Night-Owl Trucking

Tuesday, 3:09pm

"What are we going to do with all this stuff?" Amity held out the plastic bag Luz had pulled from the cashier's stiff, wide-eyed grasp and gave it a shake, rattling the contents. The gallon bottle of bleach dangled from her other hand as they walked.

Luz laughed and pointed at a little panel low on the side of the truck as they approached, "There's room for this junk in the toolbox."

"But," the green-haired girl leaned forward a bit to point under Luz's other arm, "What's the basketball for?"

"Oh, this?" Luz chuckled and dribbled the ball from side to side, sliding her feet to bounce it from one hand to the other between her legs, before she juked around Amity, breathing with noisy, rapid chuffing sounds, grunting loud, exaggerated Hoo!'s and Watch out!'s as she pushed her back into the taller, laughing girl, driving her two steps sideways—Amity raised her arms as Luz ducked underneath her elbows, letting loose a bright, happy sound of surprise—as Luz rotated around her to jump up in the air and fake a shot high above their heads. Time seemed to slow for Amity as she watched; Luz drifted, weightless, her legs curled mid-jump, a brilliant smile on her face as her brown curls floated around her eyes, glints of auburn and rich chocolate shining in the sunlight. She was dazzling, like the sun.

The tanned girl landed with a bounce and grinned up at Amity, her brown eyes sparkling as she reached up to catch the basketball. "This is for later," she spun the ball between her fingertips, then bounced it on the ground and caught it under an arm, "I have a morning routine—you should join me—step one!" She held up a finger, "Hydration."

Amity made a confused face.

"Those water bottles we bought this morning?" Luz hinted, pulling an Ahh, right, from the pale girl. "Sixty ounces of water with added electrolytes, vitamins, and minerals to really flush out your system and get your body ready for the day, and then—" the shorter girl waggled her eyebrows and raised a second finger, "Step number the second!" After a dramatic pause, she grinned, "A bit of exercise."

"Hence the ball?" Amity asked with a smile.

"Hence, the ball," Luz nodded. She waved across the parking lot, back toward the side of the Travel Stop, "There's a hoop over there, by the picnic table. I kinda figured you'd wanna let your little goobers out for a bit?"

Amity nodded, "I– I'd like— Yes, is that alright?" She dipped her head with a shy little smile, and a hesitant laugh. "I thought we might have to leave soon— If— if we have time, I'd like to give them a check-up."

"Is two hours enough?" Luz held up her empty wrist and mimed glancing at a watch, "We should try to be on the road by five."

Oh, good, more time to stretch out, Amity thought as she smiled. "Yes, that's more than enough time," the pale girl ran her fingers back through her wind-swept hair, tucking green locks behind her ear, "Thank you, Luz." Then she paused and tilted her head, "Is that enough time for your routine? Are there more than two steps?"

Luz chuckled and bounced the basketball as they walked, "Yeah, there's three steps. Lots'a water, a bit of exercise aannnd..." She glanced up at Amity with a sly grin, "Any guesses?"

They reached Hooty, and Amity turned to face the shorter girl, "Uhh... like a— like a protein shake? Or maybe a V8?" At Luz's slowly spreading grin, she waved her hands in a defeated shrug, "I don't know, a Nutrigrain bar?"

Luz laughed and unlocked the small door to the undercarriage toolbox, "Nah, chuggin' sixty ounces of water? Step three is, like, four trips to the bathroom!"

~

Luz hopped up into the driver's door and leaned over the seat, tucking her work gloves back into their usual place. She felt a gentle tap-tap at the back of her leg, and looked down to see one of Amity's robots, its long rectangular body tilted up toward her with its front limbs on the running board at her side. One foreleg hovered beside her knee. It put its leg down when she looked its way, and it waggled its body in a greeting. The flat, circular black screen on its top panel showed the same goopy purple face from the day before, with several white question marks floating above it. She was fairly certain she knew which one it was.