I Was Told It Would Get Easier(61)

We sat back down, and I looked out the window. He’s going to think I’m such a dork.

“I like museum stores, too,” he said instead. “I used to collect those pens that have things that slide up and down inside them, you know?”

“Floaty pens?” I was surprised. “I have like two dozen of those. I love them, too. My mom traveled a lot for work and she would bring them back if she found them. The best ones are made by a Dutch company called Eskesen.” Oh crap, I overgeeked it. I might as well go back and sit by my mom.

“Yeah,” said Will, “they were the ones who solved the problem of leaking mineral oil.”

He outgeeked me. Thank god.

He continued. “My mom left when I was, like, ten, but before that she traveled for work and she would always bring back stuffed animals with the name of where she was, you know?”

I nodded.

“When I was little I thought it was awesome. I put them all together on a shelf, right? But recently I realized it meant she didn’t think about me at all until she was about to come home and scrambled to find something at the airport. One time she brought a T-shirt instead, and I said, They didn’t have any bears? She was confused because she didn’t even realize I collected them. She didn’t notice much about me at all.” He shrugged. “Which sucks differently now than it did when I was nine, but it still sucks.”

“Do you see her a lot?”

He shook his head and deflected the question. “Did you collect anything when you were a kid?”

Oh god, this was going to be the end of it. “Uh, Pokémon cards?”

He snorted. “Everyone collects Pokémon cards, that doesn’t count.”

“In binders? In evolutionary sets? By date of release?”

He laughed. “Okay . . . no, not everyone did that.”

“I did.” Casper’s head popped up over the back of the seat in front. “Did you have any rares?”

I shook my head. “Nothing super rare. Did you?”

He grinned. “My mom collected Pokémon cards back in the nineties, so I have . . .” He lowered his voice. “A shadowless holographic first-edition Mewtwo.”

“No way,” I said.

“Way.”

I laughed and turned to Will. “While we’re embarrassing ourselves, I was also a Girl Scout.”

“I was a Boy Scout.”

“I have badges.”

He snorted. “I have all the badges.”

I frowned at him. “I’m not sure I believe you.”

He grinned at me. “When we’re back in LA, you can come over and I’ll show you.”

I raised one eyebrow. “You’re inviting me to come over and look at your badges?”

“Yes,” he said, “because who can resist that level of suave?” His eyes were warm. I love a callback. We’re going to see each other when we get home. Why am I being such a nerd about this? I can feel myself blushing, but he is, too, so it’s cool.

“You can come and see my Pokémon cards, too, if you like,” said Casper.

“We will definitely do that,” said Will. “We both will.”

We’re seeing each other at least twice. What is wrong with me?

“Yeah,” I said, “I’ll bring mine, too, we’ll make a day of it.”

For a minute I think I’ve gone too far, but Casper’s face made it worth it.

Then Sam’s head popped up next to Casper’s. “Hey, did you guys hear about the scandal at Westminster?” He looked at me. “That’s your school, right? Do you know anything about it?”

“No,” said Will, “what happened?”

“Like, six kids got expelled for bribing some AP teacher to increase their AP score. They offered . . .” He paused and stumbled over it a bit. “B . . . blow jobs for multiple-choice answers.”

“That’s not true,” I said immediately.

“Aha,” said Sam. “So you DO know about it.”

I shook my head. “No, I know there were only three kids, and oral sex was not part of it at all. I don’t know anything else, because I’ve been on the tour, right, but it’s not that big a deal.”

“Because this kind of thing happens all the time at Westminster?” Casper sounded uncharacteristically sarcastic.

I took a slow breath. “No, because it was only three girls. Suspended not expelled. Not actually cheating, just planning to cheat. No sex, oral or otherwise.”

“But they’re still cheaters.”

“Allegedly.”

Will made a face at me. “And you said you didn’t want to be a lawyer.”





19





JESSICA


We’ve arrived in Rhinebeck, which is nauseatingly picturesque. I could see Emily’s face as she got off the bus with the other kids, and could tell she was quietly blown away. This is the thing about West Coast kids, or maybe only mine: They’re really amazed by seasons. Literally, the first time we were in DC in the fall, I thought she was going to lose her shit over the leaves. She caught my eye and I grinned at her.

“Pretty, right?”

“Stars Hollow.”