Tires screeched and the two lane blacktop sped by underneath us. The van made chugging and whirring noises. Nicolette swore under her breath, “Piece Of Shit.” My eyes glazed over in the side mirror. Head lolling, I breathed in the air. The window was half way down and a summer breeze cooled us off. The van didn't have air conditioning. Trees rushed by us, as if we were standing still and everything else had a single goal. To get away.
When Nicky grabbed her keys and declared, “We're leaving.”, I had known something was wrong. “Where?” I had questioned. Waking up only a few hours before, I was startled. Nicky doesn't get sad, she gets quiet. Silent, and that's what's scary. Because I don't know, I have no idea what's going on in her head. I didn't bother to put shoes on. We were speeding towards the highway before I knew it.
And now, as scenery passed us by, I though I had some idea what was wrong with her. But I didn't say, I didn't dare say anything. Mostly though, because I didn't know what to say.
A flame half-sparked from her lighter. I saw it struggle then die. More whisper-swears. The cigarette dangling from her lips was barely burnt. Wordlessly, I handed her my lighter. She took it, inhaling fire through the end of the cig. She rolled down her window, taking yet another exit. Weighing my odds, I chanced asking.
“So, where are we going?” It's not that I was afraid to ask. I was afraid of the silence.
“Thank you,” She said, handing back the lighter. Being very polite. Her way of dealing. We're all different. “And to be honest?” She never once looked away from the road. “I have no idea.” Well, I thought. That settles that. The sky was a gorgeous fairy tale blue. I didn't know what time it was.
“What happened?” I tried to pass it off as nonchalant. No biggie, just speeding down the road into nothingness. She took another drag of her Marlboro Hundred before answering. Emotionless, she stated as if nothing was wrong. “We broke up.”
The fries too salty. We'd only stopped twice so far, once so I could get some crap fries and a crap burger, and another time for a six pack. We'd already drank half of it, and empties were tossed carelessly in the back, along with a empty pack. I couldn't convince Nicolette to eat anything. “We should probably stop soon.” I felt the words float out the window. Silence. “You don't know where we are, do you?”
“Well, we're on a road.” Nicolette edged forward in her seat a little, uncomfortably.
“We're lost.” I said, the words not really sinking in. “Huh.” I looked around at the unfamiliar scenery. There was a road behind us, which stretched on seemingly forever. There were trees, fields around us. The sun was starting to go down. I turned to Nicolette, saying, “Ready to go back?” Her eyes were wet. “Yah.”
The van took a sudden U-turn. We were on our way back.
