We Grew Back Together

8: Eyes on the Road

The drive was quiet except for the music lowly playing through the car. The windows were open, letting the wind tousle Harper's long hair.

She fixed her hair every moment or so with uncoordinated hands.    

Nic didn't say anything, she just drove with one hand on the wheel, the other propped up on the window holding her head.

Harpers hands wrung in her lap. Why was Nic so quiet? She was usually so talkative. Was something wrong?

Does she not want me here with her?

"Lettie?" Harper carefully asked, eyes venturing toward Nic for a second before retreating back to her lap.

"Yeah?" Nic replied, glancing over at Harper.

"Do you-" she took a breath and tried to make sense of her thoughts, "do you like that I'm back and hang around you guys?"

"Yeah," she answered, keeping her eyes on the road.

Harper nodded. She frowned. That's not what she wanted to say. Surely the buzz of the alcohol wasn't helping her sort out her thoughts. "I'm happy I get to talk to you again."

Nic smiled and softly chuckled.

"When I moved I made friends and kinda forgot about everyone from here. I didn't forget I just, we were so young. It's not like we had phones to keep in touch... I wonder what it would be like if we did. I don't think we'd be talking like this."

"We definitely wouldn't be," Nic replied with an amused smile, yet her eyes still didn't leave the road.

"Alice says you work a lot and don't have time for much else in the summer... is that true?"

"Yup."

"But you seem so carefree and interesting."

Nic scoffed, "I'm about as interesting as this fucking town. Nothing noteworthy except for an Acme which isn't even that interesting."

"No, you're not boring. I don't think you're boring. I think you're interesting."

"How much did you drink tonight?"

"I don't-" she tried to remember. Counting in her head she frowned, was it three of four? No maybe five? Shaking her head she said, "that doesn't matter!"

Nic stopped at the intersection. The light was red.

Harper looked at her. The red light shined across her face. Still, Nics eyes didn't leave the road.

Disappointed, Harper sat back in her seat. Was Nic mad at her? She looked back at her lap, feeling the static in her fingertips as she picked at her cuticles. Her insides twisted and dread clawed through her. Will Nic think poorly of her? She's drunk in her car asking stupid questions.

The car started moving again, and she glanced at Nic again hoping to meet her gaze.

Still, Nics eyes didn't leave the road.

She pursed her lips and grabbed at her seatbelt, feeling her throat tighten and her eyes grow blurry with tears starting to form.

Trying to blink them away, she looked out the window.

She wanted to keep talking, to tell Nic all about her but there was nothing that came to mind. There was so much she wanted to say but nothing to say.

"If you're boring then I'm worse than boring," Harper muttered. She noticed they were arriving in her neighborhood.

She didn't want the ride to end. She didn't want to have to leave and be alone with her thoughts for the rest of the night. She didn't want to be alone without Nic for the rest of the night.

Nic pulled into her driveway.

When the car stopped, a hole tore its way through Harper's chest. The sting of tears blurred her vision slightly.

She inhaled and looked over at Nic.

Their eyes met.

The static clouding her mind seemed to clear for a moment. Her mind was clear, yet her body felt frozen in time.

How can one small glance feel like an eternity.

"Are you okay to go in on your own?"

Harper let out the breath that was trapped in her chest. Her face grew warm and she looked away, her insides swirling.

Nodding, she took off her seatbelt.

Nic watched her open the car door and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Ye-" her voice cut out and she nodded trying to keep her voice from shaking, "Yeah."

Nic smiled and softly told her, "Okay."

Harper's heart skipped a beat. She stepped out of the car and turned back to see Nic looking at her with a small smile. Harper wanted to get back in the car, tell her she didn't want to leave her just yet and drive away into the night with her.

Instead, she just closed the car door and watched Nic pull out of the driveway.