Read The Curiosities (Carolrhoda Ya) for Free Online

chariot, and it’s going to take us fifteen minutes longer to get there.”

    Apollo adjusts the rearview mirror so that it reflects Daphne’s face. “Fifteen minutes longer to look at you, then.”
    Andy and I text each other. I see his head duck as he looks at his phone, and my phone rumbles silently in my hand.
    Me: wow i love our kids. we should have more of them.
    Him: we will. i forgot to mention im pregnant
    I see his head turn ever so slightly as he listens for my reaction. I cannot laugh, or Daphne will emote on me, so I tap out another text.
    Me: i just peed myself
    Him: me too. i think it gets better after the 1st trimester
    Apollo swears as he gets cut off by a blue minivan. Daphne gives the minivan driver the finger.
    “We should get married, Becca,” Apollo said (I should have mentioned that that is Daphne’s real name). He sails into the left lane and gets into the turn lane for the mall.
    “Could I drive your car if we did?” Daphne asks this already knowing the answer. Apollo’s lips press together in a sad line. He loves Daphne, but he loves his BMW more.
    Furious texting from Andy.
    Him: emma emma emma we should joyride in this tonite

    Me: dont make promises u don’t intend to keep
    Daphne makes a noise of awe as we pull into the mall parking lot. It’s packed. This is the second mall to be erected near the campus, but this one is The Largest Mall in Maryland with Open-Air Public Areas! It also has a Pottery Barn. So of course everyone has come to see it. Brendan finds a parking spot at the far end of the lot, which is where he normally parks anyway, to protect his car’s delicate paint. Andy’s head ducks again as Brendan displays his superior reversing skills. Brendan’s neck cranes and he sets his jaw like a turtle as he verifies that the BMW is equidistant from the two vehicles on either side.
    Him: i know where he puts his keys
    Me: i have an evening class
    Him: dairy queen is open late
    Me: you’re on
    “I’m wearing heels,” Daphne tells Apollo.
    “I’ll carry you,” he says.
    “If you touch me, I’ll...” Daphne is not witty, so she leaves the threat open-ended.
    Andy gets in one last text to finish it off:
    Him: ...make emma slap you.
    We climb out into the hot spring day and adjust ourselves for the trip according to our personalities. Daphne smooths her tiny khaki skirt and fluffs the hair at her nape to better volumize her curls. She hands me her purse. I drop my cell phone into her purse and stomp my feet to get the feeling back into them—they’ve fallen asleep since I was sitting on them in the car. Apollo inhales deeply, making his nostrils flare, as if the scent of new asphalt inspires him, and then caresses his BMW key as he remotely locks the doors. Andy slides his cell phone into the back pocket of beat-up jeans and picks some lint off Apollo’s collar.

    “Let’s roll,” Apollo says. We are already walking. He tries to put his hand on Daphne’s back, and she shies away like a spooked deer, putting me in between her and him. He frowns prettily. She pouts sadly. He knows this is against the rules.
    “What shall we see first?” I ask, because they are so busy not talking to each other I fear that we will end up in Sports Authority.
    “Borders,” Andy suggests. It’s a safe suggestion. Though he and I have cut class to be here and Apollo and Daphne spend much of their time as denizens of the history department, we cannot change what we are: book geeks. But I know what will happen when we get there. Apollo will try to follow Daphne, so she will pull me into the modern history section and use me as a human shield until Apollo loses interest and goes back to the Russian history section on the other side of the shelf, taking Andy with him. I am not a modern history person. It smacks of political science, which is not a real major.
    “I want to go to Hallmark,” I say. “And Things Remembered. And other boring old-lady stores.”
    “Why?” Apollo’s