Night-Owl Trucking

Tuesday, 1:06am

"I— I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! A-Are you alright?" Amity had turned a startling shade of red and stammered a string of apologies after Gus nearly became an accessory to manslaughter. He'll be the victim next time! she silently promised the smaller girl breathing heavily with her hands on her knees.

Luz felt the heat crawling up her face as she scrubbed a hand through the back of her hair. "I'm okay, honest," she assured her totally platonic friend as she stood upright, "You just caught me by surprise." She reached out a comforting hand and gently squeezed the taller girl's bicep, and decided to try to calm her own thundering pulse with a bit of levity. "Dang girl," Luz waggled her eyebrows up at the golden-eyed girl, "you got some muscle." Her fingertips practically sizzled at the movement she felt when Amity shifted her arm at her touch. If anything, her heartbeat hammered faster in her chest, That didn't work! Abort! Abort! She paused to clear her throat with a hoarse, "Holy shit." Amity looked away with a choked laugh, turning pink.

Luz grinned and cleared her throat again, suddenly a rippling ball of nervous energy; she tapped her toes and slapped her palms together as she squeaked a high-pitched, "WELP," then tipped her head toward the truck, "Need ta' do a quick lap around Hooty, then we can hit the road, 'kay?" The two stood there in a quiet, loaded silence as Luz turned her eyes down to the cracked pavement at their feet, suddenly shy. She sighed, then looked up to meet Amity's soft gaze. "Thank you for giving me another chance," her voice hushed and delicate as she smiled up at the green-haired girl. Her whispered sentiment filled the still, peaceful air, and a gentle breeze ruffled their hair as Amity returned her smile.

"Of course," the taller girl's response was just as soft. Amity pointed a thumb over her shoulder, "I'll wait for you inside, okay?" She reached out for the bag Gus had packed, brushing her fingers across the back of Luz's hand as she added, "Let me get that for you."

~

The satellite phone vibrated in the pocket behind the passenger seat while the girls grinned at each other under the starry sky. It slipped further down into the leather pouch with each pulse, sliding all the way to the bottom of its dark hiding place. It fell silent just before the green-haired girl climbed into the cab, and remained unnoticed.

~

The cab rocked as Luz pulled her door shut with a slam, and she turned a shy, hopeful grin in the pale girl's direction. She twisted the key in the dashboard as she softly asked, "So..." Hooty's engine hummed in anticipation of her question, "are we good?" the brown-haired girl chuckled when Amity looked up at the ceiling and tapped a fingertip on her lips, as if she had yet to decide.

"Yeah," Amity smiled so wide, "We're good."

Luz nodded as she pressed her thumb into a button on the cherrywood dashboard, "I'm glad," her words nearly drowned out by the roar of the diesel engine at their feet, "Y'know? I'm really glad," she repeated with a grin.

"Yeah?" the golden-eyed girl asked, breathing out a laugh.

"Yeah. Really. Just—" Luz shook her head and made a noise of surprise, throwing her hands up in the air, "I'm just— wow, we're friends."

"Yup," Amity nodded, her mouth pressed into an amused line, "Friends," she repeated.

"Friennnnddds," Luz emphasized as she leaned over the steering wheel and waggled her eyebrows. The light on Hooty's radio began to blink, and the GPS screen began to glow with their route marked and ready.

Amity blinked and nodded, playfully snapping her fingers and pointing at Luz, "Good friends."

"Such good friends."