Crash Course in Shane Mathias

10. Motel TV

They made it through El Paso, Texas by nightfall. They had been able to see the expanse of Juares, Mexico perfectly. It was large and crowded.

Now they were in Fort Stockton, Texas. They would sleep at a motel for the night and continue on in the morning. Shane was relieved at not having to fall asleep sitting up and Jugatxi looked extremely sleep deprived. "It's just because I didn't get my eight hours of sleep," she told Shane with a yawn. "Don't worry."

They stopped by a Subway and ordered their subs to go. They'd eat at the motel. They'd had thought that was a good plan until the girl at the concierge desk took forever to give them their room key. Shane and Jugatxi both just really wished she would hurry up, they were tired and so hungry.

Jugatxi muttered a bitter thank you when she was finally handed the room keys and they headed to their room, which to their dismay was on the third floor. They entered the room and both of them immediately flung of their shoes. Jugatxi entered the restroom and Shane made his way to the TV remote. He flipped through the TV looking for something that seemed interesting. Jugatxi returned right when he had decided on Fuse TV.

They sat down at the small table and ate as music videos were played. "Is it just me," Jugatxi asked after a few bites, "or is the best tasting sub ever?"

"I don't know about yours, but mine is," Shane told her right before he bit into his sub again.

Jugatxi put her sub down and snatch Shane's. "Yours is pretty tasty too." 

"Not cool," Shane told her. He grabbed her sub and took a bite. "I like mine better."

"Hey! That's not fair, your mouth is bigger. I get another bite," and she bit into his sub again. 

They handed back each other subs, and Shane bit into his own food again. "Yeah, I like mine better," he confirmed.

"I know you do," Jugatxi told him, "mine has spinach and you hate it." She grinned. 

Shane wrinkled his nose. "Spinach tastes nasty."

Jugatxi stuck out her tongue at him. "You wouldn't remember that."

"Gee, thanks for rubbing it in!" Shane yelled and they both began laughing immediately after. It was nice to just sit there together and be able to joke around. The sound coming from the TV was just like soothing background music. 

They finished eating and then cleaned up because there was lettuce all over the place. 

After a quick shower and a couple of hours of TV, both Shane and Jugatxi were ready to sleep. They had been dozing off already. Shane lowered the volume, but left the TV on. 

"There's something comforting about motel TV," he mumbled to Jugatxi. She mumbled a reply of agreement back. She was already falling asleep, so he didn't say anything else. He looked at the clock. It read two AM. He fell asleep immediately.