28. Kelsey
Chapter twenty-eight
Kelsey
Since I still didn’t own a driver’s license, I had no option other than walking. Not the most glamorous stage exit and the next bus stop was almost forty minutes on foot, but I didn’t care. I felt free and confident and so damn good.
A silver Toyota pulled up next to me, and I almost tripped when I saw Sarah behind the steering wheel.
She lowered the window. “Do you need a ride?”
“Um…” I took a moment to overcome my surprise. Had it actually worked? Had Sarah listened? And believed me? “Yes, actually, that would be great.”
She unlocked the door. “Get in.”
I threw my backpack on the back seat and climbed into the passenger seat next to her.
The tension hung in the air between us, but given my circumstances, I couldn’t afford to be picky with drivers.
Sarah cleared her voice. “Where do you need to go? ”
“First order of business would be taking my GED test.”
“That’s today? Where is it? At the high school?”
“It’s in Brightwater.”
“Never heard of it.”
“It’s near Stenton.”
Sarah raised her eyebrows. “Stenton… as in Stenton, Oregon?”
“Yep.”
“Oh,” she just said.
I laughed. “Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to shuttle me all across the country. But it would be awesome if you could drop me off at the Yellowjacket bus terminal.”
“No problem.” Sarah was visibly relieved and fed the destination to Google Maps. The display calculated thirty-three minutes of traveling time.
A few awkward minutes of silence followed.
Sarah was the one who broke it.
“I wanted to thank you,” she said, her voice sounding unsteady. “For warning me about Ryan.”
“To be honest, I didn’t think it would work.”
“Something had felt weird,” she admitted. “I’ve dated some really bad men before, but he seemed different. He said and did all the right things, but something still seemed off.”
“Yeah, he can be pretty charming,” I said, “And his good looks don’t help. It’s easy to fall for him.”
“I don’t even care that much about looks,” Sarah said. “I just want a kind, reliable partner. Why are they so hard to find?”
“They are hard to find,” I agreed. “But they exist.”
I was thinking about Quentin and felt an awful pressure around my heart. I was excited to return to my life in Brightwater, to my little apartment, to my friends, but I knew I wouldn’t return to Quentin. That bridge was burned.
Half an hour later, Sarah stopped the car at the Yellowjacket bus terminal.
“Good luck,” she said as I got my backpack. “With your test. And your new life there.”
“Take care,” I said. “Don’t let Ryan talk you into taking him back, okay? I’m sure he will try.”
Sarah smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m sick and tired of that kind of drama.”
“You’re a lot smarter than I was at your age.”
I left Sarah behind and hurried toward the ticket booth. I’d looked up the departure times on my phone and knew that I had about nine, no, eight minutes left until the last bus toward Brightwater left.
“I need a one-way ticket to Brightwater, Oregon,” I told the gray-haired man behind the counter, credit card at the ready.
The man pressed a few keys on his keyboard, furrowed his brow, and looked up from his computer screen. “Sorry, girly. You’re too late. The bus is sold out.”
My heart missed a beat. Shit. “No, no, no. I have to get to Brightwater. I’ll pay extra.”
“That’s not how it works.”
“Name your price.”
The man shook his head. “And then what? All the seats are booked. Do you plan to ride on the roof, like Evel Knievel?”
“I’ll do it if I have to.”
He chuckled. “I like your enthusiasm, but I can’t get you on that bus. Sorry.”
“You don’t understand.” I sounded as desperate as I felt. “My life from here on out depends on it. I need to get to Brightwater within the next…” I checked my phone. “Within the next eighteen hours and twenty-four minutes.”
The man sighed. “Give me a second. Let me check something.” He clicked a few times on his computer and stared at the screen, rubbing his chin.
“You can buy a ticket for Eugene.”
“Eugene? That’s, like, two hundred miles from Brightwater.”
“More like two hundred fifty miles, but there is a bus departing from Eugene to Stenton after only a two-hour wait. That’s as close as I can get you to Brightwater.”
“Perfect,” I declared. “I’ll take it.”
“That will be one hundred ninety-eight dollars. The bus departs in twelve minutes. You’d better get going.”
I swiped my card through the reader and made a short stop at the snack machine to buy the unhealthiest snacks I could find, including a maxi bag of Skittles before climbing on the bus to Eugene. I found one of the last free seats in the back of the bus, stuffed my backpack in the luggage compartment overhead, and sat down.
