Just Drive [old version]

[ chapter five ]

Dedicated to HunnayCakes for the banner on the side :]

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Chapter Five - Soccer Balls

                I thought I got rid of my erratic sleeping habits when I finally accepted the fact I wasn’t going to be going to college, but they somehow managed to make their way back into my life. Grabbing my phone, I wearily brought it up to my ear. “Who the hell is this?”

                Austin’s bright voice chirped back at me from the other side. “Are you ready to go?”

                A low, guttural groan escaped from my throat. “Fuck you,” I muttered. “Do you know what time it is?”

                He paused for a minute. “It’s like four right?”

                “How the hell should I know? It’s my time to sleep.”

                “Oh sorry.” He paused again. “I thought you still had problems with sleeping.”

                Of course. Leave it to Austin to bring up the horrible four years of my life I spent waking up in the middle of the night and living my life like a zombie. Shuddering, the memories of curling up next to Austin at 7:15 in the morning beside his locker began to flood my brain. For a split second, I felt the anxiety start to slip away from my lips and through the phone before it was replaced by a string of bitter swear words.

                “Sam. You still there?”

                His voice sounded sweet and genuine. Sighing, I took a deep breath; I couldn’t bring myself to swear him out, not that I could ever muster up the nerve to. “Yeah.”

                If it was possible to hear someone smile over the phone, I must’ve been hearing it now. “Cool. Can we leave soon? California’s pretty far.”

                “No shit, Sherlock,” I mumbled to myself.

                “What?”

                “Nothing. We can leave at eight, ‘kay?”

                If possible, his smile must’ve grown wider. “Awesome. See you at eight.” And with that, the line went dead.

                For the rest of the morning, I couldn’t fall asleep again. Fearful of waking up the rest of my family—none of them knew yet I was leaving for California—I paced back and forth in my room. A few times, I started to unpack my duffle bag only to repack it again a few minutes later. Eventually, my body was too tired to take another step, so I sat down on my bed and talked to my stuffed animals, the way I did when I was eight.

                “Mittens, none of this would’ve ever happened if I made it into college.”

                Mittens, my stuffed baby lion, stared back at me with her familiar glass eyes.

                “I could be at one of my dream colleges right now, staying up because of homework instead of random calls at night from Austin.” Pausing, I realized I was starting to raise my voice. Taking a deep breath, I let my grip on Mittens loosen before starting again. “Why couldn’t I have just said no?”

                Mittens stayed silent, but I didn’t need an answer. I know exactly why when I came to Austin, I had absolutely no willpower, but I couldn’t bring myself to articulate the reason.  “Godamnnit, why are you so stubborn?” I asked myself.