Chapter 17
Harper
The original plan for the night was to go to the Perlan, Iceland’s natural history museum, and then out for dinner. Instead, Luke brought me dinner and then disappeared into the night with Cassie.
So rather than wonder what Luke is up to, I finish my meal and grab the keys to the rental car and go to the museum.
I was going for two reasons. It was a part of my original plan, and I’m a stickler for plans.
And if I stayed in the hotel room, I was going to obsess over the fact that Luke was on a date.
I haven’t been to a museum since I was in middle school on a field trip, so I’m not sure if I will enjoy the Perlan, but the moment I step through the doors, I feel like a kid again.
The Perlan is what happens when you try to shove a country inside a building.
There are exhibits recreating the magic of volcanic eruptions, glaciers, and of course the northern lights.
In one exhibit, the floor is covered in a metal grate, but the walls are ice, making it necessary to dress as warmly inside as I would outside.
I quickly decide that my favorite exhibit is this man-made ice cave, recreating the ones formed by melting glaciers.
I round a corner and find an ice sculpture made to look like a chair. There’s even a fur pelt on the seat to keep your butt from getting cold when sitting on it.
A girl sits on the ice chair, holding her hand out for a guy to sit with her. From the back, he almost looks like Luke, and it makes me do a double-take, afraid I’m accidentally crashing their date.
The two of them kiss, and I look away, suddenly self-conscious about how alone I am. Since I’ve already seen most of the museum and it’s getting late, I make my way back outside, which is arguably just as good as the museum itself.
The Perlan sits on a hill overlooking Reykjavik. From up here, I can see the entire city, the ocean, and the snowy mountains circling the city. The sun is just beginning to set, coating the sky with orange, yellow, and even a soft pink on the horizon.
A few others stand nearby, taking in the view. One man photographs the sunset with a large camera. Another couple, wrapped up in their coats, hug each other as they watch the colors shift.
I hug my own coat tighter around myself.
I’m fine being here alone. I almost went on this entire trip alone, but now that I’m here and Luke is somewhere else out there, it all feels a little silly. Why did I insist he ditch me to go on a date?
I’m happy for him going on the date, but what am I supposed to say when he gets back? Hey, how was the date?
Luke and I have an upspoken no-discussion rule when it comes to our dating lives. How am I supposed to stick to that while we’re sharing the same bed?
This situation is too weird. Luke’s out with another girl while I—the woman our hotel thinks is his wife—am at the Perlan alone. What’s Luke going to do after his date? Kiss her goodnight and then crawl into bed with me?
My stomach does another flip.
The thought of Luke kissing Cassie makes me uneasy. I can’t pin down if the feeling comes from protectiveness or something else entirely.
When the sun disappears behind the mountaintops, I get back into the rental car and head to the hotel. When I step into an empty room, I’m not sure if I’m relieved or annoyed that Luke’s still out on his date.
I go to bed early that night, tucking myself into my side of the bed before I have a chance to overthink anything else. At some point, I wake up when Luke comes into the room, but I try to pretend to be asleep.
He disappears into the bathroom, and I have to fight the impulse to pull my phone out to check the time.
If it’s late at night, I don’t think I want to know, because I know my brain will try to figure out what he and Cassie have been up to all night.
The bathroom door opens again before I have the chance to talk myself into checking the time.
I stay still, willing myself not to move a muscle as if Luke’s a monster that’s going to strike at the first sign of life.
He pulls back his set of covers, and I feel the mattress shift beside me. With a quiet grunt, he shifts deeper into the mattress.
I’m stiff as a board beside him, tempted to roll over to look at him. But I don’t trust myself, so I stay still and tense until my body finally relaxes and I drift off to sleep.
§
We leave bright and early the next morning to venture out of the city and start exploring what I’ve been looking forward to most—the waterfalls.
The first on our itinerary is one I’ve seen all over social media when I look up Iceland.
It’s a massive waterfall so tall that there’s a path to take you behind the waterfall.
Every picture looked so perfect that after a while, I began to think there was no way it could look like that in person. Today I get to find out.
As soon as we leave the city, we are greeted with row after row of mountains.
Fifteen minutes into our drive, we’ve seen nothing but epic views.
