Chapter 1

The mechanic said the car definitely would not be fixed that day.

My girlfriend, Eleanor Delaney, leaned against the car door and checked her phone for a while.

Then, she handed me a ticket.

“You can catch a six-hour bus at 1 p.m. You’ll get there just in time for dinner.”

I glanced at it and asked, “For me?”

“Yeah,” she said, pointing at the remaining SUV.

“There are only four seats. Someone has to take the bus.”

Edmund Turner, my best friend since we were kids, picked up his bag and said, “Let me go instead. It’s a long ride, and Everett would be bored sitting there by himself.”

Another childhood friend of mine, Faye Howard, touched his shoulder. “Did you forget how sick you were yesterday?”

My other childhood friend, Lily Concord, frowned and chimed in, “With your stomach, you’ll feel awful again tonight if you take that six-hour bus ride.”

Eleanor had already set my suitcase by the roadside.

“Everett will be fine.”

Then, she tilted her chin toward Edmund and said, “He’s always been tough. He can survive anywhere.”

Faye chuckled. “That’s true.”

In the past, if I heard such things, I would have laughed along.

I thought they were praising me for being easygoing.

I took the ticket and said, “Okay.”

Eleanor patted my arm. “Text us when you get there.”

She then turned to Edmund. “Didn’t you want to shoot the sunset at the salt lake? If we don’t leave right now, the sunlight will be gone.”

I paused for a moment.

“Aren’t you guys heading straight to the next stop?”

She had already gotten into the driver’s seat as she said, “Just a quick detour.”

“You can’t get there by bus anyway, so don’t bother tagging along.

“See you tonight.”

I gave them a slight wave as the car turned the corner and disappeared.

I looked down at the ticket in my hand.

Six hours was not a big deal.

After getting on the bus, I remembered that I had left my baseball cap in the back seat.

I was about to text Eleanor when a photo popped up in my feed.

Edmund was standing by the salt lake, wearing my cap.

Eleanor crouched on the ground, finding the right angle for him.

Faye was holding an umbrella, and Lily was carrying his camera bag.

There was also a caption with the photo.

[Another day of catering to His Royal Highness’ photoshoot.]

Edmund replied with three laughing emojis.

I stared at it for a few seconds, then closed the app.

The message I had started typing to ask them to grab my cap got deleted, too.

‘Forget it. It wasn’t that expensive anyway,’ I thought to myself.