Page 68 of The Backtrack
“You gonna have any?” Alt-Sam asked as she shoved another spoonful into her mouth.
“That depends.” Myles put his palms on the counter and leaned forward. “Are you gonna take it out of my tips?”
“Totally.” Alt-Sam smiled as she chewed.
Myles rolled his eyes, then sighed as he grabbed the ice cream scoop and loaded up a cone with three scoops of chocolate fudge.
“You’ll get sick if you eat all that.”
“I’m not like your skinny jeans boyfriend. I play soccer. I need the carbs. More of a Jacob than an Edward, to speak your language.” Myles took a large bite, as if to prove his point, but then he held his palm to his head and groaned. “Brain freeze.”
“At least my boyfriend listens to me,” Alt-Sam said. “Unlike someone in this room.”
“Is that why you like him so much?” Myles asked, then took a smaller bite. “Because he does whatever you say?”
Alt-Sam frowned. “He doesn’t do whatever I say. It’s not like that.”
“I saw you two fighting at the brewery,” Myles said. “Sounded serious. You know, we’re way too young to be in sad relationships.”
Alt-Sam quickly raised her brows, then looked into her cup. “My relationship is none of your business.”
“I just can’t imagine only being with one person for the rest of my life.” He let the words hang there, maybe hoping she’d respond, but she didn’t. Myles licked his spoon and moved closer to Alt-Sam. “Is he the only guy you’ve everbeen withbeen with?”
“Could we please stop talking about this?” Alt-Sam put the now-empty cup down on the counter and, as she did, Myles boxed her in with his hands.
“I’ve had a thing for you since forever.” Myles’s nose skimmed over the top of her head and he seemed to inhale the scent of her.
“Uhhh, girl,” Sam said to her younger self. But Alt-Sam wasn’t pushing Myles away. In fact, her eyes fluttered closed and she licked her lips.
“I can tell you’ve been down lately, but I can make you feel good, you know,” Myles said. “Are you going to tell me to stop?”
“Yes,” Sam said, waiting for Alt-Sam to say the same.
Her younger self made no sound at all.
Sam planted her hands on her hips and started to tap her foot. “Sam, come on. This is ridiculous.”
“We should stop,” Alt-Sam said.
“Exactly.” Sam blew out a relieved breath. But then, Alt-Sam’s little pinkie inched closer to where Myles’s hand was, and she touched his skin.
Myles looked down at her, and she looked up at him, trapped in each other’s gaze. Sam moved to stop them herself, but when she tried to pull them apart, nothing happened.
“Sam!” she yelled as loud as she could. “Donotdo this. Okay? I know you’re hurting. You’ve been through so much. Way more than I went through. But don’t just hook up with this doofus. He’s not going to fix you. He’s a total asshole. Remember how he bullied you and Damon? Yes, being young is for making mistakes and trying things out, but not with him.”
Alt-Sam didn’t hear her, though, and Myles seemed to take her silence as a kind of agreement that he could kiss her, because he started to tilt his mouth toward hers.
And just like that, Sam opened her mouth and screamed “No!” with the force of a hurricane storm wind. “Both of you, stop!” Sam couldn’t stop them, though. There was no way for Alt-Sam to hear or feel her. Still, Sam took a step forward and, as she did, was pulled backward as the song on her headphones ended.
Sam came back to the room and found she was thrashing, but her arms were being held down.
“Sam! Sam, wake up!” Grandma Pearl and Bonnie shouted at her.
Her eyes focused and she saw both women standing over her with panicked expressions, which made her stop kicking her legs.
“Okay,” Grandma Pearl let out a relieved breath. “She’s okay.”
Sam realized that she was wet, and there was wind—hurricane strength wind—whipping through the bedroom. She looked up, and the crown of a massive palm tree had pierced through her bedroom window.
