Free Released by Megan Duncan Page A

madder.
    “What’s got her panties in a bunch?” Max asked.
    “I think she has a little crush on Carter.”
    “I do not!”
    We laughed some more, “Geez, ok. Keep it down, you don’t have to yel.” I didn’t want to have her be too upset with us so I tried my best to force my smile away.
    “If you two can be together, why can’t Carter and I?” she asked. She stopped and turned to face us with her hands on her boney hips.
    “Taya, were not…” I looked to Max and he was avoiding my eyes, squinting into the distance at the Bronco that was far ahead. I knew he was dying to hear how I answered this accusation. His lips were quivering and I could tel he was desperately trying not to smile.
    “Don’t try to lie Abby. I saw you two, not that I care that you were sucking face, but don’t try to deny it. I see how you look at each other.” I blushed at that and quickly tried to hide it by taking a smal step away from Max. I wasn’t ashamed about how I felt for him, but it was so new. The kiss we shared was something I never thought would happen and I hadn’t figured out what Max and I were now that it had.
    “That’s different Taya. Carter is…” I didn’t want to tel her that I didn’t think he was interested in her cause I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. I could see in her eyes how much she was holding back. I was a bit taken aback by how much I realized she liked him.
    “He’s just a bit older than you, that’s al we’re trying to say.” Max added.
    “Oh. Wel, don’t worry about that. I’ve dated lots of guys older than me. My last boyfriend was seventeen.”
    “We just don’t want you to get hurt.” I added trying to sound supportive and it worked.
    Taya softened and headed toward the Bronco again, almost with a skip in her step.
    “Poor Carter.” Max chuckled. “He has no clue what he is in for.”
    Max and I continued the short walk to the Bronco in silence, just enjoying each others company. I had inched my way closer to Max’s side as we walked and I could tel we were probably closer than necessary by the look on Carter’s face when we made it to the Bronco. The more my feelings for Max grew and the more I dreamt that my chance of being with him was possible, I started to care less and less if my brother knew about us.
    Carter quickly grabbed the gas can out of Max’s hand and filed up the Bronco while the rest of us crawled in. Taya insisted on sitting shotgun, so Max and I gladly sat in the back. As we made our way into Utah the terrain slowly began to change.
    “So what did he give you?” I asked Max randomly, trying to break the awkward silence.
    “Who, Charlie?” Carter groaned as he heard the name. “He gave us food mostly, some soaps, oh, and he wanted you to have this.” Max dug into a side pocket and puled out a smal radio. It was not much bigger than my hand and the antennae was broken, but it brought a big smile to my face. “He said that he hopes we find what we are looking for, and doesn’t want us to give up.”
    “Wow. That’s nice of him.” I sounded more appreciative that I should have, but that was probably the most thoughtful gift I had received in ages.
    “That guy is ful of crap. We wil find what we are looking for and we are going to win this.” Carter held up his book. “We’ve got so much information. We’re going to give it to the military and it’s going to make a difference, just you wait and see.”
    “I believe you Carter,” I added. “No one is saying that they don’t. You don’t need to be so defensive.”
    “Me too. I never doubted you,” Taya added while squeezing his shoulder.
    I could tel that recent events had realy shaken Carter and he was starting to lose hope, but I wasn’t sure of what I could do to raise his sprits. The only thing that would truly matter was getting to safety in New Mexico and we were stil a long ways away.
    As it got darker, our surroundings became more and more populated. I knew the gas we had