Let The Road Trip Begin. [Trenton]. An hour into the trip and both Chrissy and Annabella are fast asleep. I glanced over at Annabella seeing her curled up in a ball snuggled up against the door. I smiled to myself as I focused on the road again. Driving has always helped me clear my head and that is exactly what I need to do right now.
There is something different about her. She is not afraid to speak her mind and stand up to someone like me. She does not listen to rumors, but instead, forms her own opinion of others. She has a firey temper, but also caring, and outgoing. She is great, but I keep worrying that I am letting her get to close.
The problem is that some of the rumors are true. I am a player, I do have a bad past, and I do tend to be short tempered at times. Eventually, something is bound to happen that will end up hurting her. It is like playing with fire; you can play with fire just as long as no one gets burned. In the end, I know it will be Annabella who is left burnt and I do not want to do that to her.
For now, everything is okay though. Her family has been welcoming and we are on a road trip to a place where Hunter says Annabella has always wanted to go. The drive is about thirteen hours and by now, we are about an hour and a half in. We are driving from Beaumont, Texas to Tallahassee, Florida today, which is a nine-hour drive. Then, we are staying the night in Tallahassee and tomorrow we have a four-hour drive before we arrive at our destination.
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About four hours later, my phone started buzzing. Grabbing it from the cup holder, I answered without checking caller ID. "Hello?" I said into the phone after hitting answer. "Hey, do you guys want to pull over to a diner coming up to eat and take a break from being in the car?" I heard Hunter's voice say. "Sure, I'll just follow behind you."
With that I hung up and glanced over at Annabella, who was beginning to wake up. She yawned lightly while stretching her arms out in front of her. She then rubbed her eyes gently adjusting to her surroundings.
"Good morning, sleepy head," I said, jokingly. She mumbled an incomprehensible response before sleepily asking what time it was. I looked at the clock before replying with, "5:34PM." She just nodded and took in what was going on.
"Why are we going off the highway? Are we already there?" She asked confused. "We are not there yet, but we decided to pull over at a diner to get food and take a break from being in the car." Annabella just nodded in response and leaned back again, closing her eyes.
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I followed Hunter's car as we pulled into the Rock 'n' Roll Diner. After I parked, I looked over at Annabella only to see her fast asleep, once again. I gently shook her trying to wake her up.
"Tinker bell? Tinker bell, we're here," I said softly. She began stirring awake as her eyes fluttered open.
"Don't call me that," she said, mumbled as she slipped her vans back on her feet and opened the door, getting out. She opened up Chrissy's car door and gently woke her up, but ended up having to carry her in since Chrissy was too tired to walk in. When we were all out of our cars, we met up and went inside.
"Hello. Welcome to the Rock 'n' Roll Diner. How many?" The stewardess asked. "Five," Hunter replied, while taking Chrissy from Annabella. "Alright, right this way."
She led us to a booth that is big enough for six people. Annabella slid onto one of the benches first, scooting all the way over and leaning against the corner created by the wall and the back of the booth seat. Hunter and Cole slid onto the bench across from her, while Chrissy slid in and crawled onto Annabella's lap. Annabella helped Chrissy get situated and wrapped her arms around her waist to hold her. Once Chrissy was situated, she leaned back against her sister and started drifting off. Then, I sat down on the bench next to Annabella and Chrissy. Once I took a seat, the waitress came up to our table.
"Hi, I'm Rebecca. What can I get you to drink?" She asked, starring at me the whole time while twirling a piece of her strawberry blonde hair. She had blue eyes, a nice body, and looked like she was about 16 or 17; she was pretty and definitely the type I would typically go after.
"I will have a Dr. Pepper," Annabella said, with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Rebecca turned to Annabella and glared before Annabella spoke up again. "And she will have a lemonade," she said referring to Chrissy. Rebecca wrote down all of our drink orders and left, but not before glaring at Annabella once more.
Once she was gone, I turned to Annabella and offered to take Chrissy off her hands. "That'd be great. Thank you," she said, handing her over.
A minute later, Rebecca came back with our drinks. She handed mine to me first, then Chrissy's, Hunter's, and Cole's. Finally, when she went to give Annabella her drink, Rebecca "accidentally" spilt the Dr. Pepper all over her. Annabella shot up, now fully alert, and had a shocked expression on her face, as did the rest of the table.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry," Rebecca said, while looking at Annabella with a smirk. "Yeah, I'm sure you are," she replied, rolling her eyes. I slid out with Chrissy letting Annabella get up before she walked out of the diner and to the car, probably to get a new change of clothes.
I put Chrissy back on the booth before turning to Rebecca, angrily. "I would like a new waitress. Now," I said, trying to hold in my anger.
Another waitress, who looked like she was in her 30s, must have been standing nearby and overheard, because she promptly came over to our table. She excused Rebecca from serving our table, and told us her name is Hannah and that she would be our new waitress.
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Annabella returned about ten minutes later in a new outfit and rejoined us at the table. She was wearing
After that, our dinner was event-free. We finished up with our dinner before we paid and headed back to the cars. Annabella buckled Chrissy in before climbing into the passenger seat and buckling herself in.
We got back on the highway and I glanced at the clock. 6:27PM. We still have about three and a half more hours before we are stopping for the night. Chrissy had fallen asleep before we had even left the restaurant and Annabella was curled up again and drifting off to sleep. I got comfortable and focused on the road for the next three and a half hours.
YOU ARE READING
Things Change & People Change
Roman d'amour"Labels. Jock, popular, drama geek, bully, nerd. In high school, there is really no way to escape them." Annabella Parker is known as the oddball with an outgoing and bubbly personality. She has always been labeled, but she didn't really mind. Her f...
