In Your Room (15 page)

Snowpeak99:
except for you.

Snowpeak99:
u have no reason to believe me, i know.

Snowpeak99:
but i really like you, molly.

Snowpeak99:
a lot.

Snowpeak99:
r u still with me?

Mollypop:
yeah, i’m here.

Snowpeak99:
i mean it, molly.

Snowpeak99:
it’s different with you.

Snowpeak99:
you have to trust that and judge me by my actions.

Snowpeak99:
not by my past.

Mollypop:
ok…i’ll try.

She consulted the map a third time before leaving the main trail. The path wasn’t much wider than her bike and was easy to miss, but the turnoff was next to a small patch of yellow wildflowers, just like Charlie had told her it would be. She had practically memorized his e-mail, and it ran through her head as she braved the terrain of thorny bushes, scattered rocks, and branches.

Charlie hadn’t told Molly where she was going, but he had gone to the trouble of hand-drawing a map, scanning it into the computer, and sending it off with the e-mail that had been waiting for her when she woke up. He even drew in details like the cluster of flowers by the turnoff and a tree stump she would be passing farther down the trail. The only vague part of the map was the destination. The trail zigzagged its way around the mountain, ending at a spot marked with an
X.

You’ll know you’re there when you see it. Leave the bike and walk through the opening. Lie down and listen to the song I’ve attached. Besides me, you’re now the only person in the world who knows about this place. Keep it sacred.

She pushed her way through the thicket. Two months ago she would never have believed she would be up and out this early on a bike, trusting some guy she’d never met, riding blindly toward who knew what. But this was the closest they’d come to being on a date, out in the world. Even though they were hundreds of miles apart, this ride was still something that only they would ever experience, together or apart.

There wasn’t a chance in the world that she was going to miss out on it.

I’ve been thinking about you all night.
He had really written that. To her. She needed to keep repeating it to herself, over and over like a mantra. They were the words she had longed to hear from someone, anyone. She didn’t know what she had done to deserve it now, but it felt good. Good enough to get scratched up and down her legs—good enough to keep going, destination unknown.

I’ve been thinking about you all night.

The truth was, she couldn’t stop thinking about him either.

After a few near falls, Molly was finally convinced that the path was so narrow and the bushes so thick on either side that they would cushion her if she really was going to take a major spill. She released the brakes and let the hill carry her along until it leveled out into a forest of pines. She wove her way around the trees, breathing in their fresh, stimulating scent, until she reached the other side of the mountain and rode out onto a clearing in front of a large cluster of rocks. A few hundred feet beyond, the hill dipped back down into a canyon of stone and trees.

Walk through the opening.

She crouched down and stepped through the makeshift entrance created by the overlapping boulders.

You’ll know you’re there.

She kneeled lower and crawled the rest of the way in on top of a layer
of pine needles. Charlie had clearly gathered them from the surrounding trees and laid them out like a carpet. She looked around at this secret cave, perched on the edge of the forest on top of the mountain. It felt surreal and beautiful and otherworldly. Like a place in a fairy tale.

She took out her iPod, put on her headphones, and lay down on the bed of needles, staring up at the canopy of stone overhead. The upbeat melody of “Such Great Heights”, by The Postal Service started to play. She closed her eyes and listened.

It felt like Charlie was speaking directly to her through the song, like they were his lyrics specially meant for her. Molly lay there listening until she eventually dozed off.

• • •

When she woke up, the sun had risen so high that shafts of light darted all around her, creeping through the openings above. She could now see the mossy green hue of the surrounding rocks and a single purple wildflower poking up from the damp earth by the entrance. She poked her head outside the cave, where the distorted shadow of a bird glided in and out of existence. One second Molly could make out the contours of a wing, the next it was gone.

A few minutes later the actual bird appeared, hovering above, revealing its red underbelly and the bright yellow, blue, and green of the rest of its feathers. She had never seen anything like it.

She watched it arc back and forth above her, stretching its wings wide
like it owned the sky.

She sat up with a start and fished her notebook out of her bag. She took another look at the bird and began to sketch.

• • •

It was almost five when she got to the store. She hadn’t checked in or told Penelope she was taking the day off, because she hadn’t known herself until the day just happened. Penelope would be closing any minute, but that wasn’t why she was there.

“Oh my! What happened to you?” Penelope asked, taking in Molly’s state.

She had gone straight there from the trail, with cuts and mud all over her legs and pine needles stuck in her hair, still wearing Charlie’s yellow
COLORADO
T-shirt. She walked with purpose down the center of the store toward Penelope, who was sitting behind the desk. Molly pulled up her usual chair, reached into her bag, and handed Penelope her sketchbook. “I want you to see this.”

She leaned back and closed her eyes as Penelope flipped through the pages.

“These are fabulous,” she said when she was done. “You have to do something with these.”

“I know,” Molly said. “And I need your help.”

• • •

Charlie vaguely heard a persistent honking outside and pulled the pillow over his head to block it out. He was exhausted from having been up practically all night the night before, and was trying to crash early.

The honking stopped and was replaced with the sharp staccato of a handful of pebbles hitting the window almost simultaneously.

He shot out of bed and looked outside.

