The Day I Took a Different Path

Before graduation, my boyfriend, Landon Freeman, my two childhood friends, Clyde Medina and Mason Rivera, my best friend, Willow Castillo, and I set out on one last road trip through the Northwest. We plan to complete the entire loop together. However, on the third day, one of our vehicles breaks down, leaving us with a four-seater. Without the slightest hesitation, Landon hands me a ticket for a six-hour bus ride. "You don't get carsick, so bear with it for a while. We'll wait for you at the next stop." Willow offers to take my place, but Clyde and Mason immediately stop her. "You just threw up yesterday. Why are you trying to be a hero?" Landon chuckles as he helps unload my luggage. "She's tough as nails, and she has never been one to hold a grudge." As usual, I agree. Yet, six hours later, I arrive at the small town we'd agreed to meet in, only to find out that they'd changed course at the last minute and gone to another city. In the group chat, the four of them are gathered around Willow, having a barbecue and beaming. Not a single one of them remembers to tell me. All of a sudden, I see the pattern I've been blind to all these years. Whenever Willow feels cold, three jackets are waiting for her. Whenever she's tired, everyone stops. Yet, the more sensible I am, the more they expect me to be the one who makes sacrifices. This time, I don't want to chase after them anymore. I buy a ticket back home and reach out to the out-of-town company that I turned down two weeks ago. "Hello. I'd like to accept the offer." I don't want this group of people who've been by my side for more than a decade anymore. Chapter 1 The mechanic told us that our car couldn't be repaired that day. My boyfriend, Landon Freeman, leaned against the car door and checked his phone for a moment. Soon, he handed me a bus ticket. "1:00 pm. Six hours. You'll make it in time for dinner." I took one look at the ticket. "It's for me?" "Yeah." He pointed at the remaining SUV. "There are only four seats in total. Someone has to take the bus." My best friend, Willow Castillo, immediately piped up. "Why don't I take the bus instead? Paige's going to be bored riding all that way by herself." As soon as she picked up her bag, one of my childhood friends, Clyde Medina, pinned her hand down. "Did you forget how much you threw up yesterday?" Mason Rivera, another childhood friend of mine, also frowned. "With your stomach, six hours on the bus will only make you feel sick again tonight." Landon had already hauled my luggage to the curb. "Paige will be fine." He smiled and jerked his chin at Willow. "She's been tough as nails since she was little; she can thrive just about anywhere." Clyde chuckled. "That's true." I used to laugh along whenever I heard that, assuming they were complimenting me for being easygoing and low-maintenance. I accepted the ticket. "Fine." Landon patted my shoulder. "Text me when you arrive." Right after saying that, he turned to Willow. "Didn't you want to catch the sunset at the lake? If we don't leave now, we'll miss it." I was caught off guard for a moment. "Aren't you guys going straight to the next stop?" "We're just taking a quick detour." He had already settled into the driver's seat. "You won't be able to go on the bus anyway, so save yourself the hassle." When the SUV pulled away, Willow leaned out the window, waving at me. "See you tonight!" I waved back at her. The vehicle turned the corner and soon disappeared from sight. I lowered my head and looked at the ticket in my hand. Six hours. It genuinely wasn't that big a deal. After boarding the bus, I realized I'd left my sunhat in the back seat of the SUV. I was about to text Landon when a new post popped up on my feed. Willow stood beside the lake, wearing my hat. Landon was crouching on the ground to get the best angle for her. Clyde held an umbrella over her, while Mason carried her bag. The caption read, "A day in the life of the princess' personal photographers." Willow replied with three heart emojis. I stared at it for a while before exiting the app. I also deleted the message I'd just typed. "Remember to pack my hat up for me." It wasn't like it was expensive anyway. Chapter 2 Roughly around 7:00 pm, the bus arrived at the station. I dragged my suitcase to the bed-and-breakfast I'd booked in advance. The owner combed through his computer for a long while before looking up at me. "Your reservation was canceled this afternoon." I went rigid. "It was canceled?" "Yeah, you informed us your itinerary changed, and you weren't coming here anymore." I pulled up the group chat. The last message was still the salt lake photo Willow had sent that afternoon. No one had mentioned changing the itinerary. I called Landon. He didn't answer until the second call. It was noisy on his end, and I could vaguely hear Willow singing in the background. "Have you arrived?" "Yeah. Where are you guys?" "We're in the neighboring city," he responded matter-of-factly. "We ran into a few tourists this afternoon who told us there's a music festival here tonight, so we made a last-minute detour." I tightened my grip on the handle of my suitcase. "Why didn't any of you tell me?" He paused for two seconds. "No one told you?" As soon as his words fell, Clyde's voice came through. "I thought Mason told her." Mason immediately chimed in. "I thought Landon told her." The three of them burst into laughter on the other end of the line. Here we went again. During our sophomore-year New Year's celebration, they had changed restaurants at the last minute, and I'd waited for them at the original one for 40 minutes. In the end, all I received was—"I thought you knew." I'd thrown