Reykjavík was nice, but the countryside is stunning.
Everywhere I look are huge mountains off in the distance, some of them topped with a healthy layer of snow.
Luke has been quiet all morning, which I should welcome considering he was on a date last night, but it only makes my curiosity more voracious.
“You never mentioned how the date went,” I say, my eyes glued to the window of the car.
Luke insisted on driving, which is fine by me.
Everything about Iceland is gorgeous, and I’d much rather be gawking out the window than paying attention to the road.
On our right side, the ocean pans out in the distance.
On the left, tall, jagged mountains streak above our heads, the rocky surface coated in a thick layer of moss that’s so vibrant it almost looks neon.
“Good.” Luke sounds almost chipper.
I cock an eyebrow. “That’s it?”
“Great?” He tries again.
“I don’t get any other details?” He doesn’t normally give details of how his date goes, so I’m not sure why I suddenly think he owes me details now.
He shakes his head, laughing. “She was nice. Very flirty. Boldest girl I’ve ever met.”
The words make me cringe a little. What does that mean? Were they just making out all night?
“Bold how?” I ask, then stop myself. “Actually, never mind. I don’t want to know.”
He laughs. “I’m just saying, she’s not like anyone else I’ve ever dated. She did most of the flirting, which was nice.”
I study the words, wondering if there’s more to them.
Is he referring to the fact that he’s been crushing on me, and since I don’t feel the same way, I never flirted with him like Cassie does?
The words annoy me, but I work to brush them off and remind myself this is good.
Luke needed someone like Cassie to help him get over me.
“Well, I’m glad you had fun,” I say, and I mean it. “Needed some action in your dating life.”
Luke lets out a chuckle. “Ha! Yeah, and your dating life is so exciting these days?”
“I’ve been single for a couple months. Let a girl do some window shopping.”
Luke shakes his head at me. “You just trying to get me to go out with Cassie so I’m not in your way when you need to find your own date?”
“I don’t care who you date, Luke. As long as you don’t sexile me from my own Airbnb.” The joke feels bold, and Luke doesn’t laugh the way I thought he would, which makes me regret saying it. “Anyways, it’s just about having fun while we’re on vacation. It’s not like you’ll ever seen her again.”
“Actually,” Luke starts.
I give him a look of spit-it-out, and he keeps his eyes trained to the road and away from my face.
“Cassie might be meeting us at the waterfall.”
Wow. Their date must have gone much better than Luke is letting on.
“Cool,” I say, mostly because I don’t know what else to say. Not that I’m not happy for Luke, especially if he likes this girl, but I guess I had envisioned the date as a one-night thing. What was the point of Luke coming on this trip if I’m just going to spend it alone?
We’re quiet for the rest of the car ride, an awkward silence sitting between the two of us until the waterfall comes into view.
It’s hard to miss. Though Iceland is full of mountains, where we’re driving is perfectly flat, letting us see far and wide like we’re in a fishbowl, and the edges of the bowl are the mountains. On the cliff side of one of those mountains is one of the tallest waterfalls I’ve ever seen.
The closer we get, the more details I can make out.
There’s a small dirt path leading around the waterfall, letting tourists get up close and personal.
Water cascades into a pool that never fills up.
The water flows away from the massive pool of water and down a small river that carries it away.
Every exposed area of rock is coated in that bright green moss.
“Wow.” The words come out of my mouth without me even realizing it.
I glance over at Luke, and he’s smiling.
He moves the car and the moment he puts it into park, I hop out.
Cold wind brushes up against me, and I pull my jacket around me, zipping up.
Normally I’d have a low tolerance for the wind, but with the waterfall so close, I barely notice it before I start running toward the dirt path that will take me behind the waterfall.
“Harper,” I can hear Luke calling my name from behind me, laughing. When I turn, he’s struggling to get his hat on.
He’s wearing a green beanie that’s almost the same color as the moss. It makes his brown eyes look bigger, in an innocent sort of way. It’s cute.
And that’s when Cassie comes running up from behind Luke, taking him by surprise as she wraps her arms around his waist and only letting go when Luke turns.
“Surprise!” she says, keeping one arm wrapped around his waist like he’s her boyfriend. Luke does the same, his hand resting on her hip.