The Senior Trip

Chapter 60

Asher

Everyone knows. It's not a secret anymore. I don't even care that I was one of the last people to find out that the reason Jess broke up with me was to date Finn. It should hurt. I know that. I remember loading butter into the refrigerator section at the store where I work when I heard about it. Two girls the next aisle over spilled the beans. Not actually beans, but just the news that Finn and Molly had broken up because Jess and Finn were seeing each other.

I waited. I took a deep breath and worried when I let it out, it would hurt like it had the night that she told me she wanted space. I feared that my heart would break again with this new information and I might lose my cool in the literal cold aisle among the dairy products and bland crackers. But it didn't hurt. And it didn't hurt because I stopped caring in some small town in Mexico.

I had already ended things for good with Jess on that beach. She couldn't hurt me anymore. She had wanted space, and I decided to make that space permanent. I just wondered if Harper knew. I worry she found out in some soul crushing way. And sadly, when I heard Jess and Finn broke things off less than a week after we got home, I actually felt relief that maybe she could be happy.

"Hey," I hear as I stack the bright red apples into the bin at the end of the produce section. This time my chest does react. My heart pounds and I feel a little light headed.

It's her.

"Hey," I say.

"Are these from Mexico?" she asks. She moves to stand beside me, her fingers exploring the reddest apple in the bin.

"Umm," I have no idea. I spin one around looking for the sticker.

"I had this apple once and I can't stop thinking about it," she carries on like she's telling me a story I wasn't present for.

"Sounds like a great apple," I say. I reach for the perfect apple from my cart. Using my shirt, I rub it until it's shinny. "But maybe it was more about the experience than the apple."

She takes the apple from me and holds it to her chest.

"I heard about Jess," she tells me.

I lean my hip against the bin. I've been thinking about how to have this conversation with her for weeks. Each time I look her up on social media, I can't bring myself to request her as a friend. I don't want to see if she and Finn got together. It would crush me.

"Crazy, right," I say, crossing my arms to keep from reaching for her. I try to see in her face if she appears happier—if she got her happy ending in this whole fiasco.

"Yes," she says. "Asher I—" she starts, but I decide in that minute I have to tell her how I feel because I will regret it forever if she doesn't know. Whatever she's about to tell me can wait. I can hear about Finn later.

"I have something for you," I say. "Thought of you yesterday when it came in."

"Really?" she asks with a soft laugh.

I nod. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

I walk quickly to the front of the store. I refuse to back out this time. It's perfect. And I honestly had thought of her. In fact, I spent about two dollars and my entire break on it. I choose a check-out lane that's empty and scan the impulse-buy section for the magazine. Mine is at home, so I'll need a new copy. There it is!

The glossy cover had caught my eye and I couldn't wait to read the quiz and the advice that followed it. And no, I didn't go announcing that to my friends. I bought it to take home because it reminded me of her. My copy currently sits on my dresser, the place mat for the apple she gave me.

She's watching me as I walk towards her. Seeing her with the apple brings back so many fun memories and makes my heart ache for her again. This could be a terrible idea, but you only live once.

"A magazine?" she asks as I hold it out to her.

I shrug, waiting for her to put the pieces together herself.

She takes in the cover, reading out loud the articles that are featured on the cover. Finally, she reads the one that made our time on the plane replay for me until I thought I would be sick if I couldn't see her again.

"Quiz: Was your vacation soulmate the real deal?"

I know it's cheesy, but it's also us.

Her eyes look up from the cover to find mine. "Did you take it?" she asks.

"I did," I answer. "Three times."

"And?" she asks.

"I did a lot better on it than our first quiz."

"Asher, what about Jess?"

I'm a little confused at her question.

"Jess?" I realize as soon as I say it that she must not know. She's not in the loop and it's summer now. Also, I haven't gone around shouting it from the roof tops and I'm sure Jess isn't either. "Harper, I broke up with her for good in Mexico. We're done."

"I didn't know," she admits.

I take the magazine from her, easily flipping it to the start of the quiz. I clear my throat. Reading from the top I begin, "Falling in lust on vacation can be the highlight of the summer, but is it the real-deal? Take this quiz to discover if you have met your forever soulmate."

Harper is watching me, a smile on her face as she listens to the words on the pages in my hand. Time has passed and so much has happened between us, but we are somehow back to how it all started. I'm just as nervous.

She nods her head, consenting to the quiz beginning.

"Question one: Do you have any entanglements back home or are you free to fall in love abroad?"

"It doesn't say that, " she insists—just as adamant as she was the first time we took a quiz together and she thought she was in charge.

I turn the page around and show her the proof. "We know my answer now...it's your turn."

"No entanglements," she answers.

I don't care about the rest of the quiz—or the customers picking their favorite produce. I set the magazine down on the tall pile of apples and reach for her.