Maybe This Time(62)

“I’ll see you at home, Sophie,” Mom said in a voice that was slightly more sympathetic. “And hey, bring me some of Miss Angel’s cookies on your way out. She said another batch was on its way.” The line went silent. She’d hung up.

I closed my eyes. Then, with that rage still burning inside me, I sent off a text to my dad.

Is it true? Have you not saved any money for me for college? I never asked you to so why did you need to lie about it?

I pushed Send.

Seconds later he responded back with only two words: I’m sorry.

And then my screen went black. I hadn’t noticed my battery running low, but that must’ve been the case because I couldn’t power it back on.

I stared at that black screen, a shadowy image of my angry eyes staring back at me. Great. Mom was right. My dad hadn’t saved a dime for me. I was screwed.

I tucked my phone in my back pocket. I needed to find a way out of here, even though I really just wished I could melt to the ground and become one with the corn. But I did know some wishes weren’t realistic. Maybe more than some.





My kid brother could get out of this maze, but I couldn’t? And why did it seem like nobody was left in here but me? I hadn’t seen another soul for at least fifteen minutes.

“Hello?” I yelled out. “I give up! Send in the rescuers!”

I pulled my phone back out and tried to power it on again. The battery hadn’t magically been charged by my jeans. I shook the phone in frustration. I was shoving it back into my pocket just as I rounded a corner and slammed, full body, into someone. I tripped backward, barely keeping myself from falling.

“Andrew,” I said in relief.

He smiled down at me. “This place is like a …”

“Maze?” I finished for him.

“Like a really hard one.”

“One that apparently an eleven-year-old can accomplish.” I brushed my hair out of my face.

“Are you saying Gunnar found his way out?”

“Yes.”

Andrew smiled again, letting out a breath. “Good.”

“Can I borrow your phone?” I asked. “Mine ran out of battery.”

“Ah. Is that why you stopped answering my texts?” He handed me his phone. “I thought maybe you got tired of me mocking your sense of direction.”

“That too.”

I pulled up his contacts, found Micah, then pushed Call.

She picked up after one ring. “Did you find him?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Oh, it’s you. You and Andrew never split up?”

“No, we did. We just now found each other again and my phone ran out of battery. Anyway, do you need to be rescued?”

She let out a single laugh. “No, I’ll find my way out. I actually circled the entrance twice now. My dad is going to kill me.”

“Yeah …” I shifted from one foot to the other. “Thanks for helping.”

“Yep,” she said, then she hung up.

I sighed, trying to decide whether to call her back or not, when Andrew said, “It’s probably not a conversation to have over the phone.”

“You think you can read my mind?” I asked, handing him back his phone.

“I already told you that I can. I have you figured out, Sophie Evans.”

I shook my head, feeling tired. “Maybe you can clue me in.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Why don’t you figure us out of here, Mr. Know-It-All?”

He jerked his head back the way he’d come from. “I think I can at least get us to the platform. That will help.”

“If not, I have a match in my pocket. We can burn this mother down.”

He laughed. “Maybe I don’t have you all the way figured out.”

We walked in silence for several moments before I said, “You see what I mean about the stars?”

He looked up and so did I. “They are pretty incredible out here.” His voice sounded as heavy as mine.

“You okay?” I asked. He’d stood up to his dad and I knew that hadn’t been easy for him.

“Walking in a maze all alone has a way of making one analyze oneself,” he said.

“I agree. We should all be required to do it once a week. A therapy maze or something.”

“How has nobody thought of this before?” he asked.

I let out a small laugh and we kept walking.

“So what did you figure out?” I asked.

“That’s maze-client privilege.”

“You’re right. I hope the maze is good with secrets.” Because I didn’t feel like telling anyone what I’d been dealing with in this maze tonight either. I just wanted to put it all out of my mind, let the maze hold on to it for a while.

Andrew met my eyes, his expression teasing again. “Should we give it some more secrets to keep?”

I shoved his shoulder. “You’re funny.”

Andrew reached out and batted at a leaf as we walked. “Here’s the thing: My dad is a jerk. You’ve always known that, I’ve always known that, the world knows that. But I just wanted to … I don’t know, give him the benefit of the doubt. Try to understand why he is the way he is. And since you know how good I am at figuring people out, obviously—”