Traveler by L.E. DeLano (book suggestions .txt) 📕

for me outside the doorway to the cafeteria. He’s leaning against the wall, with one foot up against it, and he looks like he wants to be anywhere but there waiting for me.

“What’s up?” I grab a tray as we file through the door and head up to the line.

“So he let you off the leash?” Ben says snidely.

I raise my brows. “We’re talking about Finn?”

“My favorite subject,” he says. “You two are joined at the hip lately. I couldn’t get a word in if I tried.”

I put an order of french fries and a bottle of water on my tray and give him a glare.

“Last time I checked, I don’t have to report to you,” I say.

He grabs a slice of pizza for himself, shoving it next to my food on the tray, and we make our way to the cashier.

“I got this,” he says, reaching for his wallet.

“Don’t do me any favors,” I say, pushing his hand away.

“Don’t be like that.”

“Then you don’t be like that.”

He throws a twenty down before I can dig in my bag, and we take our stuff over to a table and sit.

I grab my food, shoving a fry in my mouth and looking pointedly away from him. I hear him let out a sigh as he shoves his pizza away.

“I hate this. What are we doing, St. Clair?”

I look at him with chagrin. “I hate this, too. I miss you.”

He leans across the table. “I miss you, too. I miss hanging out. I miss talking in class. I miss all our dumb nerd humor.”

“Well, you’re the one who’s shutting me out,” I say crossly.

“I can’t get anywhere near you without him in the way. Are you two officially dating, or what?”

“It’s complicated,” I sigh. “Seriously. You can’t begin to know.”

He leans forward, crossing his arms on the table. “Listen, I’m worried about him. He just shows up here out of nowhere and suddenly he’s signed up for school and acting like your shadow. What do you really know about this guy?”

I look at the situation from Ben’s point of view. He’s right. All he knows is that Finn is practically a stranger and I almost died on a bridge with him nearby. He probably thinks Finn is dangerous, and he’s not entirely wrong.

“I know you don’t trust him,” I say. “But he’s a good guy. I know more about him than you think.”

“And is he going to be okay with you still hanging out with me sometimes? Maybe without him there? Or are we not allowed to be friends?”

I consider that for a moment. “He’s going to have to be okay with it. Because I say it’s okay.”

He bites his lip. “You mean that?”

“I do.”

I do mean it. Finn is going to have to get a grip. I can travel all over multiple realities ending up who knows where and dealing with who knows what, but I can’t hang with my best friend? He’s going to have to trust me on this.

“Can we hang out tomorrow for a while?” Ben suggests. “I don’t have practice.”

“Sure.” My mind works to find a suitable meeting place. Normally we’d go to Mugsy’s, but it just seems weird going there now without Finn.

“We can go to that new ice cream place on Fifth,” I suggest.

“I guess. Or we could just hang at your house, if you want,” he says. I think about that for a moment, but discard it instantly. If there’s any place Finn will be sure to hang around waiting, it’ll be my house.

“No, I really want ice cream,” I say firmly. Lucky for me, I don’t have to try to convince him. He knows how much I love ice cream.

“You’re on,” he says.

“Do they even have ice cream in your country?” I tease. “Or refrigeration?”

He rolls his eyes. “Even if I did live in Mexico instead of New Mexico, it’s not the middle of the Sahara. And it pains me that someone did actually ask me if I grew up with running water.”

“No!” I can’t help it. I have to laugh. People are really, really stupid sometimes.

“Did you enlighten them about all the historical advancements and interesting facts you probably know about the country?” I ask. “Or did you just remind them again that you used to live in the United States before you came to live in the United States?”

“Neither. It’s useless to try to cram knowledge into a brain that’s not big enough to hold it,” he scoffs. “Would you like me to teach you how to spell Albuquerque?”

I eat another french fry. “I have to reserve my brainpower for calculus.”

He laughs, and I realize how much I missed his laugh. It’s good to have my friend back again.

“So, I’ll meet you at your locker after school?” he asks.

I feel my phone buzz in my pocket, and I pull it out, giving him a nod to answer his question.

“It’s Finn,” I say.

Ben rolls his eyes. “Surprise, surprise. His Spidey sense must have been tingling.”

I hit the answer button as I mouth nerd at Ben.

“Hey.”

“Hey. I’m just finishing up,” Finn says. “You want to come see my handiwork?”

I check the time, and I still have twelve minutes of lunch left.

“Sure. I’ll be right there.” I pick up my tray and stand up. “I have to go to the auditorium.”

“What a coincidence,” Ben says. “I’m fixing to walk right by there.”

I crinkle my nose as we toss our trash, then walk through the doors and out into the hallway. “Why do you say that?”

“What?”

“That you’re ‘fixing’ to do something. Is that a New Mexico thing?”

“I think it’s actually a Texas colloquialism that manifests itself throughout the Southwest.”

“Ooh.” I raise my brows. “Bonus Scrabble points for two big words in a sentence.”

“I even used a Q,” he jokes back.

Ben opens the door to the auditorium for me and I walk down the center aisle, looking for Finn. There’s a group of people painting backdrops, so I climb the stairs at the side and step