothing? It was intentional.
“Not really,” I finally muttered.
She paused for just a second before asking, “No school? Work?”
I grimaced and crossed my arms. “I’m supposed to be creating content this week… that’s about it.”
“Content?” Dove echoed, her eyes sparking with interest.
I sighed. “I have a YouTube channel. And a TikTok.”
“Oh wow!” Dove said, smiling. “That’s cool—what kind of content—”
“Two black coffees!” the barista called out, and I felt like the universe had just handed me a lifeline. I stepped up to the counter like it had offered me an escape hatch.
I handed Dove her coffee and grabbed my own, but my thoughts had already looped back to last night, to the way my mother had stood in the doorway holding a cup of tea she never drank.
She hadn’t said the words outright, but I knew that look in her eyes.
After years of seeing it, it was an easy tell.
The worry behind it had only fueled the anxiety that gripped me while I worked on the schedule.
Deep down, I knew she wasn’t really worried about the cross-country road trip—maybe mildly—but most of it came from the fact that she still hadn’t learned to stop waiting for something bad to happen to me.
And neither had I.
She’d worried about money before giving me an envelope filled with cash and a black bank card, then left me to it, at my father’s prodding.
He’d been very giddy about the whole thing. Of course, I’d left out the finer details.
“Go see the world, Ellis,” he’d said with a grin.
There was no way I was telling them I wasn’t doing it for the experience and that I was currently under duress from a pink-haired ghost whose heart beat in my chest, who had threatened to haunt me for life if I didn’t comply with her ludicrous demand to drive across the country and find her mother.
I sighed loudly and sipped my coffee too fast, instantly regretting it.
“Shit!” I hissed, pulling the cup away from my lips.
“Fuck!” Dove gasped, doing the same, her expression twisted in a scowl.
We looked at each other and unexpectedly, a laugh slipped from my lips. Short, surprised, and unwilling, but it escaped all the same.
Dove grinned, flashing a set of perfectly straight teeth, her pink lips framing them, and for the first time since meeting her, I didn’t immediately want to throttle her.
We exited the shop and began walking toward the sign. The cool morning air was slightly warmer than it had been earlier, and I knew I’d be shedding my sweater soon.
“Look,” Dove started, eyes fixed firmly on the ground ahead. “I’m sorry. About the detour. I know all of it... was a lot. But in my defense, I thought I was going in solo. I just had to do it.”
She paused, taking a breath.
“My grandmother, Margaret, I was never allowed to call her Grandma, she lived life freely, and she deserved freedom in death too. She wanted her ashes scattered across the Pacific, and my uncle wanted her locked up next to a man she despised. I couldn’t let it happen. And the stars kind of aligned here.”
The weight in her voice surprised me. It sounded raw, cracked around the edges. She cleared her throat and took another sip of coffee I knew was still too hot.
She soldiered through the burn.
I relented.
“It’s... fine,” I forced out, still unsure if I believed it. “Just… no more break-ins or stealing human remains, and I won’t lose my mind. Okay?”
“Okay,” she echoed with a nod, a crooked smile tugging at her lips.
I looked back down at the lid of my cup, frowning at the unfamiliar warmth blooming in the center of my chest.
“All right, ladies!” Liv shouted, suddenly appearing between us and throwing her arms around our shoulders.
And it was strange… I could feel her.
But I also couldn’t.
How did someone even explain that?
“It’s photo time!” Liv looked at us as if she were delivering the most groundbreaking news ever. Then she darted in front of us, spinning dramatically in a circle on the sidewalk. “We have to capture the moments, all of them. Ellis, you need to film your little videos.”
I gaped at her. “Huh?”
“You’ll be filming a video for your online followers, all waiting to die!” Liv announced.
I blanched, and Dove looked at me blankly.
“Listen, it’ll be a nice break from ‘Top Tips to Stay Comfy During Chemo’ and ‘Best Pillows for Open-Heart Recovery.’”
“Oh, shut up!” I hissed, cheeks flaming.
“Excuse me?” a voice behind us made me jolt. We spun around to see a middle-aged woman in activewear, her face fully made up, blonde hair piled stylishly on top of her head. She regarded me with cautious curiosity. “Are you okay, love? You’re... you’re yelling at nothing.”
I blinked, then looked at Dove, whose face had also paled.
“I—I—oh—I—” Words completely failed me.
“Get her to take the photo!” Liv hissed behind us.
“Oh!” I croaked, definitely looking unhinged as I thrust my coffee at Dove and began digging around in my handbag.
I finally yanked out my grandmother’s Polaroid camera.
“Could—could you take our picture? In front of the sign?” I pointed toward the Route 66 marker with an awkward smile.
The woman blinked, clearly confused by the sudden shift in tone.
“Oh... um, okay?”
Dove looked at the camera. “I thought people only used these ironically now,” she muttered with a smirk. “This looks like the real deal. And you legit brought it on a road trip.”