The Samantha Project (27 page)

I considered what I had heard. It sounded innocent. Worrying about me wouldn’t be something a GlobalLife spy would do. Or maybe she was purposely thinking things I wanted to hear to throw me off.

I looked up at Ruby again, who was now busy braiding her hair, probably in the hopes that it would make it naturally wavy like mine. I decided that there was no way she could be a spy, even if her parents did work for GlobalLife. Plus, I didn’t sense that I was in any danger. As I turned to look out the window, I noticed that Ruby had placed a pillow next to me, along with a neatly folded blanket. If she was a spy, she was a very nice one.

More hours passed and the sound of the road eventually lulled me to sleep.
 

“I’ve missed you. Come here.” A young guy with sandy blond hair and a golden-brown tan approached me. He smiled and put his arms around me. He leaned down to kiss me, and I felt an intense warmth rush through me. As he kissed me, his strong arms pulled me in even closer.
 

He stopped for a moment, then picked me up as if I weighed nothing. He carried me over to the bed next to us and set me down so my head rested on the pillow. I grabbed him and kissed him like I’d never kissed any guy before.
 

“I can’t get enough of you, Sam.” The guy lightly kissed my neck, sending a tingle down my spine.
 

“Same here,” I said, pulling off his shirt. I gazed at his tan skin pulled taut over each perfectly toned muscle in his chest and arms.
 

He worked his way down my neck, each kiss making me want him even more. He slowly unbuttoned my shirt and ran his hands down my chest.

I pulled his face back to mine and kissed him gently, savoring the softness of his lips. I could feel his hands along my bare waist, wanting to go further.

“Are we really doing this?” I whispered to him.

“Do we have a choice?” he whispered back. I knew exactly what he meant. I felt it, too. We were drawn to each other physically in a way I couldn’t describe. It was like we had no control over it.
 

I kissed him again and ran my hand along the grooves of his back muscles. I could feel his hand unbutton my jeans and lightly tug at the zipper and my heart started to beat faster.

“You’re right,” I whispered. “We have no choice.” I looked at him, his deep blue eyes looking back at me. We both smiled, knowing what was next.
 

“Sam. Sam?” I woke up to find Ruby nudging my arm. She returned to her seat as I sat up. My neck ached from sleeping sideways against the window. “What’s going on over there?” she asked, laughing. “Moaning? Sighing? That must have been some dream. I wasn’t gonna wake you up, but pretty soon the whole bus would have heard you. And believe me, you would have been embarrassed.”
 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied.

“Were you dreaming about Colin?” she asked in a sing-song-y way, the way little kids do when they’re teasing each other about having a crush on someone.

“Um, yes. You caught me. I miss Colin.” I felt a pang of guilt. I’d just had a dream where I was practically having sex and it was with some strange guy.
 

“What was the dream? Tell me all the details.” She got in her story-listening pose again.

“Nope. It’s personal.”

“Oh, come on. I’m bored. I’m so sick of this bus. I’m feeling claustrophobic.”

“I’m sure the bus will make a stop soon,” I said, stretching my neck side to side.

“It did stop. When you were sleeping. Some cops were stopping every vehicle.”

I bolted up in my seat. “What? What happened? Ruby, I told you the cops are looking for me. Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“Chill out. I’m sure they weren’t looking for you. They had the road blocked off—probably just routing us around some accident. The cop talked to the driver and then they just waved us on.”

They had to have been looking for me, I thought. The road blocked off? That was just what they had done in Minnesota. I wondered if they had a general idea of where I might go. Maybe they had tortured Dave for clues about where I might be headed.

“Hey, you wanna play gin rummy? I got some cards in my bag.”

I figured it was better to play cards than to have her ask more questions. And I didn’t want to fall asleep again. I had to stay on high alert. I wasn’t safe. People were looking for me and they wouldn’t stop until they found me.

“Sure,” I said. “I’m not sure how to play. You’ll have to teach me.”

Ruby was thrilled that I agreed and fumbled through her bag to find the cards.

