The Rules of Dating My Best Friend's Sister(26)

Holden: Got it. Won’t push.

I looked back over to another photo of Holden and Ryan.

Lala: I’m looking at you right now, actually.

Holden: Crap. You can see I’m not wearing pants?

Lala: No, on Ryan’s bedroom wall.

Holden: Wait…you’re in Ryan’s room?

Lala: Yeah. I come in here sometimes.

Holden: That’s cool to know your parents still keep it the same.

Lala: They do. It was the same when he moved away to college and the same when he came back.

Holden: I’d love to visit sometime.

Lala: You should come by the next time you’re home visiting your parents.

Even though my parents might give you the stink eye now.

Holden: I might.

Then Warren popped up on my phone.

Warren: Goodnight, my love. Heading to bed. See you tomorrow before you head back.

Laney: Me too. ’Night, babe. Xo

I was just about to put my phone down when another text came in.

Holden: Damn guinea pig just stole one of my Hot Cheetos. Can they have those?

Holden is nuts.

Lala: I’m thinking…no.

Holden: She better be okay.

Lala: Maybe you should put the Hot Cheetos down.

Holden: She has the hiccups now! What the fuck. I didn’t sign up for this.

My shoulders shook with laughter.

Lala: LOL I’m sorry.

About a minute passed before he texted again.

Holden: I just Googled it and some guy says he gave his guinea pig Cheetos and it DIED. Holy shit!

Lala: You can’t believe everything you read. It was just one Cheeto she had, though, right?

Holden: HOT Cheeto. But yes.

Lala: I think it’ll be okay.

Holden: I should’ve stayed out tonight. This never would have happened. Fuck! I’m afraid to go to sleep now.

This wasn’t supposed to be funny. But I couldn’t stop laughing.

Lala: Do you need me to stay up with you?

A couple of minutes passed before he responded.

Holden: No. She seems good.

Lala: Yeah. It was only one Cheeto.

Holden: I think she’s gonna live.

Lala: Me too.

Holden: Thank you for your support during this trying time.

I wiped another tear of laughter.

Lala: Of course.

Holden: You’re laughing at me, aren’t you?

Lala: Yes.

He sent a voice recording. When I hit play, it was the sound of the guinea pig hiccupping. I burst into laughter again. Holden had managed to break me out of my funk from earlier.

Lala: You weren’t kidding.

Holden: No. Even I can’t make up shit like this.

Lala: Thanks again for the laugh.

Holden: Anytime, Lala.

Lala: I’d better go to sleep.

Holden: Sweet dreams.

Lala: ’Night, Holden.

I fell asleep in my brother’s bed that night, with thoughts of Warren, California, Holden, and hiccupping guinea pigs swirling around in my head.





CHAPTER 7


Lala



What the heck?

I’d stepped on the gas to speed up before changing lanes, but my car had slowed down, rather than going faster. I pressed the pedal all the way to the floor, yet I kept decelerating. Ugh. You’ve got to be kidding me.

Searching for the hazards button on the dash, I kept driving, but moved over to the right lane, rather than the left that I’d been trying to merge into. Less than a minute later, the car was practically crawling, and I had no choice but to get off at the nearest exit. Luckily, there was a gas station at the first intersection, so I pulled in and parked. But when I got out, I realized there was no mechanic’s garage. It only had one of those mini marts attached.

Shoot. What the heck do I do now? My first instinct was to call Holden, but I was only an hour and fifteen minutes into the two-and-a-half-hour drive from Philly. So I went into the mini mart to see if there was anywhere nearby I could take my car.

“Hi. I’m having some car trouble and was wondering if you could tell me where the closest mechanic is located?”

The girl behind the Plexiglas looked like she might not be old enough to drive. She shrugged. “Sorry. I have no idea. My dad fixes all our cars.”

“Thanks anyway.”

Back outside, I leaned against my piece-of-shit car and dug my phone out of my pocket. I could’ve called Warren, but he hadn’t been able to get a piece of toast out of the toaster the other day when the edge got stuck. I’d had to stop him from sticking a fork in it while it was still plugged in. So I sucked it up and called the only man I knew who could fix anything, besides my dad. My dad was not who I wanted to call right now.

“What’s up, neighbor?”

I smiled. “Hey, Holden. I’m sorry to bug you, but I’m having a little car trouble. Uh, again.”

“Where are you?”

I looked around and sighed. “I actually have no idea. I’m not sure what exit I got off on. But I’m about halfway into the drive back from Philly.”

“What’s going on with your car?”

“It was driving along just fine, but then it started to slow down, even though I hadn’t taken my foot off the gas pedal. Even when I stood on it, it kept decelerating. By the time I got off at the next exit, I was only going about twenty miles per hour.”