I follow behind Gemma Harper carrying my duffle bag in my right hand and obstructing my posture with the barely bearable weight of my backpack tethered to my back. I chuck my bags into the trunk of her red car and saunter over to Leo, Oakley and Genevieve.
"See you guys! Kiss hug!" Genevieve says before smiling at me and stepping towards the cars behind me.
"Sam," Oakley says to me,
"Well, this is another goodbye then... We got to stop with these, they're getting old." I chuckle, "Till next time guys!" I sputter out. I'm really sad to be leaving Oakley again but I refuse to show that to him. I stare at him awkwardly, not knowing whether to offer him a hug or not, before glancing at Leo and then waving, "Okay b-bye!" I say to them. "Have a good rest of your summer." I follow up.
"Bye Sam," Oakley Says, "I'll see you in September." He waves.
"See you, Samantha," Leo says. I flip him off. Taking a few steps back he closes his trunk and walks around to the driver's seat door. I turn around and start towards Gemma Harper's car.
"Love ya, Oakley!" I yell back to him.
"Love you too." He replies and I feel a smile creep up on my face. The sound of gravel being crushed under car tires is heard from behind me. I'll miss Oakley. Him and his annoying ass.
I stop when I reach the group of my friends herding by the cars.
"Ready to hit the road?" Avery asks the group. Everyone nods and makes noises of approval. We all trudge towards our respective seats in the car. All of us exhausted due to the long night filled with distressed words and marijuana. The fight I had with Nova disconcerted everyone. Nova and I... That's all it has ever been. You need to find Nova, find Sam and vice versa. Nova and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember. We met in kindergarten. She used to live around the block from my house. When we were 9 we used to play with water and mud, sculpting cakes and castles, in her backyard and talk about our plans to move into neighbouring houses and build a tunnel connecting them. That never happened, obviously. I stayed in my bungalow-style suburban home, wedged between a small street by our elementary school. She moved to a country-style home 26 and a half minutes away (on a good day), after her father got lucky and got offered a great paying job. Maybe when I'm older, after I graduate from university, I will buy a country-style home too, with a wrap-around porch, a big backyard, and beautiful trees. I will get two dogs; named Griffin and Bill. And I'll fall in love and get married in the big backyard with beautiful trees. But that will never happen, obviously. I don't get lucky like other people.
I settle in the passenger seat beside Gemma Harper. Avery plants herself behind me. Niko is in Genevieve's car with her.
"You okay?" Gemma Harper asks me,
"Yeah!" I reply to her,
No.
"Why?" I ask turning my head to look at her.
I know why.
"Just asking because, you know, what happened with Nova." She says, turning her head to meet my eyes.
"Yeah, no I'm fine. Don't worry about me." I assure her.
Lie.
Gemma Harper nods and averts her eyes towards the concrete paving the parking lot we are in and turns the key in the ignition.
"Let's get going." She says, "Everyone has everything?" she asks us,
I don't know anymore.
"I believe so," Avery answers her for the both of us.
------------
I bob my head to the music notes ascending through the speakers.
If I leave here tomorrow
Will you still remember me?
"God, I fucking love this song," I say,
"Same holy fuck!" Avery follows up on my statement.
For I must be travelling on now
'Cause there's too many places I've got to see
Gemma Harper reaches over to the dashboard to turn the music down a few notches. "Can one of you call or text Gene to let her and Niko know that we are going to detour a little bit? They can carry on with the normal route." She says,
"Why are we detouring?" I ask her,
"I just want to hit a shop up here," she turns her head briefly towards me, "I heard they have good pre-rolls there." She smiles and winks. I laugh.
"Yeah, I'll definitely call," I say enthusiastically. I lift my bum off the seat to reach around me and grab my cell. I tap a few buttons and dial Niko. After a few rings, he picks up.
"SAMANTHA!" He shouts down the speaker,
"Watch your mouth," I reprimand him for the use of his full name, "NIKO!!" I match his excitement. "We are going to take a short detour but ya'll keep on the same route. We'll meet you somewhere." I pause, "we should only be about 20 minutes longer." I tell him.
"Sounds good! Did you guys want to meet at a beach up ahead, we can watch the sunset there." I hear Genevieve say into the phone.
"Sounds great! We are going to some weed shop Gemma Harper knows about, you guys want anything?" I ask them,
"I'll just try what you guys get," Genevieve answers me, she's not as much into getting high as the rest of us.
"Niko?" I ask him,
"Um... Can you pick me up some of those weed pills you mentioned a while back?" He asks,
"Of course!" I tell him, "We'll talk to you guys at the rendezvous." I chuckle at my choice of words, "Stay safe, love you guys."
"Love you guys too!" I hear them say in unison. I take the phone from my ear and press the bright red 'hang up' button.
"Lovely. They will meet us at a beach up ahead, I'll check Genevieve's location in about 20 minutes to see where exactly." I tell the girls, "Oh! And Niko wants THC pills." I add.
"Perfect. A beach?! I'm so excited." Avery exclaims from the backseat, "God, I would die for a Red Bull right now." She says randomly.
"Oh fuck! Avery, fuck you! I need that right now!" I twist in my seat to shout at her. Gemma Harper laughs at us.
"Sam, can you pull up directions for this place? it's called Puffins." She asks me.
"Yes of course mamacita," I answer her.
YOU ARE READING
Cruise Control
Teen FictionGrowing up I felt as though the world didn't want me, especially in this town. However, with my friends, I feel a part of a family. we lived several whole different lives, just the six of us, the most important aspects of each other's lives "Let's g...
