4-to-1

Five - Car Ride

Lexi

I began eating my sandwich, which was really good.

I wonder which of the boys made it. I'll try to find out later so I can thank him.

Asher took a deep breath, as though he was preparing to say something he didn't want to say. I was pretty sure I didn't want to hear it, so I pre-empted his words.

"I'm surprised you're letting me eat this in here."

"What do you mean?" He asked, glancing my way with a perplexed look.

"Wellll...." I glanced around the car, "this car is spotless, and it's not really the type of vehicle one would normally be allowed to eat it. I would expect most owners to ban anyone from even bringing food near the car."

He glanced at me again, then did a quick look of the car. Asher drove a Cadillac Escalade in pearlescent silver, with a sleek, rounded frame. The interior was amazing, with an entire dashboard made of one long lcd screen, multiple buttons on the steering wheel, and a control panel by the gear shift. It had seats that were a tan buttery leather that I was almost afraid to sit on, let alone risk getting crumbs all over.

He turned back to the road and a smirk appeared on his face. "We all eat in here all the time, Lexi. There are literally tables that fold out of the console in the second row."

"Wait, what? There are tables back there?"

"Mhmm. I just go have the whole thing detailed once a week." I could hear a slight chuckle in his voice.

I lowered my head towards my food, a small blush warmed my cheeks.

We drove in silence for a few minutes, as I ate my food, and he focused on the road.

When the silence began to feel uncomfortable, Asher cleared his throat.

"I know you're not thrilled about staying with us...," he began, "...but I need you to stop punishing Declan because you're too busy pouting about the situation."

I frowned at his words and turned my head towards him. "What? I'm not punishing Declan."

He glanced at me, then back at the road. "If that's true, then you're being inconsiderate. Declan has never said anything mean to you, and he wants to see if you two can regain some sort of friendship, but your behavior has hurt his feelings....not that he would admit it."

"MY behavior?"

"Yes, Lexi. Your actions yester-"

I snorted to myself at his words, and looked out the window, which cut off his response.

He's blaming me for hurting Declan's feelings.What about MY feelings? I'm not the only one in the house who could say something hurtful. They might not have known I was outside the door, but that doesn't mean they should talk as though they were alone in the house.

I allowed the silence to stretch as I continued to gaze out the window. My favorite part about riding the bus was watching the scenery along the way. I found it very relaxing, a great way to clear my head before my school day would begin.

"Lexi?"

I ignored him, and instead let the peacefulness of the clear blue sky and serene greenery of so many trees calm my agitated mood.

"Look, I know you're used to doing things your way these days, but could you please make an effort to cohabitate with us?"

I rolled my eyes at his words.

It's not exactly my fault I'm always alone these days.

I kept my focus on the landscape as I responded, my words laden with sarcasm to show my annoyance.