Chapter Four #2
My hand freezes on my bracelet. Did he just insult me and the entire nursing profession at the same time? “Yeah, my dad is pretty happy about it.”
“And your mom?”
I pause, but I’m not sure why. It’s not like it’s hard to talk about at this point, and it’s far from a secret, but it is a bit of a downer. “It’s just me and my dad. My mom left town when I was six, and I haven’t seen her since.”
Ben looks pleasantly uncomfortable, so I keep talking. “My dad is great. He’s the reason I’m going into nursing. He’s been a pediatric nurse practitioner my whole life—”
Ben laughs out loud. “A male nurse?”
“Nurse practitioner—”
“Does that make a difference?”
My teeth grind together. “Yeah. It makes a difference. But there’s also nothing wrong with male nurses.”
Jackson steps closer to me. “And what does your dad do again, Ben? Does he spend his days taking care of sick and injured little kids, or…?”
“Don’t be a dick, Jackson,” Emmy mumbles.
“No need when Ben’s doing such a good job of that himself.”
But Ben seems entirely unbothered. “Nah, he’s right. My parents both sell corporate real estate in Miami. Nothing noble. I didn’t mean to throw shade at your dad, Hannah. Putting casts on clumsy kids is admirable.”
I trail my finger around the rim of my cup and shrug him off. Honestly, I shouldn’t have said anything in the first place. Once we go home, we’ll never see this guy again. It doesn’t matter what our future plans are. He won’t be around, so why give him the opportunity to voice his opinion?
Emmy takes a nervous drink and puts on a megawatt smile. “Nursing will be such a great job for Hannah. She even worked as a lifeguard the last two summers to amp up her applications. She’s so damn smart. I could never.”
I frown at her. She totally could. Emmy is way smarter than she gives herself credit for. “If you wanted to be a nurse, nothing would stop you. It’s not your passion, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Emmy leans her head on my shoulder. “Yeah, maybe. School just isn’t in my blood. I can’t imagine willingly signing up for more of it after graduation. If I never see another quiz or narrative paper again, it’ll be too soon.”
Ben crosses his long legs at his ankles. “I’m not an academic person either. I’m passing all my classes, but they’re boring as hell. I’d much rather be traveling. I probably will after I graduate, at least until I figure out what I want to do long term.”
Emmy sits up. “Oh my god. Me too!”
Ben gets that shimmery, happy sparkle in his eye again. “Where do you want to visit the most? If you could go anywhere in the world?”
“Italy,” she says. No hesitation. “I’m starting there when I take off on my grand adventure.”
He finishes off his drink. “I love Italy. I’ll text you all my favorite hidden gems. I spent six weeks in Venice a couple summers ago, and I almost didn’t come back.”
The sound Emmy makes is part squeal and part gasp. “That sounds like a dream. I can’t wait to wander. Getting lost in new places is my most favorite thing.”
Ben uncrosses his ankles and recrosses them, staring pensively at his bare feet. “Maybe I’ll come with you.”
I raise my eyebrows at Jackson as Emmy claps her hands in excitement.
“I’d love that!” She looks up at him with wide goo-goo eyeballs that make me want to puke in my cup. “We could go all over Europe too. I have a list of destinations in my phone. We could check them off one by one!”
Ben grins. “Whatever it takes to keep that smile on your face, gorgeous.”
Red flags wave frantically inside my head. I try and catch her eye, but it’s like Jackson and I have ceased to exist in the wake of Ben’s offer.
It’s very Emmy. Her first priority is always whatever boy has her attention, however fleeting that may be.
But she’s never once considered inviting any of them on her big adventure.
She even turned me down when I offered to go with her for part of it.
She said it was destined to be a sacred—and solo—trip.
That she couldn’t find her own way in the world with someone holding her hand.
But apparently it’s only sacred and solo until Trust Fund Ken invites himself to tag along after thirty measly seconds of conversation. Hurt slices through me.
I clear my throat and tap Emmy on the knee. “Hey, Em? No offense to Ben here, but you guys just met. Maybe traveling to a foreign country with a virtual stranger isn’t the best idea?”
She snorts. “You’re too cautious for your own good, you know that? You need to live a little, or you’ll end up an old lady with only boring memories to keep yourself company.”
Emmy could have pushed me overboard, and it would’ve shocked me less.
Ben laughs. “I don’t think Hannah knows how to live any other way,” he says, as if he knows me at all.
As if he has any right to judge me in the first place.
“Don’t take it personally, but there are girls who live life to the fullest, and there are girls who read a lot and make friends with their teachers.
Doesn’t take a detective to figure out which one you are, Nurse Hannah. ”
Annnd the hits keep coming. Each word out of his mouth feels like a punch.
Emmy looks away. She knows that one struck home.
Everywhere we go, in every friend group we find ourselves in, Emmy’s always the fun one.
