You’ve Reached Sam: A Novel

The drive-in is crowded for a Tuesday night. There are a few tables outside, each packed with teenagers sharing fries beneath long strings of light. It takes a while before some seats open up for us. I am sitting beside Mika, while Sam leaves to grab our drinks. This is the first time the three of us have hung out together. I’ve only met Mika once, at a party a few weeks ago. I wasn’t planning to go out tonight. But Sam texted me an hour ago, asking me if I wanted to grab something to eat. He didn’t tell me his cousin was coming, too.

Mika and I barely speak to each other. I wish Sam hadn’t left us alone like this. Maybe I should have offered to pick up our order instead. I wonder what’s taking him so long. Then out of the blue, without even turning to me, Mika asks something completely inappropriate.

“So you’re in love with Sam, right?”

“What—” I was too thrown off to string a sentence together. Something gets caught in my throat. “I mean, excuse me?”

Mika runs a calm hand through her smooth black hair, unbothered by my reaction. “I’m just saying, he seems to be really into you.”

My eyes widen, shocked by her nonchalance. “Should you be telling me that?”

Mika gives me a look. “Don’t pretend you didn’t already guess. It’s so obvious. The whole school knows.”

My mouth moves but no words come out. What’s taking Sam so long? Why did he leave me with her?

“You should compliment his hair,” Mika continues.

“What—why?”

“It’s only a suggestion,” she says, and leans closer to me. “Do you like Sons of Seymour? The band, I mean.”

“I think I’ve heard of them,” I say vaguely.

“They’re playing downtown this weekend. Sam’s obsessed with their newest album. You should suggest we go. He already bought his ticket.”

“Then why would I need to suggest—”

She holds up a hand. “Just do it.”

A second later, Sam reappears through the crowd, holding milkshakes. Mika whispers, “He’s coming back. Act natural.”

Sam sets the tray down between us. “So they ran out of straws…” he says, reaching into his jacket. “Had to fight a guy for the last two.” He hands one to each of us. “I guess I’ll wait for mine to melt so I can sip it.”

“That’s gross,” Mika says.

Sam looks at me. “Straws are bad for the environment anyway. I hear they’re trying to ban them in Seattle.”

“Are you trying to impress us, or make us feel bad?” Mika asks.

“Feel free to ignore her,” Sam says with an eye roll. He takes off his jacket, then removes his hat.

“Oh—” I notice his new haircut. “I like your hair.”

“Really?” he says, suddenly blushing. “I was worried they cut it too short.”

“No, it’s nice.”

We smile awkwardly at each other. I take a sip from my milkshake as Sam sits across from me. I watch as he stares into his strawless cup, waiting for it to melt.

“So there’s no school this Friday,” Mika says to stir up conversation. “Isn’t that a relief?”

“Yeah … finally a three-day weekend,” Sam says. He looks at both of us. “Do you guys have any plans?”

Mika nudges me with her foot.

“Oh—uh, well, I hear there’s a concert this weekend,” I think she wants me to say. “Sons of Seymour is playing.”

Sam leans into the table, his eyes bright with excitement. “Oh my god, I just bought my ticket to that. I didn’t know you listen to Sons of Seymour.”

“Yeah, I didn’t know you did, either.” I take a sip of my drink, trying to be casual.

“Of course! I’ve been obsessed. What’s your favorite song from them?” Sam asks.

“Oh—” I pretend to think about it. “Uh, I like the entire album. The new one, I mean.”

“It’s so good.”

“Right?”

“Maybe we can go together,” Sam says. “I’m sure they’ll sell tickets at the door.”

“I’d love that.”

“Cool.”

I glance at Mika. She smiles to herself as she sips her milkshake, appearing very pleased.

It was at this moment that I decided to like her. I started looking forward to those days she would tag along with us. I especially loved it when she’d send Sam on random fetch quests to give us a moment to chat—often about him. Like that time we were at the Wenatchee Valley Museum, looking at the Ice Age exhibit, and she made Sam go get her jacket from the car.

Mika leans her nose to the glass case, examining a mammoth bone. “How was your weekend in Seattle?”

“It was fun. It rained most of the time, though. What about yours?”

“Sam and I rewatched Avatar: The Last Airbender,” she says. “One of his favorite shows. He asked me about you.”

“Oh?”

She taps the glass, even though we’re not supposed to. “About what I thought about you, that is,” she says.

“And what did you say? If you don’t mind me asking…”

“I said I liked you better than other girls at school,” Mika says. “Which, frankly, isn’t saying too much, considering where we live.”

“I’ll still take that as a compliment.”

