The Summer at Camazotz

Thirty-One

I'm in the middle of playing monopoly with my family when I get a call from Tammy. I'd usually ignore any calls or texts I get during family time, but after my conversation with Winston, I figure I should answer.

After telling everyone that it's important and that I'll be right back, I run up the stairs to my and Winston's room and shut the door before answering the call.

"Hello?"

"Carter! Geez, take your sweet time much?" Tammy's voice is loud in my ear, and I turn down the volume on my phone.

"I was kind of in the middle of something," I say, running a hand through my hair. "What's up? Why the phone call?"

"Oh, right," she says, as if she already forgot the purpose of her call. "You'll never guess what happened today."

I roll my eyes and sit down on the bed. "Probably not, so just tell me what happened."

Tammy huffs. "You suck. Anyway, I saw Jordan. He seemed kinda off though, did something happen?"

My heart stutters in my chest and my mouth goes dry. Any mention of Jordan lately has me feeling like a nervous wreck. If Tammy saw him, he's one hundred percent ignoring me—not that I didn't already know that—and there's a small chance he may have said something to Tammy.

"Um. . ." I fall back on the bed, trying my best to string together a sentence. "Not that I know of."

"Well, that's not the weirdest part," she continues. "He asked me for relationship advice. I mean, how crazy is that? He knows I've never dated anyone and I didn't even know he was dating someone—"

I blank out while Tammy continues, rambling about what Jordan told her and how surprised she is. I hear her voice chattering through my phone's speaker, but I don't hear a word she's saying.

"Carter?"

I jolt back to reality. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked if you know who it is that he's dating," Tammy clarifies.

The right thing to do would be to tell her that it's me. Winston told me that I'd have to come clean eventually, but is now the right time?

"No," I say a bit too quickly. "Sorry, he hasn't said anything. And I haven't talked to him in a while."

"Oh." Tammy sounds confused. "I thought you guys talked like every day. At least that's what Astrid told me."

We did talk almost every day, before I went and screwed things up.

"Yeah, no, we don't. . ."

The line goes silent for a minute. I wonder if Tammy hung up, but the soft sound of her breathing tells me that she's still there, probably just thinking about what to say.

She clears her throat before declaring, "I'm coming over. Send me the address."

I sit straight up on the bed, making my head spin. "What? No, I'm not home. I'm at my grandparents' house."

"Alright, then send me their address. I'll bring them something so they don't think I'm trying to take away their precious grandson."

"Tammy, they live in Vancouver."

Tammy pauses for a second, contemplating this information. When she speaks, it's more firm this time.

"Don't care. It'll be a fun trip. I'm dying of boredom here," she says. "Send me the address and I'll be there in a bit."

I sigh, realizing she's not going to give up on this. "Alright, fine. See you soon, then."

We hang up and I let my phone drop from my hand. I stare at the wall, wondering what the hell I'm going to say to her when she shows up at the door. Everyone—except Winston—will be suspicious about why a girl is coming all the way to Vancouver just to talk to me.