The Road Trip

• Nine •

We drove through the unmanned ticket booth at exactly six fifteen the next morning like we'd agreed upon—Mount Rushmore at sunrise—even if we'd both done it begrudgingly. When Luke wanted to do something, he just did it. Unbothered. So he'd woken me up this time at five a.m. I, on the other hand, wanted to stay sleeping, cradled warm in my bed. But Luke had insisted that I'd promised the night before that I would wake up. Which I had, with a strict stipulation that he would have to force me.

"This better be worth it," I grumbled.

"Look, there's like one person here." Luke pulled into a parking spot where there was one other car two spaces down. "That alone is worth it."

"Mmhmm," I muttered, putting my head against the window and closing my eyes. "Wake me up when you're done being a tourist."

Luke's door shut, and I heard the click of my passenger side door before he swung it open. I pretended to fall out, but Luke caught me.

I was awake now. I wrapped my hands around his neck as I became dead weight in his arms. "Carry me," I whispered.

Too much? Yeah, too much.

I dropped my feet down to the ground and stood, blinking through the dusty yellow-blue that was beginning to cut through the clouds. "Okay, okay. I'm ready."

Luke's left hand lingered on my waist as I turned. He dropped it, but stepped into my back. Luke massaged my shoulders and said softly, "You can sleep in the car on the way to Badlands. Now, go." He pushed me forward toward the entrance.

Luke was in some kind of internal dilemma. Constantly bringing me closer, then pushing me away. Fighting with himself and whatever thoughts he was having about us on this trip. He needed a push because he was being the unrelaxed one.

I stopped short in front of the rectangular openings and looked up at the mountain in the distance. "It's smaller than I thought it would be."

Luke narrowed an eye at me. "You are hard to please."

"Am not," I protested like a child.

"It's a sculpture on the side of a mountain. Created one hundred years ago. Lighten up."

"I'm light," I yelled as I started running through the entrance. I heard Luke laugh behind me, but I didn't stop until I'd made it to the other side where the Avenue of Flags started.

"Work out for today complete," I told him when he reached me.

"You do realize we're hiking later, right?"

"I didn't realize this trip was going to involve so much hiking," I whined. "But I'm actually excited. I googled Badlands, and I'm totally here for it. It looks awesome."

Luke's face lit up in time with the sun as it started to peak out above the skyline. "You're going to be a hiker before this trip is over."

"No. Is there more after today?" I said, eyeing him as we turned and made our way between the state flags to the viewing area.

"Only if you agree. I promise. Otherwise, I'll drag you along to run with me."

We stopped to take a picture with the Massachusetts and Washington flags.
"What marathon are you training for?"

"The New England Green River Marathon. I'm hoping to qualify for the Boston Marathon."

"Wow. How do you even run twenty-six miles?" I asked dumbfounded. "I think my max is, like, two."

Luke sat on a bench in the viewing area. "You hit a stride at some point that it's almost robotic. My most right now is sixteen."

"Miles?" I pulled by jaw back up and sat down beside him. "Jesus. That's like... driving for sixteen minutes on the highway."