Chapter 4: The Bucket List Begins
May 8, 2025
I was staring at the clock like it was personally trying to ruin my life.
Its slow, painful tick was the only sound in the classroom — other than the scratch of pencils and Mrs. Smith’s voice trying to make pre-calc sound thrilling. (It wasn’t.)
“Lily.”
I flinched as a pencil smacked me in the shoulder. I turned to Erin, who was giving me the look.
“What?” I whispered.
“Lunch is in two hours,” she said flatly. “Stop looking at the clock like it owes you money.”
I forced a weak smile. “I’m just… distracted.”
Erin squinted at me. “Because of Travis?”
Of course she’d ask. Everyone probably assumed I’d be crying in the bathroom or blasting sad playlists under a blanket. Not plotting an escape.
Before I could answer, my phone vibrated.
I slid it out of my pocket, heart already racing.
Bucketlist Man: You’ve got five minutes. I’m at the back of your school. If you’re not out here in 300 seconds, I’m coming in to get you. Loudly.
I stared at the screen. He wouldn’t.
Bucketlist Man: Try me, Waters.
Yesterday, before I’d been dumb enough to trade numbers with Jake, he made it clear: “If you ghost me, I will show up. I’m not above making a scene.”
His exact words. Burned into my soul.
I glanced at the door. Mrs. Smith was scribbling something on the whiteboard about quadratics.
I turned back to Erin, heart pounding. “If I die, tell my parents it was for personal growth.”
Erin raised an eyebrow. “What in the flipping earth are you doing?”
I closed my eyes, whispered a quick prayer, grabbed my bag — and bolted.
“Lily Waters!” Mrs. Smith shouted as I opened the classroom door. “Where do you think you’re—”
Too late. I was already down the hall.
I felt like every security camera in the school was watching me commit the world’s softest crime. But I didn’t stop until I reached the back doors and shoved them open.
Jake was waiting beside his bike, clapping slowly.
“Bravo,” he said with a grin. “You’ve officially ditched class.”
I groaned. “I hate you already.”
“No you don’t.” He grabbed my bag and handed me a helmet. “Get on.”
“Where are we going now?” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
Because of course he didn’t.
We drove for maybe ten minutes. I expected a diner, or a park, or something remotely fun.
Instead, Jake parked outside the library.
I blinked. “Seriously?”
He dragged me inside without saying a word.
“Jake,” I hissed. “What are we doing?”
He rummaged through my bag until he found my phone — still buzzing with notifications. My mom. Ten calls and counting.
Jake stared at the screen. “Does she always call this much?”
“Only when I’m out ruining my future.”
He nodded once, then walked to the far back, where the romance novels were stacked in neat, quiet rows.
And just like that, he shoved my phone behind the books.
“What are you doing?!” I whisper-shrieked.
“It’s on your list, isn’t it?”
My mouth opened. Then closed. Then opened again.
“You actually read it?”
He gave me a look. “You’re the one who typed ‘hide my phone behind the romance section and hope someone hot finds it.’”
I wanted to melt into the floor. “It was supposed to be symbolic!”
Jake smirked. “Yeah, well… your symbolism’s now at risk of being found by an 80-year-old librarian.”
I groaned, covering my face. “This is so stupid.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. But now we’re two for thirty.”
I peeked at him through my fingers. “What’s next?”
He looked far too smug for my comfort. “Skinny dipping.”
I choked. “Absolutely not.”
“It’s on the list.”
“Yeah, like halfway down! There’s a flow to it! A build-up!”
Jake leaned closer. “You put it on the list, Lily.”
“I didn’t think I’d be starting with it!”
“We’re not starting with it. We’re continuing with it.”
I grabbed his arm. “You seriously expect me to take off my clothes and jump in a lake with you?!”
He didn’t even blink. “You can keep your underwear on. I’m not a monster.”
“Oh, thanks. That makes it totally fine.”
Jake raised an eyebrow. “Or we can go back to school and explain to Mrs. Smith why you decided to flee.”
My soul left my body.
He started walking toward the exit.
“Jake!”
He turned around, walking backward now. “Come on, Waters. You said you wanted to feel something. Let’s start with freezing.”
And because my life had already fallen apart, and because my legs weren’t listening to my brain anymore…
I followed him.
God help me.
