The Haunted - Jessica Verday [109]
“Armageddon. The song is called ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.’” The memory of dancing with Caspian tugged at me, and I closed my eyes. A sudden lump rose in my throat.
“Going to sleep?” Ben asked.
I took the excuse. “Yeah, wake me up in an hour.”
He changed the station again, and classical music filled the car. Ugh. I hated classical music. I wouldn’t have a hard time falling asleep for real with that on the radio.
“Abbey. Hey, Abbey. Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.” Caspian’s voice was soft in my ear.
I picked my head up, neck muscles screaming in pain. I must have slumped over while I was sleeping. The driver’s seat was empty. “Where’s Ben?”
“He left you,” Caspian said, sounding angry. “You were sleeping, and he didn’t wake you up. And he thinks I’m the ass.”
I looked around me. We were at a gas station, and I spotted Ben inside the store. “He just went in there.”
“He should have woken you up,” Caspian said. “Who just leaves someone alone like that?”
“But I’m not alone. I have you.”
“He doesn’t know that.”
Caspian sat back and crossed his arms, glowering as Ben exited the store carrying a small paper bag.
“Be nice,” I whispered.
“Tell that to him,” he retorted.
Ben opened the door and sat the bag between us. “Oh, good. You’re awake.” He reached down and pulled out a bottle of Coke. “I wasn’t sure what you’d want, so I got you this and diet. Oh, and a bottle of water.”
I took the Coke from him. “Thanks, Ben. That was really nice of you,” I said. Caspian made a rude noise from the back.
Then Ben pulled out a green and yellow bag and held it up, giving me a goofy smile. “Got some Funyuns.”
I smiled back, and he started the car, heading onto the highway.
Popping the bag open, he held it out to me. “Want one? Come on, try ’em.”
“Funyuns make you fart,” Caspian said, and I exploded in laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Ben asked.
I tried to stop laughing, but Caspian was leaning forward now, his face stuck right in between us. “Funyuns give you bad breath, too. Not very attractive to the ladies.” He paused.
“On second thought… enjoy your Funyuns, Ben!”
I had to bite the side of my cheek to keep from giggling. The fact that Ben had no clue what was going made it even harder to stop.
Caspian winked at me, and I took a sip of soda. Sternly telling myself to calm down, I tried to think up some excuse for why I was laughing. “I just thought that the name was funny,” I said. “Funyuns. Are they fun onions or faux onions? It’s funny…” Ben shrugged. “Yeah, I guess the name is funny.”
“So how much longer until we get there?” I needed a change of subject.
“About two and a half hours. Unless we get stuck in a wormhole.” I looked at him blankly. “A what?”
“Wormhole? You know, Star Trek? Because we watched the movie.”
“Is that your favorite movie?” I asked. “Star Trek?” He nodded, but I cut him off before he could say anything further about it. “Okay, favorite comedy movie. That’s not Star Trek.” He changed lanes on the highway, and we passed a truck carrying huge spools of wire.
“Zoolander. What’s yours?”
“City Slickers.”
He gave me a surprised look. “Really? I wouldn’t have picked that one for you.”
“I know, right? It’s such an old movie. But I love Billy Crystal. He’s sooo funny. I like pretty much anything he’s in.”
He nodded.
“Do you know what Kristen’s favorite movie was?” I said.
“No.”
“Back to the Future. That’s one of the things we had in common; we both loved old movies. But she loved Michael J. Fox, too. I mean, seriously, loved him. He came to New York City once for this promo project, some art show or something, and Kristen won tickets to go see him. She was so excited.”
“Did you go with her?”
“No. I really wanted to, but she only won two tickets, and since she was under eighteen, a guardian had to go with her. You’ll never guess what she tried to do, though.” Kristen’s face swam in front of me, and my heart constricted painfully. Even the good things she’d done were still so hard to talk about.
“The night before they were supposed to leave, Kristen called me and told me that she was