They Canceled My Ticket, I Canceled Them novel · Chapter 1 of 24
Chapter 1: Guess
At the gate Nora finds the friends she has paid for all her life removed her seat. She cancels the lake house, and Lacey cuts her phone.
Two weeks before the holiday, I typed into our group chat: "Where are we going for the long weekend?"
All four of my best friends answered within the same minute.
"Guess."
That was the rule among the five of us, and it was ten years old.
Nobody said what they wanted. We guessed.
We guessed dinner, and we guessed which weekend, and we guessed who would pay.
The guess that landed was always the one that spent my money.
I guessed wrong a lot, and when I was wrong, I paid for the wrong thing too.
This time I thought it through.
Lacey's fiancé came from a family with a lake house up north.
Lacey had been dropping "water" and "porch" into every conversation for a month.
I found the listing for Calder Point in Michigan, five nights, and booked it on my card.
Six thousand two hundred dollars. Lacey sent me a string of crying-laughing faces.
"Look at you! Ten years and you finally got one!"
She said not to worry about the flights. She would put all five of us on one booking, because she ran my logins anyway.
That part was true.
Lacey had moved my phone onto her family plan sophomore year, and she had paid the bill and run the account ever since.
I paid her back every month, and I had never thought about it again.
So at six in the morning on Thursday, I stood at Gate B22 at O'Hare holding four coffees.
I knew exactly how each of them took theirs.
None of them could have told you mine.
Lacey hugged me with her whole arm. "You're an angel. Are you excited?"
"I'm so excited," I said, and I meant it.
Brooke already had her phone up, filming the four of us in front of the window. Meg was tying a scarf onto her bag.
Her fiancé, Josh, took his coffee and didn't look at me.
The line to board began to move, and I scanned my pass.
The reader flashed red and beeped.
The gate agent frowned at her screen. "Ma'am, there's no seat on this flight under your name."
"That can't be right. It's on a group booking."
"The traveler list was changed last night." She turned her monitor a little. "The person who made the booking removed you."
I looked at Lacey.
"Oh no, babe," Lacey said. She touched my arm. "That's some glitch. Get on with us and I'll fix it from the plane."
"There's no seat for me to get on to."
"Then I'll sort it out in Michigan, and you'll fly out tonight. It's one little hiccup."
Her voice was gentle, and her hand stayed on my arm.
Meg laughed, a short one, and then covered her mouth.
"Honestly, we thought you'd guess," Meg said.
Josh turned his phone away from me, but not fast enough.
A chat was open on his screen, and its name was "Lake, no N."
I read it twice.
Nothing else on his screen mattered. I knew exactly which letter that was.
The passengers behind us had gone quiet. A man in a gray cap stood a few feet back, not moving up, watching.
Brooke's phone had not moved either.
I stood there with my empty hands and thought about the ten years.
Every Sunday I booked, and every Friday I paid, and every Monday I guessed what they had decided without me.
Nobody here was confused. They had a chat for it.
So I stepped out of the line.
I walked to the window and opened the rental app with my thumb.
Calder Point. Five nights. Booked by Nora Pruitt, my account, my card.
I pressed Cancel.
The app asked if I was sure, and said fifty percent back, three thousand one hundred dollars.
I pressed Confirm.
A new message from the host dropped in at once.
"Booking canceled. Are you sure this is what you want? Wes, your host."
I started to type yes.
My screen blinked, and a banner crossed the top: "Service suspended. Contact the account holder."
Then the whole phone went dark in my hand.
I looked up.
Across the gate, Lacey held her phone at chest height, with her thumb resting on the glass.
She was smiling at me, small and kind.
Then she lifted her thumb, and she waved with her fingers.
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