She’s always the one at the center of every “exciting” new plan, while I’m the one pointing out which parts of that plan are illegal or most likely to result in medical intervention.
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been called “boring,” or “mom,” or “the babysitter,” I could buy this boat with a briefcase of cash and give it a better name.
Nobody speaks, but I feel three sets of eyes on me.
I slide my sunglasses from the top of my head onto my nose, drop my full cup inside Bennett’s empty one, and climb back to my feet. “Really glad I tagged along today. This is so fun for me. You two should get back to planning your trip and pretending you’re not total fucking strangers.”
I stomp back to the cockpit, weaving around ropes and vertical cables as the boat rises and falls over waves. I sit with my back to the bow and snatch up my water bottle from the seat. I take a long drink, grateful the water inside is still cold.
Captain Keith stops singing along to his mix to ask, “Everything okay up there?”
“Peachy.”
“Sure looks like it.” He grabs his own water bottle from the cup holder by the wheel and polishes it off. “Hold the wheel for a minute? I’m going to refill below.”
I look from the wheel to him and back. Several times. “What?”
He waves me over. “Come on, it’s nothing, really. Just hold the wheel steady. The wind isn’t changing directions, and there’s nothing out here for you to hit. I’ll be right back.”
“Um…” I stuff my water bottle in my bag and stand. I’ve barely wrapped my fingers around the metal wheel before he’s bolting for the stairs. Almost as soon as his mustache vanishes below deck, Emmy comes flying around the side of the boat like an avenging angel.
I drop my head back with a sigh. Of course.
She skids to a stop on the other side of the wheel. “What is your problem, Hannah? And…what the hell are you doing? Where’s Keith?”
I force a smile. “I don’t have a problem. Go back to your boy and leave me alone. I’m steering the ship. The captain needed something down below.”
“I’m not leaving until you apologize to Ben. You made him sound like a creeper. He’s being nice. He doesn’t want me to travel alone because he cares about me.”
“Or because he found a hot girl na?ve enough to travel with him,” I suggest, my grip tightening on the wheel.
“You’re so damn trusting, Emmy. And that’s fine when he’s teaching you to paddleboard, but going off alone with him, thousands of miles from your family?
You know nothing about this guy. Nothing.
He could get mad and strand you in a foreign country.
He could meet someone else and ditch you.
He could take your passport while you’re sleeping.
He could go streaking through the streets of Venice.
You have no fucking idea, because you don’t know him.
There’s a reason your parents insisted Jackson come with us today. ”
Emmy folds her arms, and strands of blond hair billow around her shoulders in the wind. “I do know him. I’ve spent the last several days with him—”
“Days! You know what? I take it all back. You probably know him better than you know me. Carry on.”
Jackson ducks under the boom and laughs out loud.
“Come on, Hannah. Stranger danger is irrelevant when true love is on the line. Everybody knows that.” He flops onto the bench seat beside me, arms propped along the backs of the cushions on either side of him.
“While you’re at it, why don’t you try hitchhiking too?
Wander a darkened alley? You know, since you’re so determined to become a feature in the next season of Unsolved Mysteries. ”
The glare she unleashes on her brother is molten. “Ben is not some creep in a darkened alley. He’s hot and rich and super nice.”
Jackson slaps himself on the forehead. “Why didn’t I think of that? Of course being rich means you can’t be dangerous.” He fake coughs, “Robert Durst…Phil Spector…Brooke Goodwin…the Murdaughs…”
“You’re ruining this whole day,” Emmy fumes. “I hope you’re both happy.”
She storms back to the bow, and I try not to laugh at the dramatics. She’ll fume and rant and stomp all over, but she’s very easily distracted. This will have little to no effect on her day.
Jackson stares after her with a sigh. “What are we going to do with her?”
We?
I lean to the right until I can see around the mast to the front of the boat. Ben stands behind Emmy on the bow, both of them facing the sea, arms extended. Having a full Titanic moment. She’s recovered in record time.
I fully accept that I’m more cautious than she is.
I also accept that Emmy’s more likely to have fun in any given situation because she doesn’t waste time worrying about what could go wrong.
But one of these days, her impulsivity is going to put her in a situation that’ll take something from her.
She’ll learn to be cautious in the worst possible way, and the carefree, wild, impulsive version of my best friend will vanish.
In this world, it’s a matter of when, not if. Jackson and I won’t always be around to prevent it. And jetting off to Europe with a stranger she trusts solely because he’s been nice to her for a few days is an express lane to a dangerous situation.
Anyone can put their best foot forward for a couple days, or weeks.
But the truth always comes out. No one can play the part of the good guy indefinitely if that’s not who they are.
When Ben’s mask slips, I sure as hell hope the worst thing beneath it is an overinflated ego, or Emmy’s grand adventure could quickly turn into a nightmare.
And there’s not a damn thing I can do to stop it.