From What I Remember

“No way. That’s great. Thanks. Thanks again and again, Manuel. For everything.”

“You’ll come back with Javier. This summer. Before you go off to New York City.”

“I promise I’ll be back. I can’t speak for my dad. You know what he’s like.”

I’m ru

“Kylie, that girl doesn’t hold a candle to you.”

I smile at Manuel. If I stayed any longer I’d start crying again.

I fly out the door. Will and Juan are waiting outside.

“C’mon. Manuel thinks Max, Lily, and Charlie went to get food in town. We’ve got to find them.” As sickening as it will be to drive all the way back to school with them, it’s the best idea we’ve got.

“We’re all going to drive home together?” Will asks, equally horrified at the prospect.

“Yes. Unless you have a better idea.”

“I’ve got nothing.”

I tear off down the hill. I can see town up ahead. I run past the houses and the kids playing in the street and the ticky-tacky souvenir shops. Back into this town that I’ve come to love. And there it is, Charlie’s Jeep sitting on the main street, across from the harbor, idling.

I’m still a few blocks away as I watch Max and Lily climb inside and shut the doors. And then the Jeep pulls away from the curb.

I charge after it, yelling and waving my arms furiously.

“Wait! Stop! Max!”

The Jeep picks up speed.

Will and Juan run after me, but they’re too slow. Our great hope to make it to graduation, pulling down the street…

Shit. Shit. Shit. What are we going to do? I feel my anxiety rising to dangerous levels. My breath quickens. I’m gulping air. I see an old guy on a Vespa heading into the plaza, and decide in a crazy last-ditch effort to flag him down.

He stops.

“Por favor, ¿me prestas tu Vespa?” I say to him.

He stares at me, not sure how to answer. I want to borrow his Vespa. Naturally, he doesn’t look pleased by the idea. Damn, I don’t have time to debate this.

“Por un momento, lo prometo,” I say, hoping that will make a bit of a difference. I look at him beseechingly and, miraculously, the guy climbs off.

I have a real skill in vehicle jacking. There’s my Plan B if the screenwriting thing doesn’t work out. The poor guy just stares after me, bewildered. He’ll get it back momentarily; he just doesn’t know that yet.

Having never ridden a Vespa before, I’m a bit wobbly, but my determination wins out over my lack of skills, and quickly I’m on the road, right behind the Jeep. The thought occurs to me that, once again, I’ve found myself in yet another cliché-ridden movie scene. Although, if this were a movie instead of my pathetic life, things would probably end differently. I would be chasing my love, racing against time to tell him that I was wrong, that I do love him and can’t live without him. He would jump out of the car and proclaim his undying love for me as well. Everyone would applaud and we would live happily ever after. But that is so not happening here.

I pull alongside the Jeep.

“Max! Max!” I yell. “Stop!”

Max, sitting in the passenger seat, turns to see me.

“Kylie, what are you doing?” he yells through the open window.

“Just stop the car.”

Charlie pulls the Jeep to the side of the road, and I jump off the Vespa. Max looks at me. Our eyes meet, and for an instant it’s yesterday again. It’s just him and me and I’m happy and in love. But then my eyes shift ever so slightly to the left, and I see Lily sitting in the back, her pinched little face pushing into the front seat, and I’m thrown back to reality.

All three of them jump out. Great. The Three Musketeers. The thought of riding home with them makes my stomach turn.

“Hey, Kylie, nice Vespa,” Charlie says. Is he being nice? Or just attempting to make a horribly awkward situation incrementally less awkward? Who knows? I’ve never gotten Charlie.

“Uh, listen, we need a ride back to school. Will’s car got vandalized.”

“What do you mean?” Max asks.

“She means Will’s car no longer has tires. Or windows,” Will says as he and Juan run up, panting. “But they left all my CDs. That’s just weird, isn’t it?”

“That guy really wants his Vespa back,” Juan says to me. “He’s pretty pissed.”

“I told him I’d bring it back,” I say.

“Yeah, well, shockingly, he didn’t believe it,” Will says.

“You stole a Vespa?” Max asks.

“I borrowed it.”

“Cool,” Charlie says. Man, he is such an idiot. Why is Max friends with him? Then again, maybe I’m giving Max too much credit.

The Vespa owner marches up and snatches his scooter from me, whispering under his breath, “Loca!”

I don’t think he means that in a good way.

“Gracias,” I say, trying to make amends. “Muchas gracias.”

He gives me the finger, jumps on his bike, and speeds off.

“’Kay, so can we come with you guys?” I ask again since no one has actually answered me. Are they really going to make me beg?

“Sure,” Max says. Charlie and Lily don’t say anything.

One yes is better than none.

Lily scowls at me. She looks miserable. And, believe me, I get it. It would be so easy to hate her at this very moment, but I can’t. We’ve both just had our hearts broken by the same boy, and now we are bonded together, like it or not.

“I don’t think there’s room. I mean, there are three of them,” Lily says.

“Oh come on, Lily. We’ll make room. It’s graduation.” It’s Charlie, coming to our rescue. Who’d have thought?

“Max, there is no way I am getting into that car with her.” Lily has suddenly shifted from downtrodden to crazy pissed. The hate is on again. And I’m feeling it too.

“Well, then I guess you’re staying in Ensenada.” Will cocks his head at Lily and smiles.

“Oh shut up, Will,” Lily snaps.

Oh. My. God. I do not want this to devolve into another shouting match. Charlie glances over at Max like it’s Max’s decision to make. I look at Max, daring him to say no, while Lily stares him down, daring him to say yes. It’s a Mexican standoff, literally.

“Of course there’s room,” Max says, steadfastly refusing to look at either me or Lily. Still, if we’re playing, and everything is a game after all, I’d say one point for me.

“Someone will have to sit in the rear seat, in the way back,” Charlie says.

“Not me,” Lily insists.

“Of course not. We wouldn’t dream of asking you, princess,” Will says.

“I’ll do it,” Juan says. “I don’t mind.”

The decision is made. All of us will cram into the goddamn car and travel to graduation together. What a frigging nightmare. Shoot me now.

Max is opening the back door for Juan when a look of fear flashes across his face. I know that look. What’s going on?

He leans in to me. “Kylie, look. Over there. Across the street.”

I follow his gaze. And there they are, the two dudes from yesterday, standing on the other side of the street, next to their U-Haul. There’s no mistaking them. Bald, muscled, and inked up. Practically twins, except the tall one is twice the size of the little one.

You have got to be kidding me. What are the chances?

I suddenly realize this is exactly where we left the U-Haul. I ca

I’m totally being melodramatic. Still, our bad luck is pretty epic.

“Get in the car, get in the car,” Max says, literally herding everyone into the Jeep.

“How did they find the truck?” I ask Max.

“I don’t know. They must have a tracking device in there or something. Shit.”