a huge fit that night. They'd made it up to me with a meal. From then on, whenever this situation happened again, I stopped pressing them for explanations. "Find somewhere to stay on your own tonight. We'll pick you up at 9:00 am tomorrow," Landon said. "Alright." After hanging up, the owner asked, "Do you still need a room, miss?" I nodded. "If you have a room, I'll take it." Ultimately, all I could find was a small inn in the old part of town. It didn't have an elevator, so I hauled my suitcase up to the fourth floor on my own. Its handle dug into my hand until my palm was bright red. I had just walked into the room when a message popped up in the group chat. Willow sent a picture of a table full of barbecue. "It's too bad Paige isn't here." Clyde: "We'll make it up to her tomorrow." Mason: "She isn't a picky eater; she'll eat anything." Landon sent a laughing-with-tears emoji. I set my phone on the table and took a shower. Before going to bed, Landon finally texted me. "Wait for us outside at 9:00 am. Don't sleep through it." I replied with a simple, "Alright." … I'd already checked out at 8:40 am the following day. 9:00 am came and went, but no one showed up. I was still waiting for them at 9:30 am. I sat on my suitcase and waited until 10:07 am before Landon finally returned my call. His voice was still husky from having just woken up. "What's wrong?" "Weren't you guys supposed to be here at 9:00 am?" Silence fell on the other end of the line. "Shit! I completely forgot about that." He yawned. "Willow's stomach was acting up last night; she kept us up until past 3:00 am." I instinctively asked, "How is she doing now?" "She's fine." He paused for a beat before continuing, "By the way, we're not going to pick you up anymore. Our destination for the day is closer to where we are, so you should just hail a rideshare and come over on your own. If you don't, we'll waste two hours going back and forth." Willow whispered in the background, "Maybe we should pick her up, after all. She's been waiting for so long." Clyde interjected, "Your stomach has just settled down. Don't aggravate it with another long car ride." Mason chimed in, "She can make it on her own." I looked at the traffic light across the street. "Got it." Landon hesitated for a moment. "Are you upset?" "No." "Alright then. Call me when you get here." After hanging up, I sat back down on my suitcase. This time, I didn't send my location in the group chat. Chapter 3 The owner of the bed-and-breakfast helped me find a rideshare car. Three hours later, I arrived at my destination. The four of them were having lunch. There were four sets of utensils on the table. Willow was the first to spot me. "Paige, you're finally here!" Clyde lowered his head to take a look at his wristwatch. "What took you so long? If you'd arrived any later, we wouldn't have had time to do anything this afternoon." I stood beside the table. "Did you not order any food for me?" Everyone at the table froze. Mason broke the silence. "I thought you ate on the way." Willow hurriedly pushed her plate toward me. "Here, have mine. I barely touched it." Landon stopped her. "Your stomach just recovered. You need to eat." After saying that, he looked up at me. "There's a convenience store nearby. Go buy a sandwich to tide you over. I'll take you somewhere nice for dinner tonight." In the past, whenever he promised to make it up to me at night, I would usually forgive him. I nodded. "Alright." There were only two cold sandwiches left in the convenience store. I sat in front of the window and finished them. When I walked out, the four of them were already urging me to hurry up. … Willow wanted to take some road-trip photos that afternoon. When she complained about the sun, Clyde went to grab an umbrella. When she said it was too windy, Landon draped his jacket over her shoulders. Mason crouched beside her and straightened out the hem of her dress. The photographer called out, "Let's get one with all five of you." The four of them instinctively grouped together. I walked over and stood on the far edge. After the photos were taken, Willow pulled them over to look at the photos. Landon turned around and called out to me. "Paige, which one do you think looks best?" I was replying to a work message on my phone. "All of them look fine." "Why are you so out of it today?" "The drive wore me out." "Oh," he responded. Willow called him, and he hastily made his way over to her. The conversation on my phone was with the company that had offered me a position half a month ago. The hiring manager had written, "If you ever change your mind, feel free to reach out to me again." I stared at the message for a long time before leaving the chat open in the background. … That evening, when we arrived at the bed-and-breakfast, there were only two twin rooms and one king room left. Landon declared, "Willow should take the king room. Her stomach has been acting up these last few days." My two childhood friends nodded in agreement. Clyde turned to me. "Paige, you can share a room with Mason and me. We'll just add another bed." I was taken aback. "You want me to share a room with the two of you?" He laughed. "We've known each other for so many years. Why are you still fussing over this?" Landon's brows knitted together as well. "It's just for one night. Don't make such a big deal out of it." The front desk clerk looked a little awkward. "There's another hostel nearby. It's about a ten-minute walk." "In that case, I'll go to that hostel," I said. Landon didn't persuade me further. "Alright, let us know when you get there." I dragged my suitcase and walked outside. Halfway there, it started to rain. In the past, at times like