“We can’t take your car, sir.” Conrad’s eyes flickered briefly, like a hope he’d immediately stomped down. “No offense, but this is probably the painkillers talking.”
“It isn’t.” Professor Herrera spoke from behind us. “We’re in agreement. Gus was so looking forward to this trip. And that car… Not like we use it daily, and not like Gus is going to be up to driving it for a few months. Like he says, it was meant for a trip like this. And if he can’t go, at least you guys can.”
“We can’t—”
“You can. And you’ll be helping me.” Professor Tuttle frowned then, the first sign of pain I’d seen on his face since we entered the room. “Apparently I’m going to be laid up weeks.”
“Months,” Professor Herrera corrected.
“Yes, yes. That. And if you don’t go, then we’re hanging around, all of us miserable. But if you go, you can send me pictures and videos from the road, distract me. Give me content for the channel.”
“Like you need more subscribers,” Professor Herrera muttered before brightening. “But if it keeps Gus happy, then I’m in favor of it. Send him lots of pictures. FaceTime. Keep his spirits up, probably far better than I can.”
“Exactly. And you are all celebrities in your own rights. The local gaming stores will still be happy to have you stop in, I’m sure. I’ll make some calls tomorrow.”
“More like I will call for you,” Professor Herrera said gently. “But yes, you guys can take the signed books and Gamer Grandpa merchandise. And the car is already packed, right? It simply makes sense.”
Packed was an optimistic overstatement—we’d tossed the luggage in the trunk in an untidy heap as part of our mad dash for Jasper’s car.
“I still think this is nuts, but if it’ll make you happy, I’ll do it, sir.” Conrad was first to agree.
“Me too,” Jasper added.
“Alden?” Professor Tuttle looked right at me.
I had a feeling the other two would probably like it if I declined, and honestly, it might make their lives easier. But despite our earlier argument—or maybe because of it—I couldn’t let Conrad take on the trip alone. Jasper either. At least if I went, I could help with expenses. I’d figure out the driving part and get past my nerves there. I could help the professor, too, make sure the others didn’t do anything stupid. And even after all that happened, I still wanted to go, wanted to win. I needed to prove to myself that I could do this. The thought of spending the next few weeks at home, Mom and Mimi pushing me to make decisions I wasn’t ready for, me trying and most likely failing to meet their expectations, made my back sweat—the sort of itchy, clammy feeling I hated. At least going would be doing something.
I took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m going.”
Chapter Seven
Conrad
I wasn’t forgiving Alden anytime soon.
Wait. That wasn’t entirely accurate. As I made my way to Professor Tuttle’s house Sunday morning, dodging early-morning sprinklers and crack-of-dawn joggers, it was more myself that I couldn’t forgive. I couldn’t help feeling like I could have prevented his injuries if only I hadn’t been distracted by Alden and our stupid argument. Seeing the professor lying there at the bottom of the stairs had made my chest feel split open, made it hard to breathe in and out, be calm for him.
I wasn’t going to get over it anytime soon. Neither Alden nor Jasper had been as upset as me the day before. Alden had been all infuriatingly logical, while Jasper had been overly helpful, and I was the one freaking out. Which I supposed made sense. They wouldn’t understand where I was coming from. Alden had his moms doting on him, while Jasper had his huge family that baked casseroles for people they barely knew, and I had…
Well, I supposed my life was divided into before and after. Before, I had a wide friendship circle. Not too many besties, but lots of people who knew my name and invited me to things. And I had my family. After? My social life had shrunk as the result of work until it was basically only the game play group. The less I thought about family the better, but that too was gone. Professor Tuttle wasn’t my dad or my grandpa or anything like that, but he was important to me in a way that I doubted he was for the other three in our group.
Maxine, my professor landlord, had heard about the accident and had been all upset the night before when I’d finally made it in. I’d already lied and told her I had a plan for after the trip, so adding one more lie that we’d be fine without Professor Tuttle barely registered on my list of sins.
“Professor Goldstein’s son is going, right? He’s got a good head on his shoulders. You listen to him if you run into trouble.”