Page 54 of Pick Me Up On Tuesdays

“Nah,” he said, “I think Joy’s onto something. Ever since we got here, it’s been floating rabbits, judgmental unicorns, and now a moose with anger issues.”

I shoved his arm off. “You flirted with it.”

“And it was clearly playing hard to get.”

“You ran for your life!”

“Hey, some people like to be chased.”

Joy gagged. “I’m gonna throw up.”

Before we could descend further into stupidity, Mr. Dax—who had barely spoken a word the entire tour—finally stepped in, huffing and puffing like a truck from the run.

“All right,” he said, panting. “That’s enough drama for one day.”

Mr. Dax wasn’t the kind of teacher who yelled all the time to be heard. He had this quiet authority that somehow made you more terrified than if he had been screaming at you. Everyone went silent.

He pulled out something from his bag—an old, yellowing piece of parchment with weird symbols scrawled across it.

“Is that a map?” Shun asked, finally looking up from her phone—which, by the way, was offline.

Mr. Dax nodded. “One of the oldest maps of this region. If we follow it, we should find our way back to the bus before nightfall.”

Max whistled. “Okay, Indiana Jones. Let’s do this.”

And just like that, our merry band of dumb teenagers who almost died to a moose began our long trek back.

At some point, I found myself walking beside Ethan. The others were chatting ahead, but somehow, we fell into our own conversation.

“You know,” I said, stuffing my hands into my hoodie pocket, “you’re not exactly what I expected.”

Ethan arched a brow. “What did you expect?”

I shrugged. “Typical jock. Kind of a dumbass.”

He smirked. “I am a dumbass.”

“Well, yeah, but you’re also… I don’t know. More.”

Ethan gave me a sideways glance, like he wasn’t sure if I was messing with him. “Are you hitting on me, Ghost Boy?”

I choked on my own spit. “No! Oh my—you flirt with one moose and suddenly think everyone’s in love with you?”

He laughed. “Relax. I know I’m irresistible.”

I rolled my eyes, but I was still… curious. “Why do you do that, though?”

“Do what?”

“Flirt with everything?”

Ethan shrugged, his usual cocky grin dimming just a little. “It’s fun.”

“That’s it?”

He hesitated. “And… maybe it’s easier to joke than to actually talk about stuff.”

I blinked, a little surprised at the honesty. “Huh.”

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