“As you should,” Mika says, nodding. “My approval is very important to Sam. He knows I have very good intuition. Especially about people.” She looks at me. “I hope I’m right.”

Eventually Sam returns from the car.

“You never brought a jacket,” he says.

Mika slaps her forehead. “I totally forgot.” She checks her watch. “Anyway, I’m late for work. I should really go.”

“What do you mean work?” Sam asks. “It was your idea to come here.”

“It slipped my mind,” Mika says. “You two can finish the exhibit without me.”

“How are you getting back?” I ask.

“My mom’s picking me up. She should be here any second now.” Mika checks her phone. “Gotta go. Have fun, you two.”

This isn’t the first time she’s done this. Makes plans for the three of us to hang out, then finds a way to leave us alone.

Sam and I turn back to the mammoth bones. It’s my favorite thing in here.

“Sorry about Mika,” Sam says with a sigh. “She tends to … get involved.” I hold back a knowing laugh. “Just to be clear. I’m not behind this.”

I turn to him. “Does that mean you don’t want to be here?”

“What? No! I only meant—” Sam stops, takes a deep breath, then calmly starts over. “What I mean is, as much as I love Mika … I don’t need anyone’s help to ask you out.”

“That’s fair,” I say.

We turn back to the glass. After a moment, Sam’s phone chimes. A second later, mine does, too. We look at our messages.

I look at him. “Is yours also from Mika?”

“Yeah.”

“What does your text say?”

“She says I should nix the exhibit and ask you to dinner.” He looks at me. “What about yours?”

“She says I should say yes.”

It’s impossible not to smile. Especially for Sam. “Shall we, then?”

Sam holds out his arm. I link mine with his. And we leave the Ice Age and mammoth bones behind us.

Eventually he finds the courage to invite me out more often. And so do I. While we start spending more and more time together, Mika is never out of the picture. I learned you can’t get to know one without getting to know the other. They were like siblings that way. We drive to school together, have lunch at the same table, share a group chat, and go on the occasional road trip. The most memorable road trip we took was to Spokane, where we snuck into a pub to see a battle of the bands contest. It also happened to be our worst.

The music is so loud I can’t hear anything. I stand in the back near the bar, holding my water. Sam’s friend Spencer is supposed to be going up any minute now. Their band is called the Fighting Poets. I asked them earlier if it was a reference to Emily Dickinson, but they said “No!”

Sam has been chatting for a while with some guys we met earlier. I look around for Mika, but it’s too crowded here. Maybe there’s a line at the bathroom. I should have gone with her. Now I’m just standing here, keeping to myself, trying to block out the obscenely loud music.

And then it happens.

A man comes up behind me. His hands slither around my waist.

Shock moves through me and I feel sick to my stomach. I spin around.

“Don’t touch me.”

He’s younger than I thought he would be. Probably in college. He has this nasty smirk on his face I want to slap off. I can’t tell if he’s drunk but that doesn’t matter.

Sam appears.

“What’s going on here? Are you bothering her?”

“Is that your girl?” the guy slurs. “Why don’t you tell her to chill out.”

Sam instinctively shoves him away from me. But I wish he hadn’t. We’re seventeen and not allowed to be in here. I don’t want to cause a scene.

The guy finds his balance. He shoves Sam back with double the force, and Sam goes stumbling back into some stools and falls over. Everyone around us has turned to see what’s going on. Sam picks himself up and comes back for more, this time more furious.

I grab his arm.

“Sam. Don’t.”

This is when Mika shows up. She must have seen everything from a distance, because she’s shouting at the guy, telling him to apologize.

I’ll never forget what happens next.

The guy throws a punch at Sam, but Mika catches his arm like an arrow. She holds a strong grip on the guy’s wrist, which seems to surprise everyone—especially him. This is the night I learned Mika helps teach a women’s self-defense class at the YMCA. Mika twists his hand to the point of breaking it, sending him to his knees.

“So you like harassing girls,” Mika shouts. “Apologize!”

“Alright! Sorry! Now let go!”

But it didn’t matter whether he apologized or not. Mika lifts her other hand and delivers a final blow, sending him to the floor. I remember everyone around us cheering. Mika taught me that same move a few weeks later.

There are so many moments I wish I could relive again. Especially the smaller ones. The quieter ones that we often don’t think about. Those are the moments I look back and miss the most. Us sitting on the floor in Sam’s room doing homework together, or watching movie musicals in Mika’s living room on the weekends. Or that time we decided to grab blankets and bring them to the backyard to watch the sunrise together, for no reason. We stayed up all night, talking about what we wanted to do ten years from now, waiting to see that burning red glow curve along a dark sky, oblivious to the significance of seeing another day. And oblivious to a future when one of us would be gone.