but the wait will be worth it

chapter twenty seven

Emma and I had driven to the hotel together, singing along to some Britney Spears song on the way there.

"My loneliness is killing me—"

"And I," Emma finished the lyric. I smiled over to her with a laugh before continuing to sing along.

"I must confess, I still believe." We sang loudly and obnoxiously, like how my sister had used to in the car with her friends back in high school.

Emma wasn't the best at singing, and I just could not stop laughing. She would stop singing in a huff, crossing her arms and pouting in her seat. I would annoy her until she finally began to sing again.

"When I'm not with you I loose my mind," she sang.

I joined in. "Give me a sign, hit me baby one more time."

We both laughed and giggled in the old rental car, almost arriving at the hotel.

Just as we were about to pull in to the parking lot, Emma steered the car in a different direction.

"Woah woah woah, what the fuck?" I yelled out while desperately trying to grip onto something. The car turned swiftly, backing out onto the road again.

Emma laughed and turned to me cheekily. "Needed a change in scenery," she said, eyebrows raised. I rolled my eyes.

"Emma, we are in New Mexico," I began, agitated. "And just yesterday we were in Texas. We've been to nearly every state in America these past few months, so tell me why we need another 'change in scenery.'"

Emma exhaled. "Oh, shut up. Calm down and just go with the flow, alright?" Emma's lips formed a straight line before breaking into a giggle fit, rapidly hitting the gas. We sped up the street a bit, luckily receiving all green lights.

Emma's friendship I had been gaining over the past two days was quite thrilling, but sometimes her spontaneous personality made me miss being around Clara. Clara was safe, and never too crazy. But then again, we didn't understand each other as well as Emma and I did.

"Shit, no bloody music on the radio nowadays. What I would do to hear some Blondie or Amy Winehouse right now." Emma flipped through the stations recklessly, huffing at the sound of each one.

I slapped her hand away from the radio knobs. "And you're gonna get us killed just for a second of better music. Let me." I quickly turned the dial and stopped on the nearest station, which began to blast out something Christina Aguilera.

"No, I said Amy Winehouse. There is a vast difference, Harry!"

I pouted derisively, causing Emma to sulk in her seat. She drove on as I danced around to the song.

"If you wanna be with me, baby there's a price to pay," I sang while laughing hysterically at Emma's upset moue. "I'm a genie in a bottle, you gotta rub me the right way."

Emma gave a jokingly look of disgust, as I laughed and turned the music up to some ear-blading level of volume. Finally, she gave in and sang along.

We screamed to the words, windows rolled down. People in other cars may have given disapproving looks, but I didn't mind.

As the song stopped, I turned the volume down just a bit so that I could talk over the noise.

"So, where are we going anyway?" I asked.

Emma kept a straight face and continued to gaze at the road ahead, ignoring my question. I frowned and turned to the window, to notice her beginning to pull into the parking lot of a family park.