Mercy • Shawn Mendes

Four

Shawn

We passed the state line, a quarry, Bass pro shop, and a big red fireworks mall before exiting in Indiana. May and I switched positions at a gas station right off the highway, allowing me to run inside that little shop, looking for a bathroom. Coffee is my gateway bathroom drug.

Not long passed before we were back on the road. I wished and prayed desperately for May's car to supply more than one seat belt as she sped through shady Indiana streets, passing crappy motels and sketchy rundown stores and waterparks.

If old age or second hand smoke don't kill me then May's driving would. She drove like a crazy woman on caffeine, ignoring stop signs and going through red lights like the law didn't apply to her.

Entering into Michigan City gave me some relief from her driving. "10 more minutes," May had told me, turning on a yellow signal onto a one way road. A large blue metal slab caused our car to come to a stand still behind ten others. Red lights flashed and sounded, alerting cars to be cautious as if a train were approaching but rather boats in our case.

"This bridge despises me, I swear." May fumed, resting her head onto her hand, leaning towards her rolled down window, inviting fresh air inside. "Every time I try to cross here this horrible contraption blocks my way."

"Is this the only way in?" I wondered, probably sounding like an idiot.

"Heck no," Yup, an idiot. "I usually take the back way because of my luck, but I wanted to show you all the cool stuff." Awe, she cared.

"You care!" I pointed out, clapping my hands together like the idiot she was believing me to be.

"Don't get used to it," she smirked, pushing my hands down. Her warm touch was enough for my heart to go haywire. It hadn't beaten this crazy since well, Camila. But that ended as soon as it started and in a blaze of fire, consuming our relationship and all hopes of a friendship. I couldn't let that happen with May.

Soon the bridge went down and May stepped on the gas, clearly tailgating the car in front of us. She turned off onto a street without any cars or people for a few blocks. As we passed through the rock, lining both sides of the road, summer houses, more streets, and droves of people came to life.

"This is Lake Shore Drive," May informed me, passing through a stop sign without slowing down. "Beachwalk, where our houses are, is at stop 7 and we're at stop 1."

I figured the stops were entrances for the beach. Through openings between houses I saw clear blue skies, spreading out over dark blue waters filled with boats and swimmers galore.   "How many stops are there?" Grabbing my phone out of my pocket, remembering I should let my manager know where I was, unlocking it with a touch of my finger, I asked May.

Texts came rushing in once I turned the airplane mode off. Most were from group chats with friends back home and a few others were from my sister, but none from Andrew. I quickly opened up a new message, ignoring all the others for now, telling Andrew i was on vacation and I'd meet him at the venue on Wednesday. I didn't tell him where we were because I didn't want to say goodbye to May, not yet.

"I think around 40, I haven't gone all the way down." She spoke, a smile tugging at her lips. I knew she was excited for  this week although she never said anything. I could feel her excitement radiating from her contagious smile and how she gripped the steering wheel, turning her knuckles white.

"We should check it out." I told her, causing the smile already on her face to grow.

"Alright, Canada." She flipped her blinker on.

Past a few trees, a dull red bricked entrance came into view. Two identical, tall wooden signs were decked out in advertising, allowing future clients to take on glance and be able to see what's changed or what's new.