Two-way Street

13 Days Before the Trip, 3:30 p.m.

I’m walking out of the mall when I see Courtney’s dad walking in. I try to get out of the way to avoid him, but he’s already seen me, and I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing me turn around.

“Mr. Brewster!” I say cheerfully.

“Jordan,” he says, nodding at me. “Looks like you’ve had a successful trip to the mall.” The way he says it implies I’ve been on a silly little shopping trip, while he’s been hard at work all day. Which is probably true. I’ve been in Abercrombie for more than an hour, and I’ve spent over four hundred dollars. All on my mom’s credit card. Serves her right.

“I have had a successful trip,” I agree.

“Abercrombie,” he says, reading it off the bag in the same tone he used before. Sue me if I need retail therapy. This whole Courtney breakup is driving me insane, and shopping makes me feel better. I’m turning into a girl. Plus I love the feeling I get when my mom’s credit card runs through the machine.

“Yup,” I say. “You look like you could use a trip there yourself.” It’s meant to be an insult, like he has no sense of fashion, but he doesn’t get it.

“Oh, not today,” he says. “I’m here to upgrade my cell phone plan, and then I have to get back to the office.”

“Good for you,” I say, resisting the urge to hit him. “Good luck with that.” I move past him into the parking lot, but he calls after me.

“I heard you and Courtney broke up,” he says. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I’m sure you are,” I say sarcastically.

“Now, Jordan, that’s not fair. I never wanted to cause you or Courtney any pain.”

“It’s not a big deal,” I lie. “Courtney and I didn’t break up because of you. We broke up because I met someone else.” The last thing I want is to give Courtney’s dad the satisfaction of thinking he broke the two of us up. Besides, this whole breakup with Courtney has spun out of control—I’ve made up a new girlfriend. A fake girlfriend, someone I supposedly met on MySpace. I got sick of everyone asking why we broke up, and I figured having a fake girlfriend is a better reason than “I don’t know.” Plus, it helps me when I get tempted to call Courtney and beg her to take me back.

“Well, that’s great,” Mr. Brewster says. He looks at his watch and glances over my shoulder into the mall. “I should get going.”

“Sure,” I say. Asshole.

“I hope it won’t be that big of a deal to you to drive to school without Courtney. Perhaps your new girlfriend could make the trip with you? It’s an awful long way to go alone.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, frowning. Court and I had planned to drive up to Boston together for school, and I figured it was still on. Actually, that’s not true. I was hoping it was still on, but I was afraid to approach her about it since a) she won’t talk to me, and b) if I brought it up, she might tell me it’s canceled.

“Well, I assumed you wouldn’t still be going on the trip. I haven’t talked to Courtney about it yet, but—”

“Oh, no,” I say. “We’re still going.”

“Really?” His eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Does Courtney know this?”

“I haven’t talked to her,” I say. “But we’re going.” Suddenly I realize just how badly I want to go on this trip. That it could be my last chance to spend time with Courtney. And that since it’s already planned, it won’t look that suspicious if we still go.

“Jordan, I’m not sure that’s the best idea,” he says. “Courtney’s already going through a lot with the breakup and—”

“We’re going,” I say. “You’ll tell her she’s still going. And if you don’t, well…” I trail off, and I see a flash of panic cross his face. Because now that Courtney and I are broken up, he has no power over me. I could tell her everything if I wanted to. And with that, I turn around, head to my car, and drive home with my four hundred dollars’ worth of Abercrombie merchandise in the trunk and the Beastie Boys on the radio.