Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 19458 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 97(@200wpm)___ 78(@250wpm)___ 65(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19458 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 97(@200wpm)___ 78(@250wpm)___ 65(@300wpm)
This day was supposed to be perfect. How is it getting so fucked up?
“That ring…” I close my eyes, hating the emotion welling up in my chest. “I know it’s just a ring, but I had it designed for him. It’s…” Gary. It’s Gary, and I really fucking want it.
“Hey…it’s okay. I promise you I’ll spend the whole night looking if I have to but…the important part is you, okay? Gary loves you. Remember that. You could propose with a bubble gum wrapper ring and he would say yes. The two of you are meant to be.”
I sort of feel like hugging him right now. That was…“Thanks, man. I needed it. I—”
“Trav?” Cody cuts me off before I can apologize to Evan for not having given him the benefit of the doubt before.
“Yeah.”
“We have a small problem…”
I drop my head against the wall. That’s the last thing we need. I do not need another problem.
“Actually…it’s a Gary-sized problem…” Derek adds.
“Behave, boy,” Jackson tells him, but they have my attention now. My eyes snap to his.
“What is it?”
Cody scratches the back of his neck in a nervous habit. “Um…I don’t know how to tell you this, and I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation, but…Frankie and Gary are gone.…We can’t find them anywhere, and no one can get ahold of them on their phones.”
Oh, God. He left me for Frankie? Logic is there in the back of my brain telling me there isn’t a chance of that but, fuck, this fear is totally drowning it out. “What do you mean they’re gone?”
“We left them together, and now no one can find them…” Hayden says.
“Oh my God.” I can’t breathe. I bend over, head between my knees, not remembering where I heard that helps. My chest is so tight, I feel like it might crack open. What the fuck am I going to do? I’m in the middle of the biggest fundraiser of my life with no food, and all I can do is wish that was the least of my problems. I don’t need a ring anymore because I don’t have anyone to propose to at all.
Where are you, Gary?
6
Gary
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” I attempt to turn the knob once again, trying to put these muscles I’ve earned at the gym to good use.
“This is an awfully strong lock,” I say through gritted teeth, “considering it doesn’t even work right.”
I take deep breaths as I pull away, sighing, recovering from my efforts, which included screaming to the point of cracking my voice, banging on the door, and this latest attempt at working the knob again.
“Okay,” Frankie says.
While I’ve been desperately working on the door, he’s been digging around the contents of the storage closet, attempting to find something to assist in our escape.
He approaches with a small red fire extinguisher.
“Okay, but are you willing to reimburse Steven for the knob? Because I’m only doing this since you’re in such a hurry to get out of here.”
“Yes. Just go for it.”
He slams the extinguisher against the knob, which breaks off and hits the floor.
“Yes!” I exclaim. “Yes, yes, yes!”
Frankie reaches inside the lock and moves his fingers around like he’s trying to find a way to unlock it. “There we go.”
“You got it?”
“No, but I understand why we’re stuck. The lock is totally stuck, and so are we, I guess.”
As he leans back, resting his hands on his hips, his lips twist like he’s thinking really hard about our predicament. I look at the broken lock before I just fucking give up.
“God, this cannot get any worse.” I sink to the floor—wrapping my arms around my legs as I sit.
“I mean, it could. The boat could start sinking and we could be stuck here. That would be the real worst-case scenario.”
I glance around the space, suddenly feeling claustrophobic.
“Whoa, relax, Gary. That was a joke. We’re not going to sink.” He grabs a box and slides it to me, sitting on top and stretching out, placing his hands on the edge behind him as he glances around like he’s trying to think of an alternative solution.
“We could try screaming again,” he says.
I hardly have to try to hear the lyrics, but when I do, I groan. “I don’t think we can compete as long as everyone’s trying to lip-synch to ‘Barbie Girl.’ ”
“I’m pretty sure if I put my ear to the wall, I’d be able to hear Evan’s voice over everyone else’s.”
We exchange knowing glances. I know for a fact that Frankie has endured Evan’s voice on plenty of occasions as Frankie basically has to escort him to every karaoke night. And knowing how important it’s been to have Derek and Hayden in my life, I’m glad that Evan has someone like Frankie who’s there for him.
I appreciate the thought for a moment before I’m back to worrying about being trapped.