The Romantics(30)

“My little sister is begging to come.” He rolled his eyes. In his actual home, Piper wouldn’t have been within earshot.

“Oh,” Cara said.

Piper kept insisting. “Please please please pretty please.”

Gael cleared his throat. “I don’t think so—”

“Come on,” Piper said. “It will be so much fun! Please please pretty pretty please.”

“Uhh, I guess that works,” Cara said. “I mean, it would be cool to meet her, anyway.”

Gael looked from his sister to his dad, who was nodding eagerly. “All right,” Gael said to Piper, resigned. “Looks like we’re going to the zoo tomorrow.”

Piper immediately did a happy dance.

(So did I.)





team samgael


The next day, Piper was mostly quiet on the fifty-three-mile drive to the zoo, which was strange for Piper. She kept pulling out papers from her backpack and looking them over. Gael didn’t ask what she was doing. It was usually easier not to ask when it came to Piper.




Instead, he spent the entire time going over and over in his head what Cara must be thinking. She’d said no to a Saturday night hangout and had suggested a super-casual thing with his little sister, no less. Maybe she really did just want to be friends . . .

(Worth noting here is a common little mind trap that you humans frequently fall into: thinking much more about whether the other person likes you than whether you actually like them.)

Needless to say, Gael was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he was wholly unprepared for what he saw when they finally reached the entrance to the zoo. There, standing right next to Cara, leaning against the entrance to the Africa section, Candide in freaking hand . . .

Sammy.

He was so surprised he didn’t even think to wave. He turned right down the row of cars, seeking out a spot to park.

“I didn’t know Sammy was going to be here!” Piper squealed.

Gael shook his head as he pulled into an open spot. Could Sammy be the “friend” Cara had spoken of? UNC was a school of twenty thousand students—it would be a crazy coincidence. And yet, she must be.

“Believe me,” he said to Piper, cursing his luck. “I didn’t either.”




After the OMG, I didn’t know you were going to be heres, after Cara explained that Sammy was a friend from school, after Piper yelled at Gael for calling Sammy the “babysitter,” not the “French tutor,” after all of them marveled at what a small world it was, they purchased their tickets and filed in through the large “Welcome to Africa” plaza.

Piper immediately ran ahead toward the Crocodile Café. The girl was a fiend for slushies.

“Piper,” Gael yelled. “You have to wait!”

Sammy broke into a run, grabbed her, and dragged her back to Gael. He instantly felt bad for her—Sammy should not be having to deal with this on her day off. Meanwhile, Cara, who had basically created this awkward mess, gazed at the map like she didn’t have a care in the world. He felt a tinge of annoyance, and it surprised him. Cara couldn’t have known that her friend was his little sister’s babysitter. It was just one of those things. One of those . . . super-strange coincidence things.

Gael turned to Sammy. “You don’t have to take care of her. I mean, she’s my responsibility today.”

“I’m my own responsibility.” Piper crossed her arms. “Mom said.”

Gael cursed his mom for always indulging his little sister’s view of the world, and a flash of frustration passed across Sammy’s eyes. Still, in that way Sammy had of always putting his sister first, she didn’t let Piper see it. Instead, Sammy smiled at her. “Of course you are,” Sammy said. “But you still have to stick with the group.”

“Fine,” Piper said hesitantly. “But I have something fun to show you, so can we hurry up please?”

Piper grabbed Gael’s and Sammy’s hands, dragging them toward the café, while Gael turned to Sammy and mouthed, “Thank you.”

Once they’d gotten Piper her bright red slushy and grabbed a container of sweet potato fries to share, they headed to a table.

Piper immediately pulled two sheets of paper out of her backpack and spread them out proudly on the table.

Gael glanced at the paper. “What’s this, Pipes?” he asked.

She beamed. “It’s a video scavenger hunt. We divide into teams. I found it on the Internet. Can we do it, please please please?” It all came out in one long Piper breath.

“Uhh, I don’t really think—” Cara started.

But Sammy wasn’t having it. “You put this whole thing together for us?” she asked Piper.

Piper nodded. “I mean, I just printed it, but I looked on every website until I found a good one.” (Thanks to my nudging, of course.)

Sammy read off the sheet. “Waddle like a duck for sixty seconds,” she said. “A good one, indeed. Should we do it?” Sammy eyed Gael and Cara in a way that showed it was hardly a question.

“Sure,” Gael said.

Cara nodded reluctantly.

Gael was with Cara on this one—a video scavenger hunt sounded next-level lame—and yet he couldn’t help but appreciate that Sammy took Piper so seriously. He knew Piper loved that.