“What are you doing?” he cried. Celeste was leaning against her father’s red Porsche, still idling in the middle of the road. It sparkled, even in the dark.

“Come on down and you’ll find out.”

She was being the same old Celeste, trying to playfully lure him toward her with her L.A.-cool facade. He doubted she had gone to all the trouble of getting the Porsche for her own benefit.

“Give me two minutes,” he told her.

• • •

Charlie had learned to drive a stick, but it took a couple of blocks until he felt comfortable behind the wheel. The car had so much force, he barely had to touch the gas pedal to make it take off.

“Looks like you’re ready. Take a left here.”

Charlie didn’t ask any questions, just followed Celeste’s instructions as she directed him up a steep, windy road.

“Right! Right, right now!”

“How about a little notice!” Charlie made the sudden turn, not expecting it to be so sharp, but the car complied, sturdily hugging the road around the corner. He kept driving uphill, following the snaky route he was now accustomed to in L.A. from having ridden his bike everywhere, until it ended at a large black gate. It was the entrance to a path in the Hollywood Hills. It was, in fact,
the
path that led to the Hollywood sign. Even in the dark Charlie could see the iconic white letters perched at the top of the hill.

“What are we doing here? It’s locked.”

The headlights revealed the thick chain around the gate and a sign that read
CLOSED. NO ACCESS TO HOLLYWOOD SIGN
.

Celeste hopped out in front of the car without answering. Fully illuminated,
she took out a key, placed it in the padlock, and next thing he knew, she was pushing the gate open and motioning for Charlie to drive in.

“How do you even have that key?” Charlie asked when she got back in the car.

“One of the perks of my dad being a slimeball producer. He shot a movie here last year, and
someone
conveniently made copies of his keys.” She pressed a button and all the windows rolled down. “Don’t just sit there, let’s go!”

Charlie shifted into first, released the clutch, and pressed the gas. It was pitch-black in the canyon, with only the moon and light from the occasional house spotting the outskirts of the hills. But the headlights brightened the path enough to convince him that they weren’t going to drive off into the dark abyss. He shifted into second and then third.

“That’s more like it,” Celeste yelled over the rumbling engine.

Now that he was used to the car, he felt more confident picking up the pace and pressed his foot down even further, the speedometer nearing forty. He slowed down as the road suddenly veered left, ending a few hundred feet ahead at a fence, behind which stood what looked like a radio transmission tower. Charlie got out of the car, leaving the headlights on.

“What is this place?” It looked empty and creepy, like an abandoned research post in some sci-fi movie.

“I have no idea,” Celeste said, walking in the other direction. “But that’s not why we’re here.”

He followed her down the road to an opening in the fence, behind which stood the nine letters of the Hollywood sign.

Celeste crouched down and slipped through the tear, barely managing to avoid snagging her dress on the fence.

“You’re nuts,” Charlie said, squeezing through next.

He wasn’t expecting the hill to be so steep. He grabbed onto a tangle of tree roots for balance as he made his way down, sideways.

“Hoist me up.” She was standing behind an
O
, her hands gripping the bottom of the letter, waiting for Charlie to help push her up the rest of the way, into its center.

He formed a step with his hands and launched her up. He was both tall and strong enough to lift himself up next.

“Isn’t this awesome?” Celeste asked. They were squeezed in with their legs dangling over the edge like a swing, the curve of the
O
pushing them each in toward the middle.

It
was
incredible. Charlie felt like he was floating over the city. “So what am I, the hundredth guy you’ve brought up here?”

Celeste got quiet and looked away. “Actually, you’re the first.”

It was not the answer he’d expected, but he believed her. They were now sitting so close that her hair gently brushed against his cheek. It smelled sweet, like cucumber.

They turned toward each other at the same time.

Look away, Charlie
, he told himself.
Look away.

The wind blew her hair into her eyes. Charlie reached over to push it away, letting his hand linger on her cheek.

Celeste inched her face closer, her eyes locked on his, when the choppy drone of a helicopter interrupted. Less than a minute later, it flew right over them, briefly revealing their position with its roaming searchlight.

“Run!” Celeste laughed.

She slid down to the ground and sprinted back up the hill, with Charlie right behind. They got in the car and rolled most of the way down, with the engine and headlights off to avoid detection.

They didn’t speak much the rest of the way home, aware of what had almost happened. Both things.

Celeste muttered something about the stupid helicopter ruining their good time, but Charlie was relieved it had.

He wasn’t so sure he could have pulled away on his own.

Charlie’s insides tightened. He felt like such a jerk, like he had betrayed Molly, even though nothing had happened. If Molly had sent the e-mail just a few minutes earlier, he never would have gone out with Celeste. He also knew he couldn’t continue this way. Something had to give.

He hit reply.

• • •

Mollypop:
boo.

Mollypop:
u still awake?

Snowpeak99:
hey. i thought u were down for the count.

Mollypop:
nope…WIDE awake…too excited to sleep!

Mollypop:
so what did u want to tell me?

Snowpeak99:
you go first.

Mollypop:
it’s been THE best day.

Mollypop:
that cave was the most special place i’ve ever been.

Mollypop:
i’m so so honored you shared it with me.

Snowpeak99:
so no trouble finding it?