Road To Rhodes

Beep Beep Beep Maya was coming awake, brown eyes blinking slowly at the bare white Celine. It was Wednesday. Or maybe Thursday. She had lost count by now. "Maya! I left your lunch money on the counter. I've got a double shift tonight so don't wait up." Her mom's voice floated up the stairs, already half out the door. Maya was quiet but happy. It's been soo long she's tasted her mum's food. Her mum was always too busy. Then her phone buzzed. She picked it up, swiping on it to open the text message. It was Sasha. "Where are you? Don't be late today." Maya groaned, rolling over and burying her face in her pillow. Sasha had been doing this every morning since her dad's death. Checking in. Making sure she got out of bed. Pretending everything was normal. She loved her for it, but she also wanted to throw her phone out the window. She didn't understand herself or her feelings these days. Twenty minutes later Maya was trudging through the school parking lot, backpack hanging off one shoulder, when she heard it. The distinct sound of people whispering, murmuring, and trying way too hard to look like they weren't trying. It was only one person they can draw out that kind of reaction. Rhodes Callahan He was leaning against his stupid black motorcycle, with a smug smirk across his lips. His crew surrounded him, three guys who laughed at everything he said and two girls who kept finding excuses to touch his leather jacket. Maya could barely look at the sight without her eyes getting teary. It was genuinely embarrassing to witness. Yet still—ugh—her traitorous eyes flickered over anyway and couldn't stop staring. He was already looking at her. His head tilted slightly, dark hair falling across his forehead in that deliberately messy way. Maya looked away first. Obviously. She had zero interest in whatever mind game he was playing. Rhodes Callahan was the most popular guy in school, the most handsome guy in school, and according to pretty much everyone who'd ever dated him, the most infuriating guy in school. He was rich, he was cocky, and he walked through the hallways like he owned them. Maya thought he looked like someone who'd never been told "no" in his entire life. And she was not about to be the first. She found Sasha by the lockers, already bouncing on her heels with that frantic energy she got when she had gossip. "You're alive!" Sasha announced, throwing her arms around Maya's shoulders. "I was this close to sending a search party. Or at least a very aggressive text." "It's been one night." "One night without hearing from you is like a decade in best friend years." Sasha pulled back, narrowing her eyes. "You didn't answer my t****k. I sent you three." Maya started walking toward homeroom. "I was sleeping." "At seven PM?" "I'm a grandma now. Accept it." Sasha fell into step beside her, linking their arms together. "Okay, well, grandma needs to hear this. You know the senior wilderness trip? The one Mr. Donovan's been threatening us with all year?" Maya's stomach dropped. "No. Absolutely not. I'm not going." "You don't have a choice." Sasha's voice went singsong, like this was exciting news and not a death sentence. "They just announced it. Mandatory. No exemptions. Even if you have a note from your dead ancestors, they don't care." Maya stopped walking. "That can't be real." "It's real. Three weeks. Camping. Hiking. 'Character building.'" Sasha made air quotes with her fingers. "And the best part? They already assigned the trip partners." Maya had a very, very bad feeling. "Sasha." "Hmm?" "Who's my partner?" Sasha's face did something complicated. It was trying to be sympathetic but it was also trying not to laugh, which was never a good combination. "So the thing is..." "Sasha." "They paired everyone alphabetically by last name." Maya's last name was Martinez. She tried to think of who came next. Mitchell? Morgan? No, someone with an M, someone whose name she'd seen on attendance sheets and immediately ignored— Oh no. "Sasha, who." "It's Rhodes, okay? Your trip partner is Rhodes Callahan. You're stuck with the hottest, most annoying boy in the entire school for three weeks in the wilderness." Sasha winced. "I'm so sorry. But also... this is kind of hilarious." Maya stood frozen in the hallway while students rushed past her. Rhodes Callahan. Three weeks. Camping. She thought about her dad. She thought about how she couldn't even get through a Wednesday without wanting to crawl back into bed. She thought about how the idea of pretending to be okay for three entire weeks in front of a boy who probably didn't know grief existed felt impossible. And then she thought about the way he'd been staring at her in the parking lot, like he was already planning something. "Hey." Sasha's voice softened. She could always tell when Maya was drifting. "You okay?" Maya blinked. The hallway came back into focus. "I'm fine," she said. "I just need to figure out how to get expelled before Friday." Sasha snorted. "That's the spirit." They walked into homeroom together, and Maya tried very, very hard not to notice that Rhodes Callahan was already sitting in the back row, feet up on his desk, smirking like he'd just heard the same news she had. She failed. His eyes met hers across the classroom. One corner of his mouth lifted higher. And then he mouthed something. It took her a second to translate it. "Ready for our trip, partner?" Maya's jaw tightened. She turned around without acknowledging him and slid into the seat farthest from his. Sasha leaned over. "What did he say?" "Nothing important." "Your face is red." "It's hot in here." "It's air-conditioned." Maya pulled out her notebook and started doodling just to have something to do with her hands. She drew a tree. Then a lake. Then a stick figure with a leather jacket being eaten by a bear. It was going to be a very long three weeks.