“Can I drive?”
“Umm… are you old enough?”
That seemed to pick up his mood.
“Of course, how old do you think I am?” He looked offended
“I don’t know… you took the bus… I just figured—“
“Oh,” he laughed. “No, I have my license, I’m eighteen. I just share a car with my mom. I can only take it on the weekends, when she doesn’t have to work.”
“Oh.”
I tossed my keys over my cherry-red Nissan Versa and he caught them, despite my pitiful throw. He unlocked his door, got in, reached over to the passenger’s side, and unlocked my door.
“No automatic locks?”
“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with my car. Okay?” I said defensively. That car was my baby.
“Yeah, sure, I didn’t mean to hurt its feelings.”
I rolled my eyes. “Just get in.”
As we drove along the familiar streets of my hometown, I felt like I was saying goodbye. It was strange, I knew would be back in less than a week’s time, yet I felt like it would be longer, like six days no longer meant six days it meant six months. We merged onto the freeway and I rolled down my window. I rested my head gently on my car door and wind blew my hair back.
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She’s sleeping again? I looked over to her and saw her head bobbing back and forth with the motions of the car. I couldn’t understand why I felt this way. I tried to control my anxiety at the house. I tried to act like I wasn’t as freaking out, but I was. If anything I was just trying to comfort her, make it seem like she didn’t have to worry, but maybe that’s the opposite of what she needed. Maybe she needed someone to pull her head out of the clouds. Or maybe—There I go again! All of my thoughts centered on her. Her safety, her comfort, her needs were all I could think about. I felt like I was created to protect her, and as soon as I found out she existed my needs were put on the backburner. This can’t be healthy. I stared blankly at the road in front of me lost in thought. I decided to try to put her safety in the back of my mind and replace it with driving. It didn’t work. Driving seemed to only make my mind wander more. I lifted my left elbow, rested it on the door, and placed my chin down on my hand. As we got progressively closer to Tahoe I decided that she should wake up.
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YOU ARE READING
Convergence
FantasyAmidst the black surroundings was a flash of green followed by its quick retreat. I sprang up off of the floor and contemplated my sanity. They were there; I saw them. I rushed to my front door and, without a second thought, crossed the threshold an...
