The Novelty of Existence

4

𝙽𝙱 ⋆ 𝙰𝚞𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 ⋆ 𝚆𝚎𝚜

"Out of province," I announced, pulling into Aulac. The grass in the fields was freshly cut. I hung my head out the window momentarily, breathing in the freshly cut grass. We all filed out of Francesca, stretching on the gravel.

"I thought we were overnighting in Moncton?" Aiden said through a yawn.

"The deal was that we switch every province." I reminded them all with a smile. I didn't mind driving, but being a passenger was a lot more fun.

"I'll go," Mo said as she touched her toes. I was supposed to be the hyper one, but these kids couldn't sit for more than a couple of hours without whining. The benefits of a fishing family. There aren't many.

Mo re-tied the drawstrings on her gray sweatpants and pulled the hairband off of her wrist to tie her thick waves into a bun. As she did so, I took the opportunity to poke her belly button where her crop top was pulled up. She flinched and then kicked my shin. Mo and I got along like a house on fire. We were both from working-class families. Like, the kind that really work. And we both had an unnecessary amount of siblings.

Her favorite was obviously Daniel, and probably vice versa. So, I was thankful for Aiden.

"Mr. Kim." I winked as I got in the back.

"Mr. Ford." He countered.

According to the growling stomach, it was time for us to eat by the time we got to Moncton. Moncton was old hat for us. Danny's Mom drove us to Magic Mountain every summer for a while. I still laugh about it because I wasn't the one to ruin something for a change. My man Aiden had the privilege of getting us all a lifetime ban from a children's water park. Love that guy.

Looking out the passenger window at the bright blue sky, I wondered why those guys were so eager to leave home. The East coast was all I knew. There was a comfort in knowing the entirety of a place. Every secret spot and every good deal.

I mean, Danny was so sick of home that he went to a college on the other side of the country. He said that UBC was the only place that accepted his application but I found that hard to believe. He was top 5 smartest guys in our school. Probably in our province too. Mo was a big fat liar. She acted like she was more loyal to home than the others, but all of her upcoming travel plans suspiciously had no set time frame. I had a feeling we'd lose her to Thailand.

The only one that I knew was being transparent was Aiden. He wanted to go to the University of Toronto since we met. He was dead set on it, and we all expected it. See, A was a pit bull. Once he knew what he wanted, he clamped his jaws down and didn't let go until he got it. Surprising for such a laid-back dude, I know.

"What motel are we staying at?" Mo asked.

"Uh, -the one Mom used to take us to before-"

"Before Aiden's little incident?" She finished Danny's sentence.

Aiden blew a raspberry in response. I straightened up. "No way, this is gonna be a throwback."

"Not only that," Danny said softly, and as he twisted his body to see me I saw a smile creep over his mouth, "I got us into Magic Mountain tomorrow."

"What!?"

"How?"

"Even me?"

Danny shrugged shyly, "They are making a special exception since we graduated."

"Did you beg?" Aiden asked.

"Oh, I groveled," Danny said through a laugh, "I even cried a little."

"Damn, good for you."

"I can't believe we are going back to Magic Mountain!" Mo squealed, slapping the wheel so hard she accidentally honked the horn.

"Tomorrow at 10 AM." The van erupted with cheers and whoops, and finally a loud chant.

"Da-nny"

"Da-nny"

"Da-nny"