CHAPTER 1
Per
THERE WERE WORSE THINGS I FIND-
GOING ALONE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOwhere during a downpour. For example, I could have been chased by a rabid bear intent on devouring me. Or being tied to a chair in a dark basement and forced to listen to Barbie Girl by Aqua on repeat until I find it preferable to bite my arm off rather than hear that chorus for the umpteenth time.
However, the fact that there were worse things did not mean that this wasn't a shitty situation. "Stop it. Think positive."
“A car will arrive… now.”
I looked at my phone, swallowing back frustration as the app reassured me once again
saying he was “looking for my driver,” as he had been for the last half hour.
Normally I would have taken the situation more philosophically, because, come on, my cell phone was working and I had managed to escape the deluge under the bus shelter. But Josh's going-away party was starting in an hour, I still had to go to the bakery to get the surprise cake, and it would be dark soon. I may have been the kind of person who always sees the glass half full, but I wasn't an idiot. No one—especially not a college student who knows nothing about self-defense techniques—wants to find themselves alone in the middle of nowhere after dark.
I should have signed up for that self-defense course Jules told me about.
I went over all the – few – options I had available. The bus that made that stop didn't run on weekends and
Most of my friends didn’t have cars. Bridget had a personal driver, but she was scheduled for an event at the embassy until seven. The ridesharing app wasn’t working, and I hadn’t seen a single car since it started raining. Not that I would have hitchhiked anyway; I’ve seen too many horror movies, thank you very much. I had only one option left—one I really didn’t want to take—but sometimes you can’t be so picky.
I looked up the contact on my cell phone, prayed to myself and made the call.
One ring. Two. Three. “Come on, answer it. Or don’t.” I didn’t know which was worse, getting killed or having to put up with my brother. Of course, there was always the possibility that my brother would kill me with his own hands for getting myself into a situation like that, but I’d think about that.
later.
"What happened?"
I wrinkled my nose at his greeting.
«Hello to you too, dearest brother. What makes you think something happened?”
Josh snorted. “Well, you called me. And you never call me… unless you're in trouble.”
Real. We preferred to text each other, not to mention that we lived door to door – it wasn't my idea, by the way – so we didn't even have to write to each other too often.
“I wouldn't say I'm in trouble,” I replied. «I'm just a little... struggling. I don't have public transportation nearby and the ridesharing app doesn't work."
“Good God, Ava, where are you?”
I told him.
<<<What the hell are you doing there? You're an hour away from campus!”
«Don't overdo it. I had an engagement photoshoot and it takes half an hour in the car. Three quarters of an hour if there's traffic."
A thunderclap sounded, making three-
sea the branches of the nearby trees. Rab-
I shivered and stepped back even further
under the shelter, but it was no use
