east of eden 𑁋 salvis.

XXI

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They end up in a van. A hippy van, no less. Which of course threw Travis off a little bit- He thought hippies and their vans died out in the 70's. But apparently not, considering Sal and Travis ended up in a bright yellow hippy van, with four other people-three high, and one, the driver, sober.

The first was dark in complexion, with a large afro and gapped teeth that showed in her smile. She wore a dark purple knitted top and baggy jeans, with scuffed up doc martens. Her eyes were red, the first giveaway to Travis that she was high, as he'd seen it many times with Larry when he was high.

The second was pale with dutch braided red hair and freckles splattered across her face, down to her shoulders and probably everywhere else that was covered. Clad in a black t-shirt and baggy jeans with sneakers, dream catchers hanging from her ears. Her blue eyes were red as well, though if that wasn't enough hint that she was higher than the clouds, the smoking blunt between her lips did.

The third, a boy with dark brown hair hanging down to his shoulders. It appeared to be wet, though Travis figured that was probably just grease and not water, as for the whole two hours he'd been in this van so far the boy's hair hadn't dried a bit. He was wearing a white t-shirt and baggy jeans with sneakers, and high as well. He seemed to be pretty fidgety- messing with different things through the ride and eventually ending up with a guitar he plucked slowly at.

The fourth, the driver, was a girl with blonde hair shoved into a bun. Travis was sure that, were it to be down, it'd hang down past her back. She had brown eyes and faint freckles splattered across her cheeks and nose, and was clad in a blue crop top and jeans.

Travis had, at first, been slightly freaked out by all these people around him. A bunch of high, mid-twenties hippies in a van, taking in two teen boys. He'd been afraid he was going to get kidnapped, while Sal seemed to have been able to keep his composure. Travis was honestly surprised Sal was able to keep so calm, especially with all the smoke in the vehicle. He would have thought it'd throw Sal into a coughing fit immediately, but it hadn't.

It also slightly freaked Travis out that he didn't know anyone's name. Hardly any of them had spoken to either Travis or Sal aside from the driver when she'd pulled up to them and asked if they needed a ride, and where they were going.

"So uh- What are your guys'- names?" Travis asked after two hours of silence in the car ride. Everyone aside from the driver looked at him as he spoke, which just made him even more anxious.

"Ah shit, did we forget to introduce ourselves?" The first girl replied shortly after, laughing with her words. Travis wasn't sure why she was laughing- He didn't know what was so funny. But nonetheless he awkwardly laughed with her, shooting a quick, nervous look at Sal as he did so. Sal smiled at him from behind his prosthetic, reaching over to take Travis' hand in his own. For some reason, that action calmed Travis just a little bit.

"I'm Shannon." The first girl sticks out her ring-clad hand with a toothy smile, waiting for Travis to take it. He does after a moment of staring at her hand, trying to smile back as he introduces himself. She smiles and nods, quickly shaking his hand before pulling away. Shannon searches in the seats around her for a moment, finding a pack of cigarettes and taking one.

She points at Sal with the cigarette before lighting it, speaking as she does so.

"Who's your friend?" She asks, sticking the cigarette in her mouth and inhaling from it while she waits for an answer. Sal's grip on Travis' hand tightens just a bit, causing Travis to look over at him. He frowns to himself when he sees Sal's eyes on the cigarette, unmoving. He wants one. But he knows it'd just send him into a coughing fit.

"His name's Sal." Travis murmurs, looking away from Sal and back at Shannon as he speaks. She nods, blowing the cigarette from her mouth. She watches Sal for a moment, seeming to sense his desperation and offering the pack to him. Travis quickly pushes it away, not even giving Sal a moment to think about it. Shannon gives Travis an odd look, but doesn't say anything about it.

The redhead breaks the slight tension in the air, jumping towards Travis and sticking her hand in his direction. Her pupils are huge, taking up almost all over her eyes. Travis starts to think she might be on something other than just weed, or maybe her weed was laced with something. Because to his knowledge, weed doesn't do- that.

"I'm Amy!" She practically shouts, grabbing Travis' hand and shaking it. He's a bit caught by surprise, but doesn't pull his hand away, he knows it'd be rude to do that. Instead, he calmly shakes her bony hand and pulls away as soon as her fingers start to slip from his grasp.

"Angela." The driver states, bringing Travis' attention to her for a moment. She says nothing else, just staring at the road as she drives. Travis guesses he can't blame her, she's probably having enough trouble focusing as is with all these people talking in the back and Amy jumping around, as well as the brunette plucking away at his guitar.

"I'm Chris." The brunette introduces himself last, not even looking at Travis and Sal as he speaks. Travis nods, slowly shoving his free hand under his thigh when he almost reaches out to shake Chris' hand. He gets slightly embarrassed from the movement, considering Chris obviously has no interest in shaking his hand.

Once the introductions are done, the car goes back to being fairly silent. Travis doesn't try to start up another conversation, and Sal doesn't try to start a conversation either. After another hour of driving, Sal slowly leans over and puts his head on Travis' shoulder. Travis doesn't move, though the action makes an odd feeling burst in his stomach and makes his heart begin to beat faster.

He just sits awkwardly, suddenly tense as Sal's breathing starts to slow. Travis almost starts to worry these are Sal's last moments before he reminds himself that Sal's probably just going to sleep. Sal seems to sense Travis' worry, though he's on the edge of sleep, squeezing Travis' hand just a bit.

"I'm okay, Trav." He murmurs, voice thick with tiredness. Travis takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself. It works for a moment, before he starts to become hyper aware of Sal's breathing. It sounds- Irregular. Almost sounds like Sal's having to work extra hard to make it happen.

Travis' worry spikes up again.

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