Something to Believe In

CH 14: Road Tripping

                There are only so many combinations you can have when you put four adults into a compact car. Especially when one of said adults does not pack light. "What?" Michelle asks defensively. "It was Wrestlemania week!" And that's how we end up renting an SUV.

Immediately, it becomes clear that we are a diverse group. Gallows wants to sit next to Serena. Fearing a revolt in the car, I suggest that the girls sit together and allow Luke to drive so I can keep an eye on them. Michelle ends up behind Gallows, which puts Serena behind me. Luke finds a radio station that he likes. Serena looks uncomfortable, and she keeps glaring at me. Michelle seems to be in a good mood, at least. I'm just starting to relax when Michelle hands me her phone. "What's this for?"

"Read it," she suggests.

I stare down at the screen. "IAmJericho I stand corrected. Hardy & Punk are NOT a couple. They were arguing about a girl. Simple mistake; could've happened to anyone!" I look up at Michelle. "Good." She nods and takes the phone back from me.

"Told you we'd fix it."

Serena turns to Michelle. "So why did you and Hardy break up? You two were cute together."

I sit up and look back at Serena. "I don't think..."

"It's okay," Michelle says. "We're going to be hanging out together, right? They should know." She takes a deep breath. "I'm an idiot."

"You're both idiots," I mutter.

Michelle smirks at me. "As your esteemed leader points out..." She pauses. "Well, no. I guess I should say, as our esteemed leader points out, shouldn't I? I mean, I'm part of all of this now, right?"

"So you keep telling us," Luke says.

Michelle eyes the back of Luke's head. "Mm. Okay then. We're both idiots." She makes a face at me. "I'm an idiot for making a bet with Layla and thinking he'd never find out, and he's an idiot for not realizing in the end that I loved him."

"So that thing about the bet was real?" Serena asks.

"Yeah," Michelle sighs. "Real and stupid and... yeah."

"But Matt..." Serena frowns. "He really seemed to love you, too."

"There's no accounting for taste," Gallows mutters. Michelle whaps him in the head. "You don't hit the driver!"

"I do," she says, smiling sweetly. "If he's being an ass. Just ask Punk."

I wince. "She does it all the time," I confirm.

"That's unsafe," Gallows says.

"Then don't be an ass," Michelle says. "Simple as that." She turns back to Serena. She seems to consider her next words carefully. "He was going to ask me to move in with him, and then he found out about the bet. He felt hurt and betrayed and wouldn't listen to my explanation. That's why we broke up."

"Oh."

I frown at Michelle. "He was?"

"What?" she asks.

"Going to ask you to move in with him?"

"Apparently," she says with a shrug. "He told Layla about it, and she told him about the bet."

"I didn't know what happened," I tell her. "When he told me about it the other night, he didn't mention any of that." I shake my head. "Layla told him? That's low."

"She was right, though," Michelle says with a sigh. I can see that she wants to be mopey about it, and that's going to make the car ride even worse.

"We'll talk about it later," I say. "But maybe we ought to pull over and get some lunch." Luke glances at me, then takes the next freeway exit. Luckily, it happens to have several restaurants. He pulls into a Denny's and unbuckles without a word, getting out of the SUV. Serena shoots me a hesitant look, and I nod to her. "Go ahead. We'll be in in a minute. You and Luke get us a table."

Serena nods and exits the vehicle. Once we're alone, Michelle turns to me. "Wow, the straightedge society are sure cheery, aren't they? I don't have to get my sense of humor surgically removed, do I?" she asks. "Because that's not what I signed up for."

"Yes, you did," I say. "Read the fine print."

She smacks my shoulder, and I smirk at her. "Thank you."

"For what?" I ask.

She waves her hand. "Everything. The SUV, the storyline, picking up the shattered pieces of my heart? Take your pick."

"That's what friends do, sunshine."

"I wouldn't know." She looks away from me. "It's weird that you and Matt are on better terms than he and I are."

"You're still hurting, so it's understandable."

"I would have said yes." She looks at me again. "To moving in with him."

I nod. "That makes sense."

"It's my own fault. I should have told him a month ago."

"You should have, yes. Layla shouldn't have told him."

She sighs. "Layla was trying to show me it would never last."

"I don't think she was."

"What do you mean?"

"Michelle," I say, "she wanted to end your friendship over Hardy. Then, she makes up with you the day before she shares the secret bet with him. Do you think that's a coincidence?"

"No," she says, "it's the day that Matt told her he was going to ask me to move in with him."

"She could have left it alone and never said a word. Who knew about the bet? You, me and Layla?"

"Yeah."

"I wasn't going to tell him, and if you never told him, how would he find out?" Her eyes narrow. "She hates him, and she wanted her friend back."

"So you think she told him to hurt me?"

"No," I say, "not to hurt you. I don't think she realized how invested you were, despite both of us telling her. I think she did it to get Hardy out of your life."

"Well, it worked."

"Yeah, it did." I open the door. "So lunch?"

"With the straightedge society? Why not?" she asks. "Should be a barrel of laughs."