Page 21 of Rock and a Hard Place

Peter shrugged, a smug grin on his face. He moved to the back of the bus, high-fiving Garrett as he passed.

“Oh yeah, little brother,” Garrett said.

“We brought you a burger,” his mother called.

“Not hungry.” He plopped onto the couch, popped in his earphones, and lost himself in thoughts of Libby.

A half hour later, Libby’s sopping-wet jeans lay in a pile on the floor along with her waterlogged shoes and dripping socks. She sat in the middle of her bed with her new phone and ran her hands over it when a familiar Jamieson tune played.

Startled, she dropped the phone, then fumbled with the screen until she heard laughter sound from the tiny unit.

She picked it up. “Hello?”

“Hey there.” Peter’s magical voice sounded close. “Peter!”

“Your voice is music to my ears,” Peter answered.

Libby felt warm and tingly down to her cold feet. “I still can’t believe you gave me a phone.”

“Well, I had to do something. I couldn’t quit the tour and hide in the woods every day, waiting for you. My dad would have blown a gasket. I figured this would be a good compromise.”

“Works for me.”

“Whatcha doing?” he asked.

“Sitting on my bed about to figure out the phone. I just got here a few minutes ago.” Up until a year ago, she’d had a phone since she was twelve. Being without one for the past year had been almost as isolating as how she lived.

“Perfect timing. You’ll have to be sure to put it on mute when you’re at school.”

“I’ve decided to quit school so I can talk to you all day.”

“No, you won’t. You need to study, get smart, and graduate.”

She couldn’t stop grinning. This was almost like having him there with her. “Never fear. I’m only a few credits from finishing.”

“Are you a senior?”

“No, I’m a junior, but I have enough credits to graduate at the end of the semester.”

“How’d you manage that? I just finished last spring, and I swore it would kill me. I hated homework. It kept me from writing songs.”

“I spend a lot of time studying. I’ve had a lot of time on my hands, so I just loaded up on extra classes and tooksummer courses.” Studying had been her savior. Losing herself in books made the rest of the world go away. You don’t think about how much you miss your family when you’re deep into advanced biology or calculus.

“So you’re a brainiac?”

“Maybe,” she replied with a smile. “Does that bother you?”

“Heck, no. Maybe some of your smarts will rub off on me.”

She laughed. “So, where are you? What are you doing?”

“We’re headed south, to Texas, and I’m sitting in my

bunk talking to this really cool girl I know.”

Libby hugged herself. “Texas is far. How long till you get there?”

“I think it’s about sixteen hours to Dallas, so I have a lot of time to talk.”

---