Page 11 of Wandering Wild

She grins back at me. “This is going to bethe best. You’ll see.”

I try to dredge up a smile for her sake, but then a thought hits me. “My passport is expired. Will I have enough time to renew it?”

Ember waves an unconcerned hand. “Zander and Hawke are flying here. Well, nothere-here”—she gestures out the store’s windows to indicate our hometown—“but here as in Australia. So you won’t need your passport at all, since we’re only taking a domestic flight to Sydney and then a train into the mountains. Or maybe a car.” Her brow furrows in thought, until she shrugs and finishes, “All I know is that someone will collect us from the airport and take us where we need to go.”

A nervous thrill runs through me at this news. I consider what I know of the geography near Sydney and guess, “The Blue Mountains?” At Ember’s confirmation, I ask, “When?”

My friend scratches her cheek and looks anywhere but at me, prompting new alarm bells to ring in my ears.

“When, Ember?”

She murmurs the answer too low for me to hear, but when I arch my eyebrow in question, she sighs and says, louder, “The trip starts on Tuesday.”

When she doesn’t offer a date, I splutter out, “Wait—thisTuesday? As inthree days away?”

She nods reluctantly, then shares, “We’ll fly out on Monday morning, head straight to Katoomba, go sightseeing for a few hours that afternoon, and then spend the night in a hotel before meeting up with Zander and Hawke first thing on Tuesday.” Her eyes lose focus and a dopey smile touches her lips. “Can you believe I just said that? We get to meetZanderandHawke. Dreams really do come true.”

I want to conk her over the head with the nearest ice-cream cone. She must see that on my face, since her own sobers.

“I know this is a lot, and it’s happening fast.”

“It’s not fast,” I grit out, “it’slightning speed.”

“That’s good, though, right?” she asks tentatively. “This time next week, you’ll be back here doing another birthday party, dressed as Shrek or Princess Leia or Thor or whoever else, and life will go on. You might be more tanned and maybe have a mosquito bite or five hundred, but otherwise, it’ll be like it never happened. You don’t have to dread it for weeks; you can just get it over with fast. Kind of like a bikini wax.” Seeing my grimace, she quickly adds, “But with less pain.”

I’m not sure she’s right about that, but despite my trepidation—and against my better judgment—I’ve already committed to seeing this madness through.

“I need to check with Sandy,” I say, resigned. “They’ll have to ask someone to cover my shifts.”

I don’t bother stating the obvious—that Sandy will be so excited that they’ll likely offer to pack my bags and drive me straight to the airport.

Ember knows this, so she says nothing as I collect a cloth and start wiping down the tables, my movements hurried now that I have a checklist of things to do before leaving on Monday. Even knowing how happy it’ll make her, I can’t believe I’m doing this; that I’ll be spending four days in the wilderness with someone I despise. The mere thought of Zander’s too-perfect face has me burning with anger—and flooding with heartache. But at least Hawke will be there as a buffer. I’ll never be completely alone with Zander, and during the time we’re stuck near each other, I’ll find a way to tolerate him, for Ember’s sake.

And then, as soon as our four days are up, I won’t have to think about him again.

“There’s still one very serious thing we need to discuss,” Ember says as I move between the tables.

My pulse spikes. “There is?”

Her smile is pure sunshine as she answers, “I have a fashion emergency. You have to help me figure out what to wear on Tuesday, since I want to lookperfectwhen I meet my favorite actor of all time.”

I consider throwing my cloth at her, but resist when she sighs contentedly and finishes, “I sense good things ahead, Charlie Bear. This is one adventure you’re going to thank me for. Just wait—you’ll see.”

I will see. And so will the entire world. Because in three days, I’ll be hiking through the Blue Mountains with two of the most famous people alive, our every word and action recorded and watched by millions.

My insides lurch, but I paste a smile on my face and reply, “We could both use some good things ahead, so here’s hoping you’re right.”

She’s not, but that doesn’t matter, because it’s only four days.

It’ll be awful, but I’ve been through worse.

Much worse.

Compared to the last six months, this will be nothing.

I’ve got this, I tell myself over and over, scrubbing with renewed vigor.It’ll be fine.

But no amount of mental repetition helps me believe it.

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