Tread

August 21

Em: Happy Birthday. Sorry I'm late. 10:13AM

Em: Can we talk? 10:13AM

Rai: Yeah. i got time. Call whenevs 11:19am

My phone rings a second after I send the text, Em's goofy face blinking happily up at me. I take a deep breath and answer on the third ring. "Rai?"

"Hey, Em."

"Happy Birthday!" she bursts out. "I didn't forget, I just—"

"Dude, it's fine. You know I'm not birthday crazy."

There's a long pause, the conversation hesitant and awkward. "How've you been?"

I sigh, trying to run a hand through my hair but it gets caught on the tangled strands of my forming rats nest. Need to comb that. "Not great. But I'm getting there."

"Same," she says quietly and I want to know more, want to know what the hell's been going on with her. "What are you doing today?"

I think about the textbooks I have yet to buy, the dorm room I have yet to move into. There's a long list of stuff I have to do, but none I really want to do. "Nothing. Did you want to do something?"

"Yeah, but I'm over at the farm..."

"Still?"

"Last weekend."

"Well, I mean, that's okay. My mom let me borrow her car so I can come up there or meet you wherever you want."

She laughs, "It's like a three hour drive."

"Doesn't matter. You still got apples on the farm right? I want some free birthday apples as compensation."

"Done. There's a small dinner a few miles from here with the best pies. Let's meet there. I'll send you the address."

"Works for me. See you soon."

"See you."

We hang up. Ten minutes later, I'm keying up a driving playlist and the directions Em's sent to my phone. Almost three hours away, but the distance doesn't seem that far. Caravan Palace keeps me company, and I can't exactly be upset when the sun is shining and the natural wildness of Michigan's countryside surrounds me. Heated asphalt stretches out as far as I can see while cottages and small farms decorate the rolling hills for miles. It's pretty and patch worked, railroad tracks every so often and livestock milling about. While I'm a city girl at heart, there's something soothing and relaxing about visiting the country, almost rejuvenating.

Open fields narrow to a small town, and I curve around cracked asphalt to a one story diner that looks like it used to be someone's house. Parking, I walk into the restaurant, blinking back at the hunting-lodge-meets-disco tech. Wood everything with dead animal heads thrown up on the walls, and a small stage, disco ball, and karaoke machine in the corner.

I find Em sitting in a booth, nursing a mug of what smells like cider. It reminds me that fall is just around the corner.

"Hey," I say, taking a seat.

The waitress comes to us immediately, brown hair pulled up in a high ponytail with a friendly smile gracing her lightly freckled face. "What can I get for you?"

Picking up the menu at the end of the table, I order a chocolate-peanut butter pie and cup of coffee. The woman nods and leaves to fill the order.

"Been a second," Em mutters as she looks over the rim of her cup at me, taking a long sip of her drink.

"I think we all needed that second though."

Em sighs and places the cup back down. "Yeah. I just couldn't deal with Kate. Love the girl—and I'll be there in a heartbeat if she calls—but I can't deal with her issues."