Chapter Six - MARKUS

The next month flew by. Markus kept his head down, always working on his extra school assignments. He figured if he appeared busy, his dad would lay off him about his supposed acceptance letters that were in the mail. Markus’s tactic had worked, until the last few days. His dad was becoming suspicious and had mentioned that he would be calling the various schools’ admissions offices to find out what was taking so long. Apparently he had it on good authority that the first wave of acceptance letters had been sent out—the downside of Markus’s dad working part time as a university instructor. The daughter of a colleague had received hers the previous week.

Markus needed to tell his dad the truth. He knew he did…but it was going to be ugly, and Markus wasn’t known for being assertive, or doing anything that required a small degree of bravery. It wasn’t that he was scared of his dad…he wasn’t mean or abusive or anything. Quite the opposite, actually. His dad was methodical and meticulous—something that Markus’s mom had not been—and he had plans for Markus, ones that his dad knew would give Markus the best chance at having a good life. Or so his dad thought. He cared for Markus deeply—maybe even loved him—but Markus doubted his dad knew enough about what was going on in Markus’s life to really know what was best for him.

He could already imagine the disappointment and hurt and betrayal his dad would struggle to express when he found out that Markus wouldn’t be going to college. His dad had never been good at showing his emotions, but Markus had a feeling they would come a lot easier after he heard what Markus had to say.

All these thoughts had been weighing on Markus for weeks. At first they had been nothing more than a nuisance, but as time passed, the heavier they’d become. Until Markus thought he had reached his breaking point.

It was on one of these days that Mrs. Krump approached Markus after his history class. She asked him if he’d be interested in attending a school trip over spring break.

“But that’s next week,” Markus said. He wasn’t one for spontaneity.

“I know. I’m sorry for the short notice,” Mrs. Krump said. “A student just came down with mono and had to drop out, and I really need a full bus.” She paused. “You will be one of only two seniors going. The rest will be juniors, which means I’d also like to use you as a sort of mentor for the others.”

Once the surprise that Mrs. Krump had not initially invited him and that he was a back-up had worn off, Markus realized this was his chance to get away. He needed time to himself without his dad hovering over him.

School wasn’t much better these days. The classes he was taking were a waste of time, and he was tired of trying to look like he fit in with Alexa and her friends. He had continued to eat lunch with them every day, thinking he’d get to know them better—or more specifically, that he’d get to know Gracie better—but a month later he still felt as much on the outside as he had the first day he had joined them for lunch. They were nice, sure. And they included him in their conversations. But Markus never knew what to say, and by the time he came up with something clever, the conversation had already moved on to something else.

As Markus told Mrs. Krump he’d have the permission slip to her first thing the next morning, he tried to not show how eager he was to escape town. Maybe before he left, he could leave a note for his dad explaining the college situation, or send a text right after Markus left. That would give his dad a week to calm down and come to terms with Markus’s choice. Maybe they’d even have a good laugh about it. Okay, that was a stretch. But at least it would give his dad time to process the news.

Markus left Mrs. Krump’s classroom, grinning stupidly. He’d never been to Philadelphia, and to be honest, he didn’t really care about the Liberty Bell. But it didn’t matter what sites they saw or if anyone even cared he was there. This was going to be the best week of his life.

* * * * *

Markus hoisted his duffel bag over one shoulder. He approached the large bus that was parked in front of the school. It wasn’t the typical bright yellow bus he had been expecting. It was one of the fancy ones that had reclining seats and TVs mounted on the wall. He supposed that made sense, considering they’d be driving for two days just to get there—something he wasn’t looking forward to. Maybe he could get a window seat.

Markus’s dad had tried to get him to take some light reading material for the drive, like a five-hundred-page biography of Thomas Paine, so he would get the most out of the trip, but once he reminded his dad about what had happened on their last road trip, his dad quickly retracted the suggestion. Markus’s car sickness was always really bad, but when reading? Forget about it. He really hoped he wouldn’t need his barf bags on this trip.

Markus patted down his hair, suddenly self-conscious as he approached the nineteen other students from his school, but it had already been perfectly combed to one side and then fused into place with gel. It wasn’t going anywhere.

A large panel had been pulled up on the side of the bus and the other students were throwing their bags in.

“Is it necessary to stow my luggage under the bus?” Markus asked the driver, who stood nearby. Markus felt anxious about the prospect of just tossing everything haphazardly together and hoping it survived the journey. Besides, he’d rather have his barf bags close by, and not have to keep them out in the open where everyone could see them.

At first the driver didn’t seem to have heard Markus. He was watching the students with such intensity, it was clear he didn’t trust them.

Markus tapped the driver on the shoulder. It took him a minute to turn and acknowledge Markus.

“What do you need?” he asked in a gruff voice.

“Can I take my bag with me on the bus?” Markus asked.

“There isn’t enough room for students and luggage,” the driver said. “It’s a safety issue if we need to evacuate and everyone is tripping over each other’s suitcases in the aisle. Sorry.”

