tracks. There was no way he could ever get into college without a scholarship. At least my parents had a little bit stashed away. Adeline plunked the beer down on Kurt’s lap. He grinned, and the tension dissipated. I doubted Adeline noticed anything was wrong.
*
You would think you have guessed the reason for Kurt leaving Adeline now. You must think it was because of me. Well, you are wrong. You are so wrong by a long shot. What happened was a lot more tragic than a love triangle.
KURT
I stare at Rebecca across the table. That night. “I didn’t exactly leave her,” I splutter. “Oh, yes, you did.” The waiter arrives with our starters, and we have to call it a truce for a moment. Correct that. My starters. The lobster bisque was in a boat-shaped bowl and piping hot. Thick and creamy, the way I like it. The foie gras came with a spring of parsley and some lemon dill. I have absolutely no appetite. “Do you want some?” I ask Rebecca. She shakes her head. “Do you remember?” she says in a low voice. I remember what happened in the car at the parking lot of the Seven Eleven, but I think that is not what she is referring to. It is what happened after.
*
Adeline was driving into the night, and our spirits were up again. What was I thinking of when I touched Rebecca’s hand? I felt her freeze, and I knew what she must have been thinking of me. Especially with a reputation like mine. You cad. You’re my best friend’s boyfriend. But Rebecca seemed unnaturally affected. I liked Rebecca, though I had always felt a little uncomfortable around her. In fact, I secretly thought she was a lot more interesting than Adeline. I didn’t want to think that, but the fact was out there, like a puff of acrid smoke that trailed and lingered in the air. I had never ‘dated’ a Rebecca before – a girl who could give as good as she got. She was feisty and so smart I honestly thought she was too good for this town. She deserved to go out there and make a better life for herself. She deserved better than us. It would be terribly interesting to be with Rebecca. And I didn’t know why the thought kept encroaching into my brain recently, like a spreading tumor. I mustn’t think such thoughts, I told myself. The atmosphere between the front and back seats began to lighten, especially as Adeline jabbered on about our SATs and which questions she found particularly difficult. We were on the highway, heading for the Interstate turnpike ten miles down. And then it happened. I was preoccupied with not being preoccupied by my thoughts for Rebecca, when the white SUV barreled down onto us on the same side of the road. “Shit!” I yelled. “Swerve, Addy, swerve!” She turned the wheel all the way to the left, but there was a car on the other side of the road as well. We would have slammed into it had not Adeline turned further left, off the asphalt and onto the grass. The car kept running forward as the trees rushed at us like a swarm of low-flying birds. The car creaked and jolted and flew over bumps and roots and stuff, and there was no way we could continue this. Somehow, somewhere, we would have to stop or be stopped. I was sure Adeline was slamming against the brakes because I could hear the sound of tires screeching. A tree loomed just ahead and we crashed into its bark. Something white and ghostly blew up in front of me and punched me in the chest and gut. Passenger side air bag. The air whooshed out of my body and I feel as if a giant hand had picked me up and slammed me against the ground. My heart was bursting to claw out of my chest and my limbs were completely numb. My brain was screaming with an infernal howling that swept like an arctic wind in my ears. It took me a long time to pick up my senses. Everything was silent around me. Everything was dead calm. I finally found my voice. “Adeline?” I heard a groan behind me. The entire front of my body hurt something