Again, But Better(38)

“Babe, are you okay?” My voice comes out small and hesitant.

She turns to face me, glaring again for a good five seconds before exploding, her voice pained and low. “I don’t know, Shane! I finally try to make a move on the guy I like, he jumps away yelling, and I quote ‘Dammit, Babe, I don’t like you like that,’ and then he makes a beeline right for you.” Her eyes shine.

“Babe, I’m so sorry. He’s an assbucket!”

“What, is Pilot not enough? You need every guy’s attention on you?”

“What?” Tears strangle my voice as I squeeze out the next two sentences. “What are you talking about? He came over to me, and I ran away from him!”

“I don’t want to talk to you right now.” She turns away pointedly as we make it into the actual bathroom. Babe strides into the next open stall. I turn and leave.

I wait outside next to Pilot, who’s chatting with Chad about bears. When Babe emerges, we follow her to the stairs and join the slow trickle of bodies headed to pick up their jackets. We shuffle along the coat check line. Babe’s a few people ahead of Pilot and me. Chad stands behind us, looking off into space.

Pilot ducks his mouth close to my ear as we take a step closer to the coat check window. “What do you think their best song was?” His voice tickles my face.

“Um, I think my favorite was that cover from that band I like.” My stomach rotates like a washing machine.

He smiles. “That weird hipster band? Same.” He holds my eyes.

“Next!” the woman behind the counter calls us forward. We break eye contact and step up hastily, handing over our tickets and paying the Euro for our jackets.

“Come on, Chad,” Babe demands with attitude as we all file back out onto the street. She spins on her foot and heads down the road toward the Metro. Chad starts after her.

Pilot and I hang back, walking slowly. “That looks dramatic,” he starts.

I take a deep breath, trying to quell my anxious stomach. “She went to kiss him, he said some nasty things, and then he tried to make a move on me in front of her when I was on my way back from the bathroom, and I ran away from him.”

“What?” His eyebrows pinch together.

“Yeah.” I exhale a gust of air. “It was weird. I don’t really want to dwell on it.”

Pilot studies me for a moment, his eyebrows low, before nodding and pressing his lips together. He looks down, watching the ground go by under our feet. I drop my gaze.

“So where should we go next?” he asks.

My head snaps back up. I stutter, “Um—like tonight or in life?”

He huffs a breathy laugh. “Where should we go for our next epic weekend trip? What else do we need to climb?”

“I’m down to go anywhere really, maybe Scotland?”

“Scotland! Let’s hit that up. Braveheart!” he yells enthusiastically.

“Scotland it is, then! That’s where Hogwarts is.”

“Oh, did you go there?” he asks in a serious voice.

“Class of ’08.” I force down a smile.

“Me too.”

I put on my best Scottish accent, “So, you’re a wizard, Pilot?” It’s terrible. Pilot snorts.

Up ahead, Chad and Babe descend into the Metro station. We start down the steps a moment later and make our way to the platform. The station is packed. Everyone’s trying to catch the last train. We linger on the grungy platform for twenty minutes before an announcement is made to tell us the last train has already left the station.

Wearily, the four of us join a mass exodus back up to the street. On the left side of the staircase, there’s still a steady flow of people going down into the station despite its lack of trains. On the right side, we’re all packed together streamlining our way up. The four of us are slightly separated, a human or two between us. I’m in the middle of the pack.

We’re nearing ground level again. I can see the sky up ahead, but as I take my next step, there’s a tug on my cross-body purse and the strap yanks down on my right shoulder. The pull intensifies, and the strap slides up against my neck. I stumble back and turn my head in alarm. There’s a man, heading down the stairs, his hand is in my now-unzipped bag. My chest seizes. What do I do? He’s being pulled away with the downstream current of humans, and I’m being yanked backward.

“Ahhh!” a yell bursts from my lungs as I lunge upward and to my right, hopping over three steps, ripping my bag away from him.

“Shane?” I hear Pilot shout back.

“What’s going on?” Babe asks.

“I think she just tripped,” Chad’s voice hits my ears.

I flail over my feet, fumbling upward, pushing off the ground with my hands to regain my balance like a child running up the stairs. I grasp at my purse, pulling it up to my chest, and run up the remaining steps, pushing my way past everyone, not stopping till I’ve broken away from the mob and I’m back on the sidewalk outside.

I’m shaking as my hands pry the sides of my purse open, taking stock. I unzip the second pocket where my wallet is and exhale a relieved breath. It’s here.

It’s okay. A hand falls on my shoulder, and I look up to see Pilot’s olive eyes. I breathe breathe breathe breathe, pumping the fear out of my system.

“Are you okay?” he asks.