Sketch

Chapter 19

I watched scenes fly past my window one after the other, no two even resembling each other. I'd never left New York before this and I never really thought about how diverse the country really was. Each state was its own universe, and each city and town its own planet. I leaned my head on Devon's shoulder she he wrapped his arm around my waist, his cheek pressed to the top of my head. Grayson had offered to drive so we could sit in the back together.

"Hey Devon?" I asked quietly, so Grayson wouldn't here me.

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't you go to Italy?"

"I told you that-"

I let out a sigh and looked up at him. "I don't believe you."

A strange look passed across his face and he tore his gaze away from mine and fixated them on the world outside. He was silent for a moment, as if he was thinking about what to say, then he to sighed.

"I didn't go because she lives there," He frowned. My heart contracted.

"She?" I whispered.

"Emilia."

"Who's Emilia?" I asked, trying to keep the jealousy and worry out of my voice.

"Just some girl," He diverted.

"If she was just some girl, you wouldn't avoid and entire country because of her," I growled.

"She's nobody, alright?" Devon snapped. "Just drop it."

"I can't," I snorted.

"You don't need to be jealous of some girl that lives thousands of miles away," He countered.

"I am not jealous!" I shouted, causing Grayson to turn down the stereo.

"What are you two fighting about?" He frowned, watching us in the rear-view mirror.

"Nothing!" Devon and I cried in unison. We glared at each other then quickly whipped our heads in the opposite direction.

"Don't make me separate you two," Grayson threatened. I let out and exasperated hmph and kept silent with my arms crossed over my chest and my eyes fixed on the window. I didn't quite understand why I was so mad that he wouldn't talk about Emilia I guess I just felt scared. What if he loved her, whoever she used to be to him? What if he had been in love with her once before? I groaned inwardly at the thought of losing Devon to some blonde in too-tight jeans with a cute Italian accent.

"Nat?" Devon called softly. It was the tone of his voice that made me turn around, not because I wanted to.

"What?" I snapped.

"There's nothing between me and Emilia," He pleaded.

"But there was at some point, right?"

"Yes, but-"

"That was a long time ago. I get it," I sighed.

"So, are we okay?"

"Yeah," I yawned and leaned my head back on his shoulder. "I guess so."

I fell asleep with his fingers tangled in my hair.

I was a poor planner due to my intense lack of knowledge on going places with people. Because of this, we ended up at motel after motel with nothing interesting to keep us entertained in between. I'd been looking forward to all the different art exhibits I might find, but I hadn't exactly picked the best stops to do so. The most art we saw, besides the art museum, was graffiti.

"Sorry guys," I sighed as we stumbled into our last motel stop before we hit New Orleans.

"Nah," Grayson smiled. "Don't apologize. I've had more fun than I have in years!"

"Don't lie," I frowned.

"I'm not!"

"And neither am I!" Devon grinned, scooping me up in his arms and holding me like an infant. "I've had fun!"

"You have three seconds to put me down before I slaughter you," I howled, kicking my feet.

"Oh no! Please don't count!"

"One."

"Oh Lord!"

"Two."

"Whatever will I do?"

"Three!"

"Tickle her?" Grayson offered.

"That sounds good," Devon laughed and flung me down onto the creaky bed.

"No!" I shrieked. "Don't you dare!"

"Oh, but I do dare!"

Devon pinned both my arms down easily with only one of his and used his other hand to tickle me. I tried to thrash out of his grasp as I giggled uncontrollably.

"Let me go!" I cried.

"Hmm...," He paused. "Let me think...... No!"

During his hesitation, I'd inched closer to his hand that was holding mine down. As we commenced tickling me again, I tilted my head up and bit his finger. Devon yelped and jumped back, falling off the back of the bed and onto the floor, flat on his back.

"What the heck!" He whined, examining his finger as I laughed.

"What just happened?" Grayson asked, coming in from the kitchenette with a cup of milk and a package of cookies.

"She bit me!" Devon exclaimed, holding his barely-red finger up so Grayson could see.

"Foul play, huh?" Grayson smirked. "I know just how to handle this."

Grayson disappeared into the kitchenette again and returned with another cup of milk and package of cookies. He handed then to me and I grinned.

"Don't reward her for that behavior!" Devon groaned.

"Well, you did deserve it," Grayson laughed.

"Yeah!" I chimed in, tearing open my small bag of cookies.

"I didn't!"

"I gave you fair warning," I shrugged, dipping a cookie into my milk. Devon pouted and climbed onto the bed by my side and reached into my bag.

"Hey! These aren't for you!" I growled as I smacked his hand away. Devon only smirked and dipped his stolen cookie into my milk. I rolled my eyes at him and sighed.

Hey homies, what's up? If you didn't already know from my update on Adventures, I got my laptop fixed! It's much easier to update on it and I hope to get more updates out before my writers block comes back! Thank you so much for being patient with me. If you're still reading this, you get a gold star! :D