Page 10 of Dial A for Aunties

Instead, he speeds up. I scramble for the door, but it’s locked, and even in my panic, I know we’re going way too fast for me to take the jump. At best, I’d break an arm. At worst, I’d die.

Oh god.

The sickening realization hits me. I might actually die tonight. Bile rushes up my esophagus. I can’t tell how long I sit there, frozen, while we speed even farther away from civilization. I no longer recognize my surroundings. Outside, there are only what look like abandoned factories. There is no one to save me.

“Calm down, Meds. Hey, c’mon, we’re just having fun, right?” He glances at me and actually smiles. “Don’t be such a tease; I know you’re not shy. Those texts you sent me, I know you’re a dirty girl deep down inside. So I’ll tell you how this goes. We’re gonna find a nice spot, and get real cozy—”

The Taser darts shoot out and hit him right in the neck. Jake jerks like a doll. The car swerves to the side. I open my mouth to scream. Darkness.

4

Junior Year, Six Years Ago

“This is unreal,” I breathe out as I gaze out the airplane window.

“Yeah.”

I look down at my hand, nestled in Nathan’s. It looks so tiny in his paw. He gives it a squeeze, and we smile at each other. Holy shit, I’m actually doing this. In about ten hours, we’ll be landing at London Heathrow airport, where we’ll be greeted by his parents. Oh my god. I cannot.

“Stop freaking out.”

“I’m not.”

“Okay, tell your face to stop freaking out.”

I force a smile, which comes out as a grimace.

“That is officially the weirdest smile in the history of smiles,” he says, leaning over to kiss me. “Mmm, I love it when I kiss your teeth.”

That gets a laugh out of me, which makes me feel a tiny bit better. But not much. Because holy SHITBALLS, man! I’m on a plane with Nathan! On the way to meet his family! For Christmas! In England! What is this life?

“Hey, how come you don’t have an English accent?” I never thought of it, but now that we’re actually on our way to London, it strikes me that Nathan sounds about as American as it gets.

“It’s because my parents moved around a lot when I was little, so I was always put into international schools. Even in England, they put me in an international school. Easier to transfer my grades that way. Do you want me to sound English? Oi can talk Brit-ish for you, luv.”

“Oh god. Okay, you can’t carry it off.” I shudder, and he laughs.

“By the way, I got Selena those AirPods she’s been lusting after for Christmas. Signed it from you and me.”

I gape at him. “Really? That’s so generous.” I’d given her an assortment of moisturizers from Bath and Body Works.

“Well, yeah, none of this would’ve been possible without her help.”

“True.” Over the last two years, Selena has come home with me on many weekends. She’s a hit with my family; my aunts tell her she’s the daughter they wish they had (which—hello, what about me? But whatever), and Ma tells her she’s the sister she wished I had, which I have to agree with. And when Nathan invited me to his home for Christmas, Selena gave me the best gift anyone could come up with. She’d told Ma she wanted me to come back with her to Northern California for Christmas, and Ma had agreed without hesitation, since my family doesn’t celebrate Christmas anyway.

Nathan takes out his tablet from his backpack and sets it up on our tray table. “I downloadedImmortalsfor the flight.”

“Ooh, you are a godsend, Nathan Chan.”

“I figured shots of a topless Henry Cavill would help take your mind off meeting my folks.”

I roll my eyes. “There is way too much boobage inImmortalsfor you to act all selfless.”

“True.” He laughs, then leans in and lowers his voice. “But yours are my favorite.”

I smack his arm, but honestly, I’m sort of grinning at that. He pulls me closer so I can rest my head on his shoulder and we settle down to watch the movie. At some point, we both fall asleep. When the air attendant wakes us up hours later, I find to my immense horror that my head is stuck at a weird angle.

“Oh, no. No, no.” I try to turn it, but pain shoots down my spine, and I squeak.

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