Oh. Right. That made sense, and Markus had always been a stickler for rules. He enjoyed the security they gave him. Everyone falling in line and doing the same thing minimized chaos, which was always a good thing in Markus’s point of view.

“Surely there is room for one duffel bag,” someone said from behind him.

Markus turned. His breath caught when he saw Gracie standing there. Her red hair was pulled back by a headband and she wore loose pants that looked comfortable for traveling. Markus looked down at his jeans and wished he’d thought of that.

The driver gave a quick shake of his head and released an exasperated sigh. “Not you too.” He rubbed his temples, like he was reconsidering the career path he had chosen. “It won’t fit under your seat, which means it will be in the way of whoever you sit next to.” He motioned for Markus and Gracie to toss their luggage in with the others.

“Oh, I don’t care about my bag,” Gracie said, placing hers on top of the others. “I’m just saying that my friend should at least have his, if it means that much to him. I don’t mind resting my feet on top of it.”

The driver gave her a long look. “You sure you want to be scrunched up with this boy’s bag for two days?”

Gracie gave a small nod and shot a grin at the driver. Her dimples deepened. “Sure. I’m short anyway, so it would actually be helpful to have something to rest my feet on.”

Markus hadn’t thought of it that way until now, but Gracie had made a good point.

The bus driver rolled his eyes. “Fine. But if anyone else comes asking me about keeping their luggage with them and then points out that I let you keep yours, it all goes back under the bus.” He made a shooing gesture, like he wanted nothing more than to be rid of these troublesome teenagers.

Now that Markus was no longer distracted by the bus driver and he had his luggage in hand, the reality of the moment finally caught up to him. Gracie. She was here. Getting on a bus to go on the same weeklong school trip that he was. And not only that, but Gracie had said she would be resting her feet on his luggage…so she was planning on sitting next to him for the twenty-hour bus ride.

His hands felt clammy and his duffel bag slipped in his moist grip. She would expect him to talk to her, wouldn’t she? It would be awkward to sit in silence for that long. But what would he say? He wasn’t good in social situations. He got along with teachers just fine; they didn’t seem to mind him. But adults were a lot more forgiving of his social faux pas than teenagers were.

Other people thought he was clueless about how awkward he was. Oh, he knew. But that didn’t mean he could do anything about it. It was like his brain acted before the sensible part of him could catch up and stop whatever train wreck was about to happen. And Gracie was the one person he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of.

Markus had gone to one New Year’s Eve party, and that was all it had taken for him to fall for the redhead who was now slipping into a window seat.

She looked at him expectantly when he stopped in the aisle. “You can put your bag down here,” she said, lifting her feet up so she was curled into a ball on her seat. “You don’t mind my feet on it, do you? I’m sorry, I forgot to make sure earlier.”

“No, not at all. It was a good idea. If you hadn’t noticed, I’m pretty short myself.”

Gracie’s easy laugh flowed over Markus, and he felt heat creep into his cheeks. He couldn’t pretend she didn’t affect him in a way no one else had before, but he really hoped it wasn’t completely obvious. Markus really liked Gracie, and though there was little to no chance that she’d ever think of him as slightly more than an acquaintance, he’d prefer to not scare her away.

Except, there was one problem. If Markus didn’t sit next to the window, the chances of him puking shot up by a thousand percent. Would Gracie mind if he asked to switch? Would she think of him as selfish? Maybe. But if he threw up on her, that might give her a worse impression.

“I’m sorry, I hate to even ask,” Markus started, his gaze landing anywhere that Gracie wasn’t, “but—”

“Would you like the window seat?” she asked, immediately jumping over the arm rest and into the aisle seat.

“It’s just that I get motion sick pretty easily,” he said apologetically.

Gracie raised a hand to stop him. “Say no more. My little brother can’t do anything but stare out the window on our road trips, no matter how straight the road.”

Markus’s gaze met hers, and he couldn’t believe the pure unadulterated joy that shone from Gracie. This was the girl he had met at the party. Whatever else had been going on in her life over the past month, there were no traces of the tears she had shed a few weeks before.

“Thank you.” He made to move past Gracie, but there wasn’t much room between the seat she sat in and the seat in front of her. Markus thought she’d offer to hop out into the aisle so he could more easily get to the window seat, but she didn’t. When he glanced behind his shoulder, he realized why. There was a line of students trying to maneuver past him to the back of the bus.

Markus threw his bag on the floor beneath Gracie’s feet, and then he tried to step over both the bag and Gracie. Somehow his foot got caught in the strap, however, and he stumbled forward. He landed on Gracie—just his luck—and he found himself practically lying on top of her. Her eyes widened in surprise and Markus’s pulse skyrocketed.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” he squealed in a most unmasculine way as he pushed himself off, but his foot was still caught, and he fell onto the floor between the seats.

By the time Markus managed to untangle himself and pull himself into his seat, anyone who had seen the incident was laughing at him. Even Gracie was smiling.

Markus pulled his knees up to his chest and, leaning back in his seat, he closed his eyes. If this was any indication of things to come, he might as well jump off the bus now.