From the Desk of Zoe Washington(41)

I was also bringing my picture of Marcus, and at the last second, I stuffed his letters in between pages of my journal too. I wasn’t sure I needed to take them with me. It’s not like Professor Thomas would need to see them or anything, but I felt better having them. They were a reminder of why I was doing this in the first place.

The night before, while my parents were watching TV, I snuck into the kitchen to make snacks. I made two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches—one for me, and one for Trevor. I also grabbed a couple of apples from the counter and two bottles of water. I didn’t want Mom to see the food, since I was only supposed to be seeing a movie and getting ice cream while I was gone. So I stuffed everything into my backpack underneath a sweatshirt. I normally brought one to movie theaters in case I got cold, so Mom wouldn’t find that weird.

When my parents left for work, instead of Grandma coming over, I went to Trevor’s house to hang out until it was time for us to head to Davis Square for our “movie.” Trevor’s mom’s shift didn’t start until that night, so she was going to drop us off and pick us up.

In his bedroom, I showed Trevor everything I’d packed in my backpack for our adventure, and we went over our plan—quietly, so his mom wouldn’t hear us.

At noon, Patricia poked her head into his room. “Ready to go?”

We went outside and got into her car. Trevor sat in the front passenger seat next to his mom and I sat behind the driver’s seat.

“Excited for the movie?” Patricia asked once she pulled out of the driveway.

“Yup!” I said. Trevor glanced back at me and I smiled at him.

“I can’t believe how fast you’re growing up. I remember when you two would watch a movie together curled up on blankets in our living room. Now you’re going off on your own, meeting friends.” Her voice got all nostalgic. “I know middle school can be tough, but this is the beginning of such a fun time for you two. Your first taste of independence.”

“You’re not gonna cry, are you?” Trevor asked his mother, sounding annoyed.

“Of course not,” Patricia said, though her voice did sound a little like she was holding back tears. “Anyway, the movie starts at one, right?”

“Yup,” Trevor said right away. “We’re meeting our other friends inside the theater. Whoever gets there first is supposed to save seats for the rest of us.”

“Right,” I said, impressed at how easily Trevor lied to his mom. Maybe I was rubbing off on him. I was glad I’d decided to give him another chance, and that he was coming with me today. There was no way I could do this alone.

The drive to Davis Square took only five minutes. Trevor’s mom pulled in front of the Somerville Theatre, which was an old-timey theater that still had some of its original features. The words “Somerville Theatre” were engraved in stone on the front of the building. The marquee didn’t have screens with electronic letters—instead, it had black letters that had to be stuck to the sign. Every time a movie changed, someone had to stand up on a ladder and switch them by hand.

“All right, kids. This is your stop.” Patricia looked at me in the rearview mirror. “You have your ticket money, Zoe?”

“Yup.” Mom had given me thirty dollars that morning, to pay for my ticket, some popcorn if I wanted it, and ice cream, with a little extra in case of an emergency. I planned to use some of it to pay for my CharlieTicket to ride the T. I also had some of my leftover birthday money, in case we needed it. If things in Harvard Square took too long, we could take a cab back to Davis Square. Or, if we got everything done fast, we could get back to Davis early and actually get some ice cream at J.P. Licks before Trevor’s mom came to pick us up.

“Bye, Mom,” Trevor said, and we both got out of the car.

“Text me when the movie’s over, so I know you’re heading to the ice cream shop, okay?” Patricia said.

I could see from the expression on Trevor’s face that he was trying to figure out exactly what time to text his mom so she would think he’d gotten out of the movie.

“Will do,” Trevor told her.

Patricia kept her car parked at the curb and watched us to make sure we got inside the movie theater okay. Even though we didn’t have any time to waste, we went into the theater and pretended to get in line for tickets. I hoped we didn’t have to stand there for too long and actually buy tickets. What if Patricia waited until our nonexistent group of friends arrived?

“Is she still watching us?” I asked, keeping my eyes on the front of the line so we didn’t look suspicious.

Next to me, Trevor peeked over his shoulder. “Nah, she’s gone.”

I smiled. I couldn’t believe it worked, and we were actually alone in Davis Square. Hopefully the rest of our plan would go as smoothly. “Let’s go,” I said. “The sooner we can get to Harvard Square, the better.”





Chapter Twenty-Seven


Trevor and I left the theater and walked half a block to the T station. Since it was early afternoon on a weekday, when everyone was at work, it wasn’t crowded. Thank goodness, because it was already overwhelming to be doing this by ourselves. We took the escalator down into the station and walked to the ticket machine.

“Have you done this before?” I asked Trevor. I should’ve paid more attention when my parents bought CharlieTickets.