Road Trip

2:12pm

Gregor was sitting on his front doorstep reading a book when Poppy got home. He had tried to do the dishes and clean his room, but his nerves got the best of him. His best friend was taking the test that determined the fate of her future. Obviously the only thing that could distract him was to bury himself in the pages of a completely different world.

He was feeling very content sitting there in the sun, drowned in words when he heard Poppy pull into the driveway. Frantically, Gregor tried to at least finish his page before he looked up. HIs eyes scanned the page and just as he put the book aside, Poppy was running up the stairs and jumped on him. 

"Poppy, hey! How'd it go?" he asked her but she didn't answer. He managed to catch a glimpse of a smile before she wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed tightly. "Woah, uh, okay?" he chuckled, stumbling back a bit. 

Carefully, he put his arms around her slim figure, his hands gently resting on her back. In all the years they had been friends, Poppy had not once hugged him. He'd tried, but every time his hands got remotely close to her body, she had jumped away. 

But this- this was better than he'd ever imagined. Her warm body pressed against his felt like the pieces of a puzzle falling into place. Gregor closed his eyes and breathed this moment in. Her hair smelled soft and sweet like waking up on a calm morning with sunlight draping itself over the bed.

When Daniel walked passed the two and squeezed himself in the house quietly, Gregor finally opened his eyes and to his disappointment, Poppy pulled away. 

She looked up at him and beamed that beautiful, rare smile. "I passed!" she yelled, her eyes wide with excitement and threw her hands up into the air, laughing at the sky.

Why was his best friend so irresistible? She was just as good, if not better than all the fiction characters Gregor had fallen in love with.

"No way! Poppy! Yes!" he said with equal excitement. "I knew you could do it!"  He wanted so badly to lift her off her feet and swing her around in slow motion, but instead he reached his hands towards her waist again.

"I know!" she cheered and let him pull her into another tight hug. 

After another moment, Gregor felt Poppy's grip on him loosen and let her go. She spun away from him and started pacing excitedly, the beautifully unnatural smile still on her lips.

"We can leave now, all we have to do is leave!" she said, her hands shaking the air vigorously. 

Gregor smiled, and put his hands in his pockets. "Yep."

"And we can go wherever we want," she continued pacing.

"That's right," he said, amused.

"And I never have to come back!" she said eagerly, and a wave of fear washed over Gregor, but he hid it.

"Yes, of course," he said with a sad smile.

"Gregor," she said, turning to him and taking his arms. "Gregor, I won't get anymore scars," she said, her hazel eyes shining with hope for the first time since Gregor's known her.

As sad as her thoughts were, Gregor wouldn't, couldn't extinguish her hope. Anything for you, he thought.

"When do we leave?" he asked with a mischievous grin and she laughed, flinging herself away from him again.

She thought for a moment. "Two days? I have enough money to last us at least a few months, I've been saving since I could earn money," she joked. 

God, how Gregor wanted to see that smile more often. The only way he could is if she was finally free from her father. Which also meant that he would have to leave too. It didn't matter. Gregor was going to stop at nothing to give that to her.

"Two days?" he said surprised. "Well then we should start packing, shouldn't we?" he remarked, smiling. Her smile went away for a split second and he wondered if he'd said anything wrong, but as fast as it had disappeared, it had returned.

"God, I love you!" she said and threw her arms around him for the third time that day. 

Gregor's heart ached at those words: I love you, she'd said. All he wanted to do was return those words, but if he did, he wanted it to be real. Instead, he held her as close to him as he could, their bodies almost one.

He wouldn't push his luck, not today. Right now, Poppy was happy and that's all that mattered.