Transient Love

Chapter 2 - R-rated Redbull

I woke up to the wheels screeching to a stop, and the engine turned off. I opened my eyes and turned to look at Nate.

"Oh you're finally up!" is all he said at first. "How are you feeling?" he continued.

I paused to stretch and yawn, making my eyes slightly water. I let out a satisfied moan and slumped back down.

"I'll take it from that you're feeling better, are you feeling hungry? Did you want me to get you anything?" He asked before I could answer his first question.

I peered around outside through my tired eyes. It was dark and cold, the only light coming from the 7/11 we were stopped at."What time is it?" I asked, avoiding his food question.

"It's like 3:30 am." He replied.

"Fuck me sideways, I conked out didn't I? must have been the weed". I deduced. "How in the fuck are you still awake?" I questioned. We had the same amount of weed, so my tolerance must be low.

"Talent my friend", he boasted. "Nah, I did have to do a pit stop, but speaking of that, I am getting tired if you wanted to do the old switcheroo?" He proposed.

"Yeah, it's about time, we'll get some food first, yeah?" I said, my stomach grumbling, reminding me of Nathan's offer from earlier.

"Sounds good," he replied. "I'll give you my card, I'm just going to fill up the truck, I'll meet you in there."

I grabbed Nate's card and turned for the door, making a note of which number we were at. I shivered a bit as I entered the 7/11, the air cold and crisp sending goosebumps down my body. I crossed my arms and hugged myself to keep warm, hurrying to the food section. I focused mainly on getting snacks and things that are easy to eat. I landed on getting 2 packets of Doritos Nacho cheese flavor, of course. A block of Caramilk Cadbury chocolate, a few sugar-free Redbulls, and got ice cream for Nate. I grabbed my items and headed to the cashier. Just as Nate walked in, I shot him a smile and popped the items on the desk. "Just this please, and number 4." I said to the lady. She stayed quiet. She was an older, larger woman around 54. She had dyed blonde short hair and a mean look. She wouldn't stop throwing me disapproving glances. I got a bit nervous, still feeling high or tired from before, one of the two. I avoided her eyes as much as possible and quickly paid. I let Nate grab the food, and we hurried back to the car, "Keys!" I shouted to Nate, who then threw them to me, and we both hopped in. I opened one of the Dorito packets and stuffed two big handfuls in my mouth, trying to avoid spilling them all over me, and washed it down with a Redbull. When I was finished, I let out a loud burp and patted my stomach.

Nate stared at me weirdly with a grin, "You're so weird." He chuckled.

"You could always walk," I replied jokingly, then I put the key in the ignition and started the engine. I checked the maps around 20 minutes into the drive and could see we only had 3 and a half hours left to go. I looked over at Nathan, who had his earphones in reading something on his phone. It must have been something juicy as his eyes were glued to the screen. I quickly tapped his shoulder and he looked at me and took one of his earbuds out. "Sorry, just letting you know we only have a few hours left to go." I reminded him.

"Yeah, but I did all the groundwork." He smirked.

"Shut up." I chuckled, rolling my eyes. He was technically right though.

"Hey, where did those Redbulls go?" he asked, looking around with thirsty or tired eyes. "I put them in the back with the chips and chocolate and your fucking ice cream. What's the bet that won't you eat it and it will melt?" I ranted, remembering his habit of impulse-buying food and forgetting to eat it. Bloody ADHD motherfucker. I love him though. I have noticed that neurodivergent people tend to gravitate toward other neurodivergent people how funny?