Chapter 1: The New Ride

After my boyfriend got his new Subaru Outback, he suddenly picked up a brand new carpool buddy.

Didn’t matter if the sky was dumping rain, sleet, or blazing with sunshine—every morning, without fail, he’d swing by her apartment to scoop her up for work, then drop her off again at night.

And this companion? She wasted no time making herself at home, decorating the inside like she’d just signed the lease herself.

First thing she did was set up her lavender essential oil diffuser in the cupholder, so now the whole car smelled like a strip-mall spa. She even tossed out the black flats I’d left on the passenger seat, swapping them for her own little ballet flats in a size too small for me. Later, when I got in, my toes curled awkwardly in my socks as I looked down and realized my shoes were gone, replaced by hers—like even my footprint had been erased.

One stormy afternoon, I stood shivering alone at the glass doors of my office, the kind of bone-deep cold that made my teeth chatter, waiting a full hour before my boyfriend finally pulled up—his new copilot already riding shotgun.

The girl in the front seat turned to me with this practiced, innocent smile as she called out, “Hey, sorry, I eat slow, so your boyfriend was late picking you up. Hope you’re not mad.”

Before I could even open my mouth, my boyfriend playfully flicked her forehead. “Maddie is way more mature than you—she doesn’t need to be coaxed into eating. You’re just a kid who never grows up.”