The bus started vibrating when the driver warmed up the engine, then we were on the road.
I took my cell phone out and navigated to the contacts list. After unblocking Leah’s number, I pressed Call .
Lucky for me, Leah answered just seconds later. “Kelsey! Finally! Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” I said. “Sorry for dropping off the face of the earth.”
“Where are you?” Leah asked. “Are you safe?”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m on the bus, on my way to Brightwater. Well, actually on my way to Eugene, but Brightwater is my final destination. Is your grandma very angry with me? ”
“No, not at all,” Leah reassured me. “She will be happy to hear that you’re coming back. She refused to put up your apartment unit for rent. Everything is still exactly how you left it.”
That was a big relief. “Your grandmother is an angel,” I said, “but do you think I can ask her for another favor?”
“What do you need?”
“A ride,” I said. “I have less than an hour between arriving at the bus terminal in Stenton and the starting time of the GED test at Brightwater High.”
“Oh shit. The test is today?”
“It is, and I plan to be there. And ace it.”
“We got you, Kelsey. Text me your time and the terminal number. We will wait for you there.”
I heard Leah yelling, “Good luck!” after me, but I was already sprinting across the parking lot. I threw the front doors open and tried to orient myself. The paper in my hand said Computer Lab, Room 214 , second floor . I ran toward the stairs, my steps echoing loudly in the empty school hallways. Taking two steps at a time, I made it to the second floor and followed the signs to the computer lab.
When I pulled the door open and slid into the room, a dozen pairs of eyes turned toward me. Ducking my head, I mumbled a quick “Sorry I’m late” and closed the door behind myself.
A gray-haired woman greeted me with a friendly smile. “Don’t worry. We’re still booting the computers. You haven’t missed anything.”
I nodded in relief and joined the group. The other test takers ranged from fresh-faced teenagers to octogenarians. They looked to be from all walks of life. The girl to my right was dressed like an Amish, and the man to my left had pink hair and a nose ring.
The door from the adjacent room flew open. “Alright, Maryann. Computers are ready. We’re good to go.”
It was Quentin.
He froze when he saw me, and my heart skipped a beat. I could tell my face was flushing red. Quentin looked shocked to see me. Then surprise turned into coldness. Our eyes met for a brief second, and only the tensing of his jaw told me he’d recognized me at all. It hurt. I had not expected a warm welcome from him, but it still hurt a lot.
Quentin went to stand next to the gray-haired lady.
“My name is Mrs. Kowalski,” she said to the group, “and this is Mr. Avery. We will supervise you during today’s test. Please turn your cell phones off, pick a computer, and enter your full name and the password you got in the mail when you registered for the test.”
The group spread out in the room, but I was still frozen in place. My eyes searched for Quentin’s, hoping for some kind of sign, but he stubbornly refused to even look at me. I suddenly wondered if taking the test today was a good idea. Maybe I should’ve rescheduled to a day when Quentin wouldn’t be here. But it was what it was. I was here, and I would take the test, and I would do well. Even if I was just proving to Quentin that all the work he’d put into preparing me hadn’t been a waste of time.
I sat next to the Amish girl and typed in the password from my registration letter.
“Mine starts with an eight,” said the girl next to me. “That’s my lucky number.”
I forced a smile. “Good sign.”
“I’m pretty nervous. I’m Amber, by the way. Are you nervous too? ”
“Kelsey,” I introduced myself. “Um… yeah. Pretty nervous.” I did not explain that at least half of it was caused by the man standing on the other side of the room, pretending I didn’t exist.
“How long have you studied for the test?” Amber wanted to know.
“About six months.”
“I studied for almost two years,” Amber said. “But I never went to school, so I had a lot of catching up to do. I grew up in a cult. My parents didn’t believe women need education past learning to read the Bible.”
A cult? I had no idea what to say to that. “That sucks,” I just said.
Amber giggled nervously. “Yeah.”
Thankfully, Mrs. Kowalski’s voice ended that very awkward conversation. “Okay, everybody. The first block will be mathematical reasoning. Make sure you only use the calculator next to the computer. You have one hour and fifty-five minutes. If you run into any technical problems, alert me or Mr. Avery. Ready, everyone? Good luck!”