Road Trip

Tuesday, July 18th, 2006 5:36pm

 Poppy took a deep breath and put the key into the ignition. It's okay, she thought to herself. This time it'll work. She turned the key and the engine sputtered for a moment and she prayed that the car would start. Her car.

Poppy swept her long brown hair off her her shoulders and turned the key one more time. Suddenly a low grumbling sound echoed through the small garage and she realized that for the first time in the two years she'd been building her baby, it had started.

"Yes!" Poppy cheered to herself and pumped her fist in the air. "Gregor!" she yelled to the house. When she didn't hear a response, she called again, growing slightly impatient in her excitement. "Gregor! Come in here!"

"Yeah, give me a minute!" he called back to her in a monotone voice. He was no doubt trying to finish reading a part in his book.

"Gregor! Quick!" she called again, not being able to contain herself.

After a moment, she heard her best friend clumsily stumble down the stairs, run to the garage and throw the door open in a frenzy. Gregor had a momentary look of concern on his face before he saw Poppy sitting in the driver's seat, ecstatic, and his worry melted away.

Poppy blushed, realizing she had probably scared him with the urgency in her voice. She had had problems in the past.

His tall, toned body relaxed. "Wait, hold on," Gregor said, leaning against the door frame, a smile creeping onto his tanned face. "Is that- that beautiful, grumbling sound, the sound of your car; your baby that you've been working on for two years, finally starting?" he asked her sarcastically.

"Why yes, my dear sir, I believe it is!" Poppy said, beaming.

Gregor laughed and pushed his black rimmed glasses onto his head. "Man, I haven't seen you smile this much in... well, ever," he chuckled, and leaned into the car through the driver's window. "Frankly, it looks a little unnatural," he said with a smirk.

Poppy wanted to glare at him and go back to her usual depressed self, but she just couldn't bring herself to it. She laughed at him. "Well, you do know what this means, right? It means that by the time I pass my driver's test on Friday, we can leave," she said desperately and her smile somehow faltered.

Poppy turned the car off, her momentary happiness short lived as she remembered why she was doing this in the first place. Gregor's dad was a mechanic. He was helping her build a car so she could run away.

Poppy looked down at her broken delicate hands and started tracing some of the white scars with her fingers. "Is it bad that I want to leave now?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"You've been wanting to leave since the day I met you, I think you can wait another three days," Gregor said looking at her intensely, examining her for any new marks.

"Come on," he said, softening his expression. He walked around to the front of the car, closing the bright red hood.

"What are you doing?" Poppy asked, watching him open the passenger side door and hop in, glad for a distraction.

"Well, we have to take it for a test ride, don't we?" he said with a half smile on his face, trying to cheer her up a little.

"Right, that would be a good idea," she said and started the car again. This time, it started on the first shot and she smiled slightly with pride- but only for a few seconds. She wondered if she only did it for Gregor.

She looked over and saw him staring at her lips with a smirk on his. "I mean, that frown looks more natural on you, but I think I liked the smile better," he chuckled.

Poppy sarcastically grinned at him and put her foot lightly on the gas, causing it to roll out of the garage, into the driveway and out onto the road. So far, so good.

Moments later when they turned onto the highway, Poppy rolled the windows down so she and Gregor could let their hair fly in the wind. Her long brown hair whipped the back of her seat and she looked over to see Gregor struggle to keep his dark blonde locks out of his eyes. When he got some in his mouth, she laughed and handed him an elastic band that was stashed in the glove compartment. But it was mostly pointless because as soon as he tied it up at the base of his neck, half of it fell out and flopped in the wind anyways.

Gregor sighed in annoyance, narrowing his eyes as he got yet another strand right in his face. "I really can't win, can I?" he asked, turning to Poppy and brushing a long curl behind his ear anyways.

Poppy just smiled, rolling her eyes at her best friend and looked back out onto the long road stretching out before her. 

They drove in silence for a while, the only sound being the wind in their ears before the familiar sounds of Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance started to play on the radio. Poppy looked over at Gregor and he froze like a deer stuck in headlights, holding an empty CD case in his hands.

Welcome to the Black Parade was not the first song on the album. Gregor knew that Poppy knew that. He made me a mixtape, she thought slightly annoyed with his adorable tendencies. But she couldn't stay mad at him for long. 

Poppy caved. "You know me too well," she said, referring to the music choice.

"Well, we've been best friends for nearly fifteen years," he said, relaxing at her words with a shrug.

Poppy turned back to the road in front of her and let everything sink in. She was driving her car, the car she spent two years building to perfection. She was driving with her best friend in the passenger seat and had some pretty great music playing. The wind was blowing in her hair, the sun was out in the sky and she actually felt happy.

I'm almost there, she thought to herself. This is what it's supposed to be like.