The Benefits of Sexting

Chapter 5

When my mother first informed me that we were moving halfway across the country, I'd been devastated. And truthfully, it took me a while to get used to the cool, wet climate that was Astoria, Oregon. But now as I rode in the passenger seat of Sawyer's car, looking out at the green flashes of trees that passed by my window, I felt a sense of security and gratitude. For one, I would have never met Porter and Ty if I hadn't moved. Second, Astoria was beautiful. Living by the ocean and smelling the fresh, salty air every day was good for the soul. Plus, The Goonies was filmed in Astoria, which was totally awesome because it was one of my all-time favorite movies. 

"Why do we need to stop at the library again?"

I had to stop myself from groaning out in frustration. I'd only told Sawyer about three times that I had to inform my boss that I wasn't coming to work today. It was his fault anyway. He insisted on figuring out this whole Josh thing as if I could just drop everything to accommodate him. 

"I need to—"

"Tell your boss that you can't work, I know."

I peered over at him as he changed the radio station. "Then why'd you ask?"

"Because I knew it would annoy you," he said simply.

Of course, I thought. We were five minutes into our drive and I was already annoyed with him. He had some sort of special talent when it came to irritating me.

"Hey, I have a question?" he asked, turning his head for a second to glance at me.

I sighed. "What?"

"Do you, Ty, and Porter have threesomes?"

Out of habit, I reached over and smacked him in the arm. Hard. After three years of having to hear Ty's dirty jokes it was pretty much instinct. "Ouch," Sawyer said, rubbing his arm as his lips formed a frown. "I'm driving, do you want to kill us?"

"If it shuts you up," I muttered.

Before Sawyer could make another one of his annoying jokes, I reached over and turned up the volume on the radio, hoping to drown out the sound of his voice. The only reason I was putting up with him was to get back at Josh and figure out what had happened with Jack. I had a gut feeling that there was more to the story than Jack was telling me, and I had to figure out what was going on.

Thankfully, Sawyer shut up the rest of the drive to the library. When he pulled up to a parking spot outside I had to refrain from jumping from the car as it was still rolling to a stop. "Be quick," he told me as I hopped out and slammed the door shut behind me.

As usual, Mandy was working the front desk, her gray hair pulled back into an unflattering bun and a grumpy expression plastered across her face. When she saw me she looked up at the clock and that back at me, as if to check if I'd been late. "You're just on time," she said. 

"Actually, something came up with my sister. I called Kelly on the way here. She's going to fill in for me."

Mandy regarded me with a sour expression, her lips pressed tightly together, wrinkles forming in her forehead. "You need to check with me before you ask someone to take your shift. Next time there will be a consequence."

Thanks Sawyer. "Of course. I wouldn't have if it weren't important. See you tomorrow!"

Without a glance back at my grumpy boss, I hurried out of the building and back toward Sawyer's car. When I pulled at the handle, the door held, laughter escaping from inside the vehicle. "Very funny, open the door," I told him, unimpressed with his childish behavior.