A Beginner's Guide to the American West ✓

chapter thirty-eight

t h i r t y - e i g h t

*

The sun comes out and I squint against the light, turning my cheek against Arjun’s jaw to escape the bright rays. In this moment, I don’t care about San Francisco. All I care about is his arms around me, my back against his chest, the breeze in my air. The sky is changing before our eyes and I lean a little heavier against Arjun, soaking in the dawn.

“Found them!” comes a yell from behind us.

The voice jerks me out of my dreamy reverie and Arjun jumps; we twist at the sound to see Carrie stamping down the brittle grass as she stomps over to us.

“Jesus, you two, Sam is freaking out!” she says when she reaches us.

“What? Why?”

“Uh, maybe because your tent’s empty and we’re in the middle of nowhere and you guys have a track record for disaster?” She rolls her eyes and huffs, brushing her hair off her face. “Everything ok? What’re you doing out here so early?”

“We’re good,” I say. “Just enjoying the sunrise. Didn’t mean to worry anyone.”

“Maybe leave a note next time,” Carrie says. She doesn’t sound too put out, though, and there’s a hint of a smile on her face as she subtly takes in our position and the beauty behind us. “Come on. Time to put Sam out of his misery.”

Arjun releases me and I look across to see him smile, one hand dropping to my hip and then finding my fingers. Carrie turns on her heel to lead the way back to camp and we follow a few metres behind, far enough that she can’t hear our murmurs.

“Thank you,” Arjun says quietly, rubbing his thumb over the back of my hand. “And I’m sorry. Probably shouldn’t have gone off alone this morning. I just needed a moment.”

“I know. I get it. But I also know that you’re gonna have the time of your life at St Andrews. You’ll probably find a whole host of crazy clever Latin-speaking friends who make bad dad jokes and have insane glasses prescriptions.”

“Is that how you see me?” he asks with a laugh, pretending to pull away. “God, March, that cuts deep. My prescription isn’t that crazy, and I think you’ll find I can read Latin far better than I can speak it, gratias tibi valde.”

“I’m gonna take a wild punt based on the one word of Spanish that I know and guess that gratias means thanks, and you’re welcome. I speak the truth.”

He grins. “I am well aware of that.”

When we make it back to the campsite, Sam actually sags with relief and exhales a heavy sigh when he spies us, striding across the dry grass to meet us.

“Guys! What have I said about wandering off? Nobody had a clue where you were,” he chastises, letting his hair out of its bun and retying it. I try to read the situation and I figure he’s not actually mad.

“You said we always have to be in twos,” I say. “I know my maths is pretty shit but one, two.” I point at myself and then Arjun. “Technically, you broke your own rule by sending Carrie out to find us on her own.”

“Hey. Don’t throw my own rules back in my face,” he says with a wagging finger. He’s frowning but there’s no proper anger in his eyes. “Are you guys ok?” He scans us, his eyes lingering on me, and I can feel him searching for some new injury or other. He won’t find one – I’ve been careful since I sprained my ankle, and while it’ll be a couple of weeks before it’s back to normal, I can hobble on it for now.