Love In Destin ✔

17 - summer is for falling inlove

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𝑹𝒊𝒄𝒌

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SPECKS OF SUNLIGHT bedeck the edges of my Mustang as I drive down the highway. Silence stretches out between us, a protracted expanse of nothingness that pulls my nerve endings taut.

I take a quick glance toward Maya, who lays her head against the rolled-down window. She seems to be enchanted by the fast-passing cars. I, on the other hand, am feeling stuffed from the turtleneck and blazer. For some stupid reason, I thought it would be wise to wear this with the heat.

"Hey, Rick?" I hear Maya call.

"Huh?"

"Can I turn on the radio?"

"Sure,"

She inches her body forward and turns on the radio. A blast of music resounds throughout the car and out the windows. She lowers the volume a bit and changes song after song until she stumbles upon a rock song. She sits back, taking in the sound of the beat. This comes as a shock to me, and my lips tighten.

"You listen to rock?"

"Mhm and 90s pop," she grins.

"That's ridiculous, you seem far from the type,"

"That's why you shouldn't judge when you don't know people,"

"I guess, but people judge all the time,"

"I know Rick, but you're not people, you are your own person,"

For some reason, her words sound like something Mom would say to me. She turns away from me, bobbing her head to the awful music before asking, "Do you also listen to rock?"

"Surprisingly, I do," I don't. I never have and never will. I prefer classical music and musicals. There's something about the music that lets me feel alive. Rock sounds like a jumble of messed-up tunes on instruments brought together into an abomination of music.

"Then you're probably like me. I'm not a fan of slow music. I prefer fast and adrenaline-spiking music. Rock makes me feel alive,"

At least she thinks we have something in common, which might eventually lead to her liking me. "What type of rock are you into?"

She's waiting for an answer, and my insides squirm with the kind of awkwardness I have when I get an answer wrong in class."Uh...," I notice our arrival. "Look, we've made it," she directs her focus away from me, and the tension in my body drains from my system, coming out in an outward breath of relief.

We drive onto a long grassy passageway leading to a form of Greenland adorned by all types of plant life. Maya looks out the window, eyes vast with fascination.

Memories of family road trips and countless picnics gallop into my mind. I can sense the ghost of my past running around in circles, laughter and child-like enthralment ringing through the air.

"What is this place?" asks Maya as I park the car under a tree, among many others.

"It's a sort of garden. My family and I would come here every summer vacation to go fishing and have picnics," I detect a small smile on my face that I hadn't noticed before.

"It seems really peaceful," she exhales.

"Yeah. Come on," I unfasten my seat belt before getting out of the car. We are met with the golden rays of sunlight, and instantaneously, I take my blazer off, rolling the sleeves of my turtleneck.