Page 67 of To Love or to Lose
I grab the sled as we walk toward the parking lot, where Winnifred and Logan are waiting for us by the car.
“What are we waiting for?” I ask as I throw the last sled in the truck.
“Wewere waiting for you guys,” Winnifred replies, motioning between her and Logan. “El got impatient, so she went to go get snacks.”
The screen suddenly goes from black to white, lighting up the parking lot full of cars, almost every trunk open.
We walk over to Genevieve’s car once we see Eloise is heading back from the concession stand, and we lay down pillows and blankets in the trunk.
It’s a tight fit, but we make it work somehow. Genevieve sits against the car door with Winnifred’s head in her lap. Eloise laysdown the middle, and Logan and I are sitting up across from Genevieve.
The movie that’s playing is one I’ve never seen before. It looks to be some type of rom-com from the early two-thousands.
I learn after the movie begins that Genevieve and Logan were in charge of the movie selection, being student body president and vice president, but they elicited Winnifred’s help. She picked a rom-com,How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days.
I notice Genevieve and Winnifred watch the movie with more interest than anyone else in the car. Genevieve even grumbles at the overly cheesy parts, but we can all tell she is fully entranced with the main love interest.
Eloise is struggling to stay awake, only glancing up at the scenes the other girls react to.Logan and I have been watching on and off, paying more attention to the people in the cars surrounding us, laughing to each other as we people watch.
Once the movie is over, Winnifred, Logan, and I go back to Logan’s car to head home. It’s a little after two a.m., and we are all feeling it.
That’s probably why we ride home in dead silence, without even the radio playing. The only time we talk is when Logan and I tell Winnifred goodbye before she walks back to her house.
“I’ll see you guys on the bus, Monday.” She waves, making it to her own front yard.
Logan and I head back from the front porch, yawning as we make sure she makes it inside okay.
Monday is the first day of the Fairwood Prep Annual Ski-Trip. So, at six o’clock that morning, the entire senior class will load onto a bus and drive two hours to a hotel in New York City.
A week in a hotel, taking college tours, going to conferences, and skiing.
What could possibly go wrong?
January
Chapter Eighteen
144 days until graduation
Being on this bus has had my skin crawling for the past two hours, and now that we’ve finally made it into the city, I can almost smell the freedom.
Cleaning, and knowing my spaces are as clean as possible, gives me a type of control that I long for. On this bus though, I don’t have a single sense of control.
“If I never have to ride on this hellhole again, it will be too soon,” I whisper to Winnie.
We’ve been watching one of our favorite rom-coms the entire way here, but Logan, in his typical fashion, keeps interrupting.
“Well, too soon isn’t within the next week, because we still have to ride back on Sunday.” Winnie smiles.
I look back toward her laptop, sensing an impending notable scene. We’re approaching the part where the main characters have a super climactic and cheesy love confession, which tells me we’re near the end.
“Turn the subtitles on,” Logan whispers harshly from behind us; he’s watching the laptop through the cracks of the seats. I think he’s more invested than we are. He even gets teary-eyed when I look over at him during the kiss in the rain.
“He’s going to tell her he loves her,” Winnie whispers giddily. I nod, smiling with her.
“Hey,” Logan chastises us. “No spoilers, ladies.” Apparently, Logan has never seenCrazy Rich Asiansbefore.
Winnie and I chuckle at how enthralled he is. Not that we didn’t expect it from Logan, but it still is a sight to behold.