Later that evening the bus stopped at a fast food place in a small town in Oklahoma. Everyone got out to use the bathroom and get some food. Then it was back on the bus, where Mrs. Johnson announced that the bus would drive all night, getting us into San Antonio around 8 the next morning. I figured I should sleep at least a few hours so I would be alert and ready for whatever I had to face once we got there.

I woke up to find the sun starting to come up. Mrs. Johnson was handing out fresh fruit and muffins to whoever was awake. Ruby was already up and on her phone texting.

“Hey, I got you this,” she said, handing me a banana and a blueberry muffin. “There’s juice in the cooler.” She continued to tap away on her phone.

“Why are you up so early?” I asked as I unwrapped the muffin. My stomach was begging for more food.
 

“I can’t sleep on buses.” She put her phone aside and unwrapped her own muffin. “I mean, I slept like maybe an hour or two, but then I just listened to music. I’m so bored. Good thing you’re awake to keep me from going insane. I’ve really got to get off this bus.”

“We’re almost there, right?” I asked, still not sure of the time.

“Probably another hour, I guess.” Ruby checked her phone for the time. “Hey, do you want my watch?” She started digging in her backpack before I could answer. “I don’t use it. I use my phone when I want the time. But my mom made me bring a watch in case my phone battery dies.” Ruby shook her head in annoyance as she tossed the watch my way.
 

It was an awesome watch, just my style. Thin, brown leather ropelike band with a small silver face.
 

“I can’t take this, Ruby. This is a really nice watch.” I held it over my wrist, admiring it.

“Take it. I was going to give it away anyway. I’ll never use it. And this way, you won’t have to keep asking me for the time.” She smiled and went back to eating her muffin.

“Well, thanks. It’s really nice.” I put the watch on. It was a perfect fit.
 

“So did you decide what you’re going to do when we get there?” Ruby asked.

“I don’t know. Probably find a job,” I said, still admiring the watch.

“You don’t want to talk about it, right? That’s why you’re ignoring me?”
 

I looked up from the watch. “What? No, I wasn’t ignoring you. But yeah, I would rather not talk about it.”

“Okay, but please don’t go back to sleep. I can’t sit here any longer with nothing to do. How about some poker?” She grabbed the cards sitting on the seat next to her.

“Sure,” I said, trying to sound interested but wishing I could just sit quietly and think. I needed to make a plan for what I would do in San Antonio. I had $900 in that wad of $100 bills, which wouldn’t last very long.

The bus arrived at a large mass transit station around 7. People raced around while buses rolled in and out of the station. It was morning rush hour, which I figured was a good time for me to disappear. I could get lost in the crowds before anyone from the bus knew I was missing.

“Attention, everyone,” Mrs. Johnson stood by the driver, her clipboard in her hand. “I want each of you to wait right outside the bus when you get off. There are restrooms in the transit station, so we’ll all head there together. The vans are waiting for us on the other side of the building. There are three vans. I’ve assigned each of you to a van so don’t just get in. See me first.” She paused as if she’d forgotten something. People were getting restless and the noise level in the bus rose to a low roar.

“Okay, well, that’s all. Remember, as you get off, wait right outside the bus. Did you hear me?” Mrs. Johnson tried to talk louder but nobody was listening. People started filing off the bus and heading to the restrooms, ignoring Mrs. Johnson’s directions to wait.

“Well, I guess this is it,” Ruby said as she gathered her stuff.
 

“Yeah. Hey, I really want to say thanks for all you did for me. You really saved me back at that truck stop. I don’t know what I would have—”

“No big deal,” Ruby interrupted before I could finish. Her tone had turned cold.

“Ruby, don’t be mad. I told you I couldn’t stick around,” I said, taking her backpack to get her to stop and look at me.

“So I guess it’s no use giving you my phone number ’cause you’ll never call me, right?” She pulled on the backpack but I wouldn’t let loose.

“You can give me your number. But you’re right. I probably won’t call. Listen, I like you, Ruby. I’m sure we would be really good friends if I didn’t have so much stuff going on.”

Ruby grabbed her backpack from me. “Every time I meet someone cool, they ditch me. And I’m stuck hanging out with the same people I’ve known since kindergarten. In the same boring town.”
 