this, I would've sent a message in the group chat, asking them to bring me an umbrella. I unlocked my phone. Willow had just sent a photo of the room. Landon was helping her adjust the air conditioner. Clyde was asking her if the blanket was thick enough. Mason was looking for the electric kettle. I locked my phone. Once the rain let up a little, I continued on my way. There were a few steps at the entrance of the hostel. A young woman I'd just met noticed how heavy my suitcase was and lent me a hand. "Are you traveling solo?" "I'm traveling with friends." "Oh, are they staying somewhere else?" she inquired. "Yep." She didn't pry any further and handed me a bottle of water. … I was lying in bed at 11:00 pm when I suddenly remembered that I hadn't checked in with the group chat to let them know I was safe. I picked up my phone before setting it back down. When I woke up the next day, there were still no new messages in the group chat. No one had asked or checked in on me. Chapter 4 When I arrived at the parking lot that morning, I spotted the SUV at a glance. The four of them had already loaded all their luggage inside. I didn't utter a word. When Landon spotted me, he handed me his phone. "The bus leaves at 11:00 am. It's a three-hour ride. I already bought your ticket." I made no move to accept it. Willow immediately climbed out of the passenger seat. "I'll take the bus today. Paige has been taking the bus by herself these past two days." As soon as the words left her mouth, both of my childhood friends frowned. "Your stomach just recovered." "The whole route is full of mountain switchbacks. You're going to throw up again." Landon pulled her back as well. "I'll worry about you if you take the bus." I stood beside them, and all of a sudden, the six-hour bus ride from two days ago flashed through my mind. When I didn't accept it, Landon urged, "Take it already." I met his gaze. "I don't feel like taking the bus today." Everyone froze. Clyde was the first to snap back to his senses. "What are we supposed to do then? We can't let Willow take the bus." "We can wait until our car's repaired." "And scrap today's plans?" "We can rent another car." Mason clicked his tongue. "It's only a three-hour ride. Do you really have to make such a fuss?" Landon's expression hardened as well. "Don't be difficult now, Paige." I merely gazed at him. In the past, whenever I heard that, I would immediately explain myself. I wasn't being difficult. I was just tired. I would feel carsick, too. However, this time, I let the words sit on my tongue for a moment before deciding not to say a thing. I pushed his phone back to him. "Go on without me." Willow tried to get out of the car again. "How are you going to get to the next destination, though?" I pulled up the handle of my suitcase. "I'll figure something out." Clyde smiled. "See? I told you she could handle it." Mason waved at me. "See you tonight." Landon stared at me for a moment. "I'll still send the ticket to your phone. Call me when you get there." I nodded. "Alright." I stood rooted to the spot for what felt like an eternity after their car pulled away. Half of my sun hat was sticking out of the trunk. I didn't call after them. When I returned to the hotel, I canceled all the accommodations and attraction reservations I had made for the rest of the trip. Then, I pulled up the work message from yesterday. "Hi, I wanted to ask if the position is still available." The hiring manager replied almost instantaneously. "It's still available." I paused for a few seconds. "In that case, I'll take it." After sending the message, I started packing my suitcase. I left my hat behind. I didn't bother asking about the jacket I'd left in their car either. … At 11:00 pm, I dragged my suitcase back to campus. My roommate, Jude Duarte, was startled when she saw me. "Weren't you supposed to be away for a few more days?" "I came back early." "Did you get into a fight with Landon?" I shook my head. "No." We genuinely hadn't fought. Landon's headphones, charger, and two pieces of clothing were still sitting on my desk. I found a cardboard box and packed them inside. The movie tickets and Polaroids I'd never had the heart to throw away were tucked at the bottom of my drawer. I took them out, looked at them for a while, and tossed them into the box as well. The cardboard box wasn't even full yet. … At midnight, someone finally asked in the group chat, "Has Paige made it yet?" Clyde: "She's probably still mad." Willow: "Should we give her a call?" Minutes later, Landon chimed in. "Don't worry about her. She'll get over it on her own." I stared at his message, and for the very first time, I didn't feel hurt because he was right. I would get over it on my own. However, I wouldn't go back to them again. If anything, I was slowly getting used to a life without them. I would never go back to them. … The following day, I completed the last of my graduation formalities. By the time the cab pulled out of the campus gates, Landon finally sent me a message. "What do you feel like eating when we get back tonight? I really did put you in a tough spot yesterday. I'll take you somewhere nice." As usual, he thought a single meal and sweet nothings would be enough to make me fall back in step with them. I received a call from him when the airport announcement sounded. I didn't pick up. Before my phone screen went dark, I noticed the four of them were still discussing their next destination in the group chat. They were still stuck on that five-person graduation trip. Yet I, who had always chased after them, was already rolling my luggage through the boarding gate. This time, I wanted to see what the world had in store for me.