LITMIR.BIZ

       CHAPTER 4

      I woke up late the next morning and rushed to pack my bag to spend reading week with Sophie in Tofino—rain gear, toques, scarves, gloves, long johns, rubber boots, wool sweaters, and all my textbooks. The weather forecast was for torrential rain and cold temperatures. I had only been to Sophie’s cousin’s cabin on the west coast of Vancouver Island one other time and it was during the summer. I kind of remembered it being really windy and cold even in the middle of August, so I packed as many warm clothes as I could fit in my bag.

      Sophie showed up at eight in the morning, grinning with her hand propped on her hip—she was never in a good mood in the morning. Something weird was definitely up. She was wearing tiny jean shorts, a t-shirt, and flip flops.

      “Uh, why are you chipper this early and why are you dressed like that?”

      “Change of plans.”

      “Changed how?”

      She pulled all of the warm clothes out of my bag. “You’re not going to need these.”

      “What? Why?”

      She jumped up and down and waved two pieces of paper in front of my face. “My dad got us stand-by tickets to Acapulco and booked us in at an all-inclusive resort.”

      I shook my head to make the information sink in. “Are you kidding?”

      “Nope. I already asked your mom and she’s cool with it.”

      Not sure if I was more shocked about the tickets to Acapulco or the fact my mom agreed, I paused. “Seriously?”

      “My dad is convinced I need to travel, meet people, and experience other cultures. Date other guys.”

      “But your parents like Doug.”

      She shrugged and took a while to answer. “They don’t like that I’ve only dated one guy since I was fourteen. And they’re really not thrilled that he wants me to move to LA. Whatever, it’s a good time for me to travel and maybe figure out what I want to do with my life. We’re going to Mexico for a week—all expenses paid.”

      “Shut up!” I squealed and jumped up and down with her. Then my heart sank when it hit me that I couldn’t go. “I have way too much studying to do.”

      “Study, schmudy. You can read on the plane, on the beach, by the pool. Would you rather read textbooks in the freezing-cold Tofino rain or in the decadently warm Acapulco sunshine?”

      “Good point.” I didn’t even need convincing. “Sunshine, here we come. Yes.” I did a fist-pump and leapt around my room to dump all the winter clothes into my closet. I filled a suitcase with shorts, bathing suits, summer dresses, hats, sunglasses, and sandals.

      “Don’t forget club outfits,” Sophie hollered from the living room.

      I grabbed some dressy clothes from my closet and opened the drawer to my bedside table to pull out the box Mason’s necklace was in. It was the nicest thing I owned and it would be one of the few times I could wear it without Trevor knowing.

      “Mom!” I shouted and spun around, startled because she was already standing in the doorway, smiling.

      “Are you really okay with us going to Mexico?”

      “Yes. I think it will be a great experience. You’ve been working too hard at school lately and the stress has been getting to you. Here’s your passport.”

      “Thanks.” I gave her a big hug. “This is so awesome. I have to tell Trevor.” When he didn’t respond to the text, I remembered that his phone was still lost. I hoped we had time to go by and see him before the flight. I skipped out into the living room and danced around with Sophie like hyper cheerleaders for another few seconds before we said goodbye to my mom and hurried down to Sophie’s car. “We have to stop by UBC on the way to the airport.”

      “Yeah, I figured. So where was he the other night? You kind of left out all the juicy details when you texted to say you found him.”

      “There was an emergency at school and he had to help a friend.”

      “What kind of emergency?”

      “A girl was drugged and date-raped. They helped find her and called the ambulance and police.”

      “Jesus. Is it weird that I’m totally not surprised that’s the reason he no-showed? I hope they caught the piece of shit who did it.”

      “Yeah, apparently someone at the party knew who he was. So that’s good.”

      “It’s great. And you know what else is great? We’re going to Mexi-cooo,” she sang.

      “Woo!”

      We parked on campus and ran to Trevor’s building. We were laughing and holding hands like we used to when we were little girls. A classmate of Trevor’s named Beth—tall, with long, wavy, brown hair and a pin-up girl figure—was at the front door and just about to go into the building. I had met her at least six times before because she often sat with Trevor’s friends for lunch and she went to two football games with a whole group of us, but she always acted like she had no idea I was Trevor’s girlfriend. She turned to hold the door open for us, then smiled. “Derian, right?”

      I nodded, surprised that she actually remembered my name.

      “I was just going up to see Trevor. I found his phone on the floor in my room. He must have left it there the other night.”

      Sophie whimpered a little as I dug my fingers into her hand.

      “Here.” Beth held the phone out. “Would you be a sweetie and give it to him for me?”

      I didn’t move to get the phone. Sophie finally extended her free arm and took the phone from Beth.

      “Thanks. Tell Trev that I’ll see him tonight at study group. It was nice seeing you again.” Her smile was so phoney I wanted to puke.

      “Okay, ow! You can release the vice on my hand now,” Sophie complained after Beth strutted away.

      I stormed into Trevor’s building. Sophie chased after me. I pounded on his door with unnecessary force. When he opened the door, he was grinning, but when he saw my expression, his smile faded. “What’s wrong?”

      I held my palm up to signal Sophie to produce the phone. “We ran into Beth downstairs. She was kind enough to return your phone.”

      “Where did she find it?”

      “On the floor in her bedroom, apparently. She said you must have left it there the other night.”

      “What?” He frowned as the information sunk in. “I’ve

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