Jesus the amount of rage I feel right now <| sep |> Their rationale for why they are slow and featurepoor is irrelevant to my expectations . <| sep |> Could also have to do with Lehner being moved out . IIRC he doesn ' t like players blocking shots , or rather he isn ' t a fan of the weird bounces they sometimes create . <| sep |> July 23 , 2018 I wasn ' t expecting to be on a road trip for my twentieth birthday . But when someone like Flora Varga tells you she ' s going on a road trip from Miami to New York and she wants to make a stop in the backwoods of South Carolina to pick you up and celebrate your oneyear anniversary in style ? How could I say no ? It was kind of mindblowing how close Flora and I had become , and how quickly . It ' s not like we ' re all that much alike . She lives for the bright lights and the city skylines , and I ' m more of a fan of the quiet life . But we quickly figured out that we could talk about anything together and do anything together . I loved hearing about her adventures , and she loved hearing about my books . For the three days that both of us were in New York , we tried to see and do everything we could . We saw the Rockettes , walked the Brooklyn Bridge , took the Staten Island Ferry for fun , tried a new restaurant for every meal . She told me that she ' d come up alone after her friends had bailed at the last minute . She smiled at me when she said , I think that worked out for the best , didn ' t it ? When she shows up at my door early in the morning on my twentieth birthday , it ' s the first time we ' d seen each other since New York . Sure , we ' ve texted or called each other practically every day for the last year . But as soon as I see her car pull into the driveway , I ' m throwing open the front door and running toward her because reading her words and hearing her voice isn ' t the same as seeing her in person . A splitsecond after she ' s stepped out of her car , we ' re in each other ' s arms . I missed you , I hear myself saying . I missed you too , she says back in my ear . We separate . Let me help you get your stuff into the car . We ' ve got a lot to catch up on . So we hit the road . Most of the drive is a straight shot up I 95 . She takes a quick napsorry , she rests her eyesuntil we hit the North Carolina border since she ' d already driven ten hours including yesterday . But after that we ' re flying down the road , music on full blast , having a good time . She ' s got a whole country playlist ready for me , which is sweet of her even though I have to remind her that I ' m more of an indie rock kind of gal . We get to the end of a playlist somewhere in northern Virginia and decide that it ' s as good a time as any to stop for lunch . We ' re just sitting down with our food when she suddenly turns to me and says , Thanks for coming on the trip with me , Max . I really need this . I smile at her , but I feel like she wants me to let her open up . Anytime , Flo . We ' ve all got to get away sometime , right ? Right ! she beamed for half a second before her frown returns . A beat . Sometimes she holds it in as long as he can until the dam bursts . With everything that ' s going on with Rico and Vanessa I just needed to get away from it all and clear my head . I put my free , nongreasy hand on hers . Flo , you know I ' ll be right there for you whether you decide to take him back or not . But Rico didn ' t respect you enough to be faithful , and both of them lied to your face about it . The words start tumbling out . You are kind , you are honest , you are wonderful , and you deserve someone who . well , someone who deserves you . And I know that consciously , she answers . It ' s just . Rico and Vanessa have always been there for me until now . And a big part of me still wants them to be there , because . I mean , I ' ve never had a lot of reliable people in my life . Not even my parents . You have me now , Flora . AlwaysApparently that was the right thing to say , because she ' s able to wipe a tear away from her eye and a smile starts to crack through . I know . And that means a lot to me . I lower my voice . And if you want me to go Clockwork Orange on Rico , it would be my pleasure . Ha ! Flora takes the keys back for the next part of the drive . We ' re about to hit DC traffic . Now would be a good time for you to get some rest so you ' ll be fresh for the home stretch . I oblige . I woke up to Flora nudging me . My eyes closed , I mumble , Pennsylvania already ? Um . not yet , she hesitates . I might ' ve made a slight detour . I slowly open my eyes and look around . I see . a shopping center on the edge of the water ? Some boats ? Are we on some kind of bay ? And why do I see so many Maryland license plates ? My heart speeds up , and my voice slows down . Flora ? What . Did . You . Do ? Promise that you won ' t be mad ? she asks impishly . Kind of late on that , isn ' t it ? She turns away . Not so impish this time , she asks , Promise me that we ' re best friends , and I would never intentionally do anything to hurt you ? I take a deep breath to try and process all of this . After that conversation we just had in Virginia , of course I know she ' s on my side . I ' m mad , but I can listen . Of course . But I don ' t get why you ' d take me here when you know full well it ' s in my letter . No , I took you here specifically because it ' s in your letter . Before I could object , she raised her hand . Max , your future self was wrong about Times Square . You went there , and the worst that happened was getting a forearm shiver straight into your new best friend . Now , here ' s my theory if you weren ' t scared to death of being in Times Square , we would never have met . So I feel sorry for future ' Maxine ' already . Since she would never have met me , she would ' ve been in Baltimore at a time she chose and not a time I chose . So we ' re probably safe , right ? I don ' t know , Flora , I don ' t want to start messing around with something we don ' t know enough about . And that ' s the other thing . Max , you know I love you , but I don ' t think you ' ve ever taken a risk in your life . I want to get you out of your comfort zone a little . I want to object , but she ' s right . At least in part . That ' s fair , but you should ' ve told me first . You know how scared that letter makes me . You saw what happened to me in New York . She hangs her head . I know . You ' re right , I ' m sorry . I guess I didn ' t think it through enough . Let ' s just get back on the road . Before I even get the chance to think about it , the word is out of my mouth . No . No ? Her voice is incredulous . No . We ' re here already , aren ' t we ? Let ' s go walk along the harbor . I don ' t know how Flora convinces me that going out on the water on one of the paddle boats is a good idea . We ' ve spent most of the afternoon in Baltimore , and she says something about a perfect view of the sunset . I remind her that the harbor faces to the east . She doesn ' t want to make me feel uncomfortable with it , but I can tell it ' s something she really wants to do . She did say I should get out of my comfort zone , right ? After we make the attendants explain everything they can about how safe the life jackets are , we reserve a boat for half an hour and paddle it out into the harbor . And sure , the sunset might not actually be visible from our vantage point , but there ' s something peaceful about being sidebyside with your best friend , floating away from the cares of the world as the blue sky descends into vibrant reds and purples . Something . more than peaceful . I ' m lost in thought when I realize that the boat ' s veering to the left and I ' m not leaning with it . I try to correct myself . In the instant before I tumble over the precipice , I find myself feeling a sense of peace instead of panic . If I ' ve pissed fate off enough that it ' s come to claim me , I ' ve met it on my own terms . If death is staring me in the face , I ' ll stare it down until it blinks . If I ' m about to fall in and drown , at least I got to spend my last day with Flora . But in that instant before I fall over the edge , I feel a pair of arms pulling me back into the boat . I look right into Flora ' s piercing blue eyes . She leans over to me and whispers in my ear . You ' re not getting away from me that easy , Max . End of part 2 . Not sure whether it ' ll end up being 3 parts or 4 . Hopefully more tomorrow ! Thanks everyone for all the positive comments and feedback . Edit Part 3 is up ! I ' ll hopefully be working on part 4 tomorrow and Sunday . Thank you again , everyone who ' s still readingthis is the most fun I ' ve ever had writing a story , so thanks for coming along for the ride .