All I could feel was the anger burning up inside of me. Georgia had betrayed me. As I threw my things into a duffel bag, provided by Harvey, I looked back on my childhood home. It escaped through the rear view mirror of his Dad's pick up truck, as we raced through the rest of the quiet houses. Guilt, mixed with anger, caused me to cry. By the time we had left the familiar part of town, I was a flood. Leaving Julia alone with a monster was surely a death sentence. Although I wasn't sure if praying would work, I shut my eyes and rested my head against the car seat. The more the guilty thoughts surfaced my brain, the more tears fell down my face.
After a few seconds of letting the tears free fall down my face, I tried to wipe them away with my hand before Harvey saw. I failed... Miserably. Trying to be supportive, he freed one of his hands from the steering wheel.
"I told her not to tell you," I completely rejected him, edging to the other end of my seat. Although my words seemed harsh, we had a plan. Harvey wanted his own way, and he got it.
"Don't be mad at her, Eleanor," Harvey advised, his not-even-passed-his-theory hands gripped the steering wheel. "I kinda already knew."
"How?"
"Well you suddenly stopped talking to me. Distanced yourself. Cut me off completely." He looked from the road to me, and back again several times, to make sure I was okay. "Why didn't you tell me, Eleanor?"
"I didn't think you cared," I replied, under my breath. "My first instinct was to hide everything from you."
"I thought we were stronger than that, Eleanor-"
"We are," Quickly, I snapped at him. "I just-" Absentmindedly, my eyes gazed out of the window; darting from car to car on the main road; begging for a distraction. "-didn't want you to try and change my mind."
The car fell quiet. Harvey even turned the stereo of the pick-up truck down, which was currently playing A Dustland Fairytale by The Killers. After finally gripping the steering wheel again, he answered me. "Georgia told me that you want an abortion." The only sound I could manage was mhmm. "Are you sure that's what you want?" I nodded, studying his concentrated expression. He then turned to me, to identify what my answer was. Man, he looked better than ever. The streetlights lit up his face, highlighting his jawline. His face looked dirty, which made his overall appearance better. You know. Like it makes Hollywood actors more attractive. His eyebrows were bushier. Lips were plumper. His knuckles hugged his hands -- made them look more structured. "Well, it's your body, kid. And I want to help. Since, it takes two to tango." He winked in my direction, being careful not to take his eyes from the road. That made me laugh.
"So what's the plan, I'm-here-to-save-your-ass?" Smiling, I kicked my feet up onto the dashboard and left my feet hanging over the edge of the seat.
"I have an aunt in Scotland," He coughed, laying out his cards on the table. "She's all up for us visiting-" In order to interrupt, I inhaled a gulf of oxygen. Before I could, Harvey picked up from where he left off. "-and she knows about the abortion. Since she's a feminist, a mad ass woman, and she loves the idea that you're taking charge of your own body. That's if you still want to do this."
"I've thought about this, Harvey, I'm certain." Suddenly, the atmosphere went frosty again. Did he want this too? Within the silence of the car, Harvey's drumming on the steering wheel emerged. It started quiet, and then got louder and louder. "Okay, enough!" I interrupted, causing him to stop in shock. "What's the matter?"
"I just think that we should think about this together, considering you've had to think alone up until now. Now that you have me, you might change your mind-"
"Is that what you kidnapped me for?" My voice cracked. I'd had this vision of Harvey coming to rescue me many times before. He would run up to me in the school courtyard, drop down to his knees, despite the gum welded into the AstroTurf, and serenade me with his eternal love. But this isn't how I wanted my happy ending with Harvey to be like. I wanted it to be smooth; romantic. Not in a hush hush scenario where we are driving down a motorway, with a driver and zero driving experience. Not literally a rescue mission. "To change my mind?"
YOU ARE READING
The Man on the Moon (The Man Duology)
Teen Fiction"If the man stayed on the sun for the entirety of his life and completely ignored the moon -- his happiness would soon burn out. If the man stayed on the moon and ignored the sun, his life would be dark and full of craters. However, if the man was t...
