Road To Rhodes

Chapter2

Maya found Sasha by the notice board, already deep in conversation with two other girls who looked like they'd just been told they were being shipped off to war.

"There she is!" Sasha grabbed Maya's arm and yanked her into the circle. "Tell me you packed already. Tell me you're ready."

"For what?"

"The trip list got posted."

Maya felt her stomach do that thing again. That slow, horrible drop.

"Where?"

"Everywhere. School app. Email. The board behind me." Sasha gestured dramatically. "They want to make sure nobody 'misses the memo.' Their words."

Maya pushed past her to look at the board. Names were listed in alphabetical order, each pair highlighted in alternating colors like this was some kind of fun announcement and not a social experiment designed to ruin her life.

She found her name.

Martinez, Maya & Callahan, Rhodes

Assigned Tent Group: Green

Departure: Friday, 6AM

Return: Three weeks

Three weeks. Six AM. A tent.

She was going to die. Actually die. They'd find her body in the wilderness and Rhodes Callahan would probably use it as an excuse to get out of the rest of the trip.

"This has to be a joke."

"No joke." Sasha's voice had lost its singsong quality. She was watching Maya carefully now. "I already asked Mr. Donovan if we could swap partners. He said no. Then he said 'life is about adapting to uncomfortable situations.' Then I may have called him a tyrant, but quietly, so it doesn't count."

Maya kept staring at the board.

"Hey." Sasha bumped her shoulder. "We'll still be together. Not partners, but like, same trip. Same campsite. I'll sneak you extra marshmallows. It'll be fine."

"You're partnered with..."

"Marcus Greene." Sasha grinned. "He's sweet. He's quiet. He once helped me pick up my books when I dropped them in the rain and didn't even make it weird."

"So you got a nice guy and I got..."

"The human equivalent of a leather jacket with an ego."

Maya dropped her head into her hands.

"Listen." Sasha pulled her hands down, forcing eye contact. "You know what we do? We avoid him. Three weeks is long but the wilderness is big. You hide. I'll create distractions. He'll get bored and go bother someone else."

"Rhodes doesn't get bored." Maya had heard enough stories to know that. "He gets interested. And he's already..."

She stopped.

"Already what?"

Maya thought about the parking lot. The way he'd looked at her. The way she'd looked back.

"Nothing. It's nothing."

Sasha squinted at her but let it go. "Okay, well, interested or not, you're a brick wall. You're stone. You're the most unbothered person I've ever met, and I mean that as a compliment and also a concern."

"I'm not unbothered."

"I know." Sasha's voice went soft. "But he doesn't."

***

First period dragged. Second period crawled. By third period, Maya had perfected the art of staring at her notebook without actually seeing it.

She kept thinking about Friday. Six AM. A bus. A tent. Three weeks of pretending she was fine while the whole world expected her to be.

She kept thinking about her dad.

He would've hated this trip. He hated camping. He'd always joked that nature was "nice to look at through a window" and that his idea of roughing it was a hotel without room service.

Maya felt her throat tighten and immediately shoved the thought away.

Not here. Not in school. Not with people watching.

She was doodling again. The stick figure with the leather jacket was still being eaten by a bear. She'd added flames in the background. And a second bear.

"You're really committed to that bit."

Maya's head snapped up.

Rhodes Callahan was standing at the edge of her desk, hands in his pockets, that same lazy smirk on his face. Up close, he was worse. The leather jacket was clearly expensive. His jawline was frankly offensive. And his eyes were hazel, stupidly bright and they were doing that thing where they looked right at her like he already knew everything she was thinking.

"Can I help you?" Her voice came out flat. Good.

"Just checking on my trip partner." He dropped into the empty seat beside her without asking. "Making sure you're not planning to skip out. Donovan said if one partner bails, the other has to do double chores the whole trip."

"I'm not bailing."

"Great." He leaned over, peering at her notebook. "What's that?"

Maya slammed it shut. "Nothing."

"Looked like a guy in a jacket. Getting eaten." His smirk widened. "Was that me?"

"No."

"Definitely me." He leaned back, looking pleased. "You're already thinking about me, Martinez. That's cute."

Maya felt something hot flare in her chest. Not attraction. Not embarrassment. Something closer to rage.

"I was thinking about how much I don't want to share a tent with someone who probably spends more time on his hair than I do."

Sasha, from across the room, made a sound that was half gasp and half laugh.

Rhodes blinked. The smirk flickered, just for a second, before settling back into place.

"Okay," he said slowly. "I deserved that." He stood up, still watching her with that unreadable expression. "See you Friday, partner. Six AM. Don't be late."

He walked away. Maya stared at her notebook and tried to remember how to breathe.

Sasha appeared beside her instantly, eyes wide. "Did you just insult his hair?"

"His hair is insulting all on its own."

"Maya. You spoke to him. Like, full sentences. With eye contact."

"He started it."

Sasha dropped into the seat Rhodes had vacated. "Okay, I'm not saying this to freak you out, but he's still looking at you. From across the room. Like you're a puzzle he just found a missing piece to."

Maya refused to turn around.

"Then he's going to be disappointed," she muttered. "I'm not a puzzle. I'm just tired."

Sasha didn't say anything to that. She just squeezed Maya's hand once, quick and firm, and changed the subject to what snacks they should smuggle onto the bus.

Maya let her talk. It was easier than thinking. Easier than remembering. Easier than counting down the hours until Friday morning when she'd be trapped in the wilderness with a boy who looked at her like he'd already decided she was his next game.

She wasn't a game.

She was just a girl who'd lost her dad and didn't know how to be anything else.

The rest of the week blurred. Maya moved through it absentminded. Her mum left more lunch money. Sasha sent more texts. The ceiling stayed white.

no real big change

And Friday morning arrived faster than it had any right to.

Beep Beep Beep.

4:30 AM.

She groaned.

The bus was waiting.