Free Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt Page A

My stomach starts churning again. “Probably just like, ‘Hey, had fun hanging out with you tonight,’ or something like that.”
    “Maybe it has to do with you going to see him tomorrow,” she says. “What time does his flight leave today?”
    “I think one this afternoon,” I say. “He was supposed to get to Middleton at around three or four.”
    “Just fyi, I think it’s kind of corny that you guys are stopping to visit him,” she says. “I mean, he’ll have been at college for one day. Could you be any more desperate?”
    “I’m not going just to see him,” I say. “Jordan is going to see his brother, and Lloyd just happened to find out about it, and decided it would be cool to meet up.” Jordan’s brother, Adam, is going to be a senior at the University of Middleton, and he stayed in North Carolina this summer to do an internship. When Lloyd found out we were stopping on our way to Boston, he thought it would be cool if we could get together so I’d have a chance to see where he was going to school.
    “But he invited you before you guys hooked up, right?” Jocelyn asks. “So it was like a friend thing.”
    “Oh, my God,” I say. “Maybe Lloyd realizes hooking up was a huge mistake, and he doesn’t want me to come anymore. Maybe his MySpace comment says something like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I was so horny that that happened tonight, but I hope you didn’t read anything into it. Maybe it’s not a great idea for you to come visit after all.’”
    “No,” Jocelyn says, her voice low and even, like she’s talking to some kind of mental patient. “Because B. J. told Jordan that Lloyd’s comment made it seem like you guys were a thing.”
    Oh. Right. I take a deep breath.
    “Okay,” Jocelyn says. “It’s loading. Hold on, I’m typing your page in.” The sound of keystrokes comes over the line. “Okay, let’s see…Oh, here it is.”
    “What does it say?” I almost scream. The old woman two people ahead of me in line turns around and gives me a dirty look.
    “Don’t freak out,” she says, which is never good, because if someone has to preface what they’re saying with “Don’t freak out,” you’re probably going to freak out.
    “Just. Read. It,” I say.
    “Okay.” She clears her throat like she’s about to give an oral presentation. “It says, ‘Hey, beautiful. I had the best time with you tonight—seriously, it was amazing. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow and talk about what this means. Thank goodness for frequent flyer miles, right? Sleep well, Courtney Elizabeth.’”
    For a moment, I can’t speak. Lloyd obviously does think we’re a thing. Which we most certainly aren’t. Which means that tomorrow, I am going to have to tell him we’re not a thing, while trying to make it out to Jordan that we are a thing, since I just told him we were.
    “Court?” Jocelyn’s saying. “Are you there?”
    “Yeah, I’m here,” I say. And then, before I can get into the bathroom, I throw up all over the floor.

courtney before
    123 Days Before the Trip, 12:23 p.m.
    “No,” Jocelyn says, taking a sip of her chocolate milk and regarding me over the cafeteria table. “That’s not going to happen.”
    “What isn’t?” I ask, trying to sound innocent. I’ve just finished telling Jocelyn about my night with Jordan, and she’s acting like it’s this huge, bad idea. Which it probably is. But only if I like him. Which I don’t.
    “You are not going to start pining away for Jordan Richman,” she says. “I won’t let it happen.”
    “I’m not pining away for him!” I say. I open up the packet of blue cheese dressing that came with my salad and pour it over the lettuce on my plate. I’m not even really that hungry, but I need something to keep myself busy, so that I don’t betray the way I’m feeling, which is that I may have a crush on Jordan. Which is insane. Because Jocelyn is right. That’s just ridiculous.
    “Good,” Jocelyn says, looking satisfied.