Chapter 6.
794 Words
They were halfway to the car when a frantic tapping of sneakers on pavement caught their attention. "Hey! Hey, wait!"
Ryan was jogging toward them, his face pale and his breathing ragged. He skidded to a halt a few feet away, his eyes darting between the group and the looming school building. "The first bell is about to ring. What are you guys doing? Where are you going?"
"Road trip!" Maxine squealed, already doing a little hop of excitement despite the gravity of the situation.
"Road trip? What? Why?" Ryan’s brow furrowed, his gaze landing on Kane, who had already reached the driver’s side door. Kane leaned back against the black metal, crossing his arms over his chest with a bored, detached expression that seemed to grate on Ryan’s nerves. "Harper, you’re better than this. Cutting school on a Tuesday? You’re going to get suspended."
The irony of the statement wasn't lost on Harper. She felt a bubble of dark laughter rise in her chest. Maxine stepped forward, her expression softening as she looked at Ryan. "You haven't told him yet, have you, Harp?"
Harper looked at Ryan. Truly looked at him. He had been the constant noise in her life- the boy who was always there, lurking, teasing, making himself a permanent fixture in her periphery. He looked genuinely distressed, his green eyes- so much like Kane’s, yet so much more anxious, searching hers for an explanation.
"I was going to," Harper said, her voice dropping. "But the morning has been... quite busy. Derek and I are over, Ryan. And I'm not going to class." She took a step toward him, the heavy combat boots feeling a little lighter in the open air. "I'm sick, Ryan. Really sick. I have a month left. Cellular degradation- the doctors basically said I’m a ticking bomb."
Ryan froze. The color drained from his face until he looked nearly as pale as Harper. The annoyance, the confusion, the "best friend," the "cousin" rivalry- it all vanished, replaced by a hollow, haunting silence.
"A month?" he repeated, the words barely a breath. "Harper, that’s... that’s not possible. You were just joking about the Industrial Revolution yesterday."
"I wish I were joking," Harper said, offering him a sad, lopsided smile. "I’ll explain more in the car. Just... come with us."
Ryan looked at the school, then at the black GTO, then at the girl who was suddenly a ghost in the making. Without a word, he walked over to the car.
The interior of the GTO smelled of old leather and gasoline. Kane sat in the driver’s seat, the engine roaring to life with a throatiness that vibrated in Harper’s very bones. It felt like life. It felt like power.
"Okay," Kane said, shifting the car into gear. "We have a tank of gas and a dead-end town behind us. Where are we heading?"
Maxine pulled a glittery notebook from her backpack, her pen poised over the page. "Okay, we need a strategy. This isn't just a drive; it's the 'Harper Brooks Great Finale Tour.' Harp, talk to me. If the world ends in thirty days, where do we go?"
Harper leaned her head back against the seat, watching the school fade into the distance through the rearview mirror. "I want to see the ocean," she said quietly. "Not the local beach with the brownish water and the screaming toddlers. I want the real Atlantic. I want to stand where the world just... stops."
"The Coast. Got it," Maxine scribbled furiously. "What else?"
"I want to go to a real club," Harper added, her voice gaining strength. "Not a high school party in a basement. Somewhere with strobe lights where I can’t hear my own thoughts."
"Clubbing. Done," Maxine muttered. "Ryan, any ideas?"
Ryan sat in the back next to Maxine, staring out the window with a haunted expression. He cleared his throat. "There’s that old abandoned carnival two towns over. We used to talk about sneaking in when we were ten. You said you wanted to ride the Ferris wheel at night."
Harper felt a pang in her chest. She had forgotten that. "The carnival. Yes. Add it to the list, Max."
Kane glanced at Harper from the corner of his eye. "What about something fast? Something that makes you forget you’re human for a second?"
"Like what?" Harper asked.
"Skydiving," Kane suggested, his smirk returning.
"Absolutely not!" Maxine and Ryan shouted in unison.
"Put it on the list," Harper said, her blue eyes flashing with a sudden, reckless fire. "If I’m going to fall, I might as well do it from ten thousand feet."
- Writer