“Once you get out of high school, things will change, Ruby. You’ll go to college. Meet new people.” I didn’t have time to give her a pep talk. People were filing off the bus and I had to be part of the crowd so Mrs. Johnson wouldn’t call me out.

“Hey, I really need to go, Ruby. Mrs. Johnson is gonna see me and start asking questions.”

Ruby got up and gave me a hug. “I’m gonna miss you, Amanda. Or whatever your name is. I hope you’ll be okay on your own.”

The hug took me by surprise. “I’ll be fine. Thanks again. For everything. Now I really need to go.”

I raced to the front of the bus. Nobody had waited for Mrs. Johnson, so she, too, had gone into the restrooms. “Looks like the coast is clear. What are you gonna tell Mrs. Johnson?”
 

“I’ll just tell her we were giving you a ride to your grandma’s house. That you were never going on the mission trip. Trust me, she’ll believe it. She can’t keep anything straight and she has a horrible memory. That’s why I knew I could get you on the bus. Honestly, I don’t why they let her chaperone these trips. It’s a wonder we ever make it back.” She laughed.

Ruby gave me one last hug before walking away. “Bye, Ruby!” I said as she raced off, but she wouldn’t say it back. It was her way of not saying goodbye, as if we might see each other again someday.
 

Fearing Mrs. Johnson might come back at any moment, I started walking quickly into the crowd. Buses were lined up everywhere. The hazy fog of diesel fuel was giving me a headache. I glanced up to see different destinations scrolling on the side of each bus. Downtown red route. Downtown blue route. Looking straight ahead, I noticed a large sign; “Out of Town Buses.”
 

I had no idea what towns were around San Antonio, but I felt that I might be safer in a small town than a big city. I looked at the various destinations for the “out of town” buses. “New Braunfels” one bus read. The next one said “Fredericksburg.” Another one read “Austin”—a city I recognized, but it was a bigger city than I wanted. I wished Uncle Dave had given me the name of a town. Texas is a huge state. I could be hundreds of miles away from wherever he wanted me to go. The last bus in line said, “Kerrville, stopping at Comfort.”
 

I wasn’t sure why, but that seemed like the bus to take. I would stop at Comfort, I decided. Maybe it was the name that drew me in. I wasn’t sure. But something just felt right about it. Comfort, I thought, was just what I needed. I hoped the town would live up to its name.

Comfort was about an hour away. When the bus stopped, I wasn’t sure if we were even in the town. There wasn’t much there. And nobody else on the bus was getting off, making me second-guess my decision. But deep down I felt that Comfort was the right place to go. There was something almost calling me there.
 

I got off the bus and started walking toward a church that I could see a few blocks away. Its large steeple was the only sign of civilization along the tree-lined road. As I got closer, I could see that the road turned into what appeared to be the main street. It was lined with historic buildings. One looked like a former jailhouse. Another looked like an old post office. I felt like I was walking onto the set of a western movie.

The businesses were typical to the ones found in the small towns of Minnesota. Local tavern, gas station, a bank, and a drugstore. The other side of the street housed a couple antique shops and a diner.
 

My stomach was begging for food, so I went inside the diner. It was midmorning; just a few retirees were sitting around having coffee. They stared at me as I walked in. I sat down at one of the empty booths by the window so I could get a better look at the businesses that lined the main street.

“Brittany, what are you doing here?” A woman raced over to my table and abruptly stopped. “You know what time it is? You’re supposed to be in school.” She started to raise her voice, then quieted down to avoid getting stares from the retirees. “You know what your mother would say if she saw you here? That poor woman works herself to the bone to keep food on the table. And then you go skippin’ school? You want to turn out like her? Or me?”

The woman had on a blue and white waitress uniform that was splattered with food stains. A name tag on her apron read “Angie.” Her bleached blond hair was pulled up into a pony tail. She had bright blue eyeshadow and her blond bangs had been teased until they were at least three inches high. She clearly hadn’t changed her look since sometime in the 1980s.

“I just wanted to get something to eat,” I said, not sure how to play this out. The waitress seemed certain that I was some other girl.