Far From Home

Besides, you Brits have your own odd quirks.”

“Yeah, but naming cars isn’t one of them. Not in my family, anyway.” Naming cars. How ridiculous. The last thing I’d named was one of my stuffed animals and possibly a fish.

Not a car.

Taylor simply shook her head and dug through her closet for whatever else she’d need to take with her once we left.

We. We were leaving campus together . She could’ve invited Jen, or was is Jordan? She’d had so many flings recently, I couldn’t keep up. That was a problem as well. At

school, she was unavailable, which made it a lot easier for me to keep my thoughts to myself. But seeing as she’d invited me home…

This is going to be a very long month.

With any luck, I’d come out of it alive.

Chapter Two

Taylor

Sam hadn’t said more than three words since we pulled onto the interstate. Instead, she focused on whatever was moving outside the passenger side window, allowing me the opportunity to study her reflection. Even with the faded look, her brown eyes were as intense as ever.

I hadn’t told her, but the reason I’d invited her along wasn’t just because of my mom. The last time I went home, all I could think about was Sam. Her absence was terribly obvious as soon as I walked in the door, and while things may have been cheerful and merry, the person’s laughter I wanted to hear and missed the most was back at school.

You never should’ve invited her.

This was a bad idea. Looking at her now with her brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, I could

see she felt the same way. The upbeat, cheerful woman I was so used to seeing day after day had been replaced by a shy, quiet replica. She looked the same, and when she spoke she certainly sounded like Sam, but this wasn’t the Sam I knew. This one was nervous. Timid.

“What do you usually do for the holidays?” I asked, cringing at how loud my voice sounded in the quiet car.

Sam jumped, then fidgeted in her lap, keeping her attention on whatever was or wasn’t outside her window. “You mean for meals?”

“Or activities,” I said with a partial shrug. “Is there anything we can do while we’re on break to make you feel more at home?”

I couldn’t imagine spending the holidays away from my folks. They might get a little overwhelming from time to time, but Sam had to have been homesick by now. If there was anything I could do to help with that, I’d do it.

“Ice skating,” Sam said after giving my question some thought. I didn’t have to look across the console to know she

was smiling. It made it all the way into her voice.

“It’s like normal skating, right?”

Now she did look at me. “You’ve never been?”

I shook my head and glanced back at the road. “I may have tried skates once or twice when I was a kid, but I never liked using those, either. I’d rather walk on my own two feet, thank you very much.”

There was that smile again, and this time, she was looking right at me. “Huh. Imagine that.”

“What?”

“You’re into all kinds of sports, but you’re too afraid to go skating.”

“I didn’t say I was afraid, just that I prefer to have my own two feet under me. Besides, the ponds never froze long enough to try.” I’d learned that lesson the hard way.

“I’m sure there’s somewhere we could go,” Sam mused aloud, wiggling in the passenger seat as she did. “You’d love it. It’s a lot like dancing.”

“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?” The dread had already started to pool inside my stomach.