18 Years

So Close We Can Taste It

Sebastian

It's been a pretty fun ride, to tell you the truth.

-R Lee Ermey, (American Marine Corps drill instructor, actor)

      By the time we made our last gas station stop, I was crabby and tired. I hated it when I was crabby because I lashed out and got randomly mad at people. Not a good look for me. I drifted in and out of consciousness, taking sips of soda when I was awake and saying few words so I wouldn't fucking snap at anyone. Taking long trips wiped me the fuck out, ever since I was a little kid. Luckily I've gotten over my car sickness that I used to have as a child too. I rested my head on Frank's shoulder, eager to get to our fucking destination. I hadn't showered in a few days, and I was uncomfortable sleeping in a new place every night. I missed Sharky and my parents a fucking lot, and to be honest, at some points I just wanted to go home. But I knew why we were driving half-way across goddamn America. This was for Clyde, and none of us could (or would) let him down. I looked out the window at the passing cars on the highway, and tried as hard as I fucking could to fall back to sleep. Clyde and Beij were talking kind of loud and just as I was going to tell them to fuck off, we pulled into some dodgy gas station. I realized I had to pee really bad, so this did not help my sleep-deprived-grouchy mood.

     "Wha..?" I mumbled groggily as I stared down some guy through the window. The jerk was definitely judging our rental van from the parking lot. Fuck off, it's been a long day, pal. I asked if we were stopping to go to the bathroom. Every time we stop somewhere I insist to use the bathroom even if I don't have to go because you never know, right? Beij was the one who asked to stop at a bathroom, thank God.  I poked Frank's shoulder, waiting for him to bolt awake like a fucking crazy person.

     "What's going on?! Are we there yet?" Frank basically screamed. I flinched. He had so much damn energy, it was scary. He stuck his round face in the view of the window. His brow furrowed, and he looked at Clyde.

     "This is a shady gas station," was all I heard Frank say as I was maneuvering my body out of the van. I had to go to the fucking bathroom so bad my bladder was about to fucking implode. I glared back at my extra-large soda cup in the back seat, the empty cup rolling around. Why in the fucking hell did I drink all of that? Now was not the time to question my past decisions, because I had to goddamn pee. I was already out of the car, shouting at Beij to hurry if she needed to go to the bathroom.

     "Hold on a sec!" Beij yelled. I waited in the parking lot as Beij full speed ran at me. For a split second I thought she was going to ram into me, but she grabbed my wrist and fled to the back of the gas station. We went our separate ways, me in the men's room and her into the women's. After I was done, I waited for her in the cramped hallway. She pushed open the door, smiled at me, and asked if I wanted to race back to the car. I was more awake now, so I was getting less crabby. Of course I agreed to race with her. We ran out of the station, getting a few looks. I ran to the van, looking back to see Beij laughing and pumping her arms to catch up. I opened her car door for her, and we were off again. After running, I was tired and decided to take a nap to the sounds of Frank and Beij pushing Clyde to sing for us again. We were so close to New England, and I was so ready to get out of the car.

  

    A few hours later, the sun was beginning to set. We stopped at yet another motel and unpacked some of our belongings. We found out that the motel had a shady playground, so we spent some time pushing each other on the swings and getting stuck in the tube slide. I saw a few human kids there, and I gave them some of my gummy bears. One of them screamed and ran away but the rest crowded around me like I was a kid magnet. It turns out, I love humans. They're pretty awesome, and they like gummy bears! I guess we aren't so different after all? After we got back, we ordered some blankets and got comfortable. Our room fortunately had a color television, and a DVD player. Frank brought all of the Twilight movies with him, so we watched the first one. Everyone was really shocked that I hadn't seen a single movie, and Frank was explaining to me the deep backstory and the plot of Twilight. I had to hold in a few laughs while he was explaining, to be completely honest. At one point, our old frenemy Drip was brought up.

     "She's probably a prostitute," Beij declared. She popped a piece of popcorn in her mouth.

     "Or she works at that gross gas station." Clyde looked up at the ceiling, smirking.

     "Who knows? Maybe she's one of those telemarketers that tell you that you won a free cruise." I laughed. I positioned the pillow under my head.

     "Who is Drip? She sounds horrible!" Frank said, blinking in confusion. I forgot, Frank doesn't even know Drip!

     "One word. Satan." Clyde chuckled, high-fiving all of us.

     "Hey!" I yelled, pretending to be offended.

     "Don't worry demon boy," Clyde patted my head like a puppy. "You're not like Drip." For some reason, that was oddly reassuring.

     After finishing up the movie, we all wanted to do something. Clyde decided to drive around town a little bit, to see if there was something cool to do. I saw a go-carting place, but I think I saw a few drug dealers loitering in the front of it, so I didn't say anything. I was looking out the window, deeply concentrating on what to do when Clyde turned up the radio. His favorite song was on, and we all kind of wanted him to sing it. He was getting all weird and squirmy, like he was embarrassed of his voice. We pleaded and pleaded, and he eventually broke down. I closed my eyes and bobbed my head along to the Panic! At The Disco song he just started singing, and I breathed in the fresh air of the East Coast. He wasn't even through the first verse when he he pointed out the window.

     "Hey guys! A beach! We should stop there!" Clyde cried.

     "The sun looks so pretty on the water." Frank added.

     We decided on swimming, and I'm glad we did. The air was warm and fresh, and the air smelled of salt and sand. Clyde and I were getting on our swim trunks in the back of a weathered shed, and it wasn't even awkward. That's what I like about friends, nothing is really awkward. I looked down at my shark swim trunks and glanced at Clyde's plain black ones.

     "Just plain black?" I asked him.

      "I could never pull off those like you do," Clyde laughed.

     "Maybe I can get you a pair, I bet they come in black!" I answered. We both laughed and met the other two by some of the lawn chairs and umbrellas. Beij jogged towards us, looking like a model for some fitness magazine. Her bikini was black with neon green lining, and her and Clyde coincidentally matched. They were so cute! Clyde was tomato red down to his toes, and he was gawking at Beij.

     "Real smooth," was all I could say to Clyde.

     We all jumped into the water, and the sun was finally down. Frank and I were going way far out into the ocean waves, and we could just make out Beij and Clyde in the shallow water.

     "Look Frank" I whispered, and pointed at the two. They were forehead to forehead, and we could only see their silhouettes. Frank cocked his head.

     "Ahhh... they're so adorable." Frank whispered back. We saw them kiss, and start slow dancing in the water. We were too far away to hear their voices, but Frank and I knew they were singing.

     "They're in love," I stared intently at them. It was so quiet, and all I could hear was the crashing waves. The moonlight enveloped me, basking Frank and I in a pale glow.

     "How can you tell?" Frank said, looking up at me.

     "You just can." I said back, smiling at him.