hotfoot - tomlinson

chapter nine

chapter nine

louis

I knew I had been treading dark waters when I met Ethel. I can remember clearly telling myself that she was perfect - too perfect. She was short and small, just small enough for me so that I looked taller when I stood beside her.

Even her name was perfect, it rolled off my tongue and ran off my lips, leaving a smile in it's aftermath. Just every movement she made caused me to turn and look at her, just observe and look at her. I felt like some sort of monster for seeing her like some sort of divine being, but I always just felt so alone and afraid.

And I didn't want to admit anything to her either. She told me that I was set free, and that I shouldn't let myself be weighed down by someone else for a long time, until I was ready. When I'm with her though, time does seem longer, and I feel ready. But I won't say anything.

Her finger traces around the map, barely running next to mine as I hold it up for her to see. She narrows her eyes, fingertip stopped on a red dot.

"We need to make it there by today." She mumbles, Liam and I nodding. The other boy, who keeps concentrated on the road, tries to listen in on what Ethel's saying. "Which means, more or less ... twelve hours straight with only gas breaks." She groans.

I don't mind though, I'll be with her for those twelve hours, anyway.

I sit back in my seat, curling my fingers under each other. Ethel curls slightly, trying her best to block out the overpowering chill in the African night. Usually we would be sound asleep in a hotel room, but we've become so behind on the race that it'd be impossible to catch up if we didn't start driving now.

I want to sleep so bad, but I'm not the only one. Liam blinks rapidly every so often, making sure he doesn't get drowsy. Ethel, however, keeps fidgeting, the milky scent of some flavored coffee tinted on her minty breath.

Soon her fidgeting stops, and she begins shivering. One thing I learned about Ethel that was absolutely peculiar was how intolerable to coldness she was. It was probably fifty - maybe forty degrees out, and she was numb in her fingertips.

I laugh at her when she does this, because she gets quiet and she closes her eyes, holding her breath for some periods of time. Once she's held her breath for the tenth time, I turn over to face her.

"Would you like to share the blanket?" I chuckle, my voice purposely sounding obnoxious for their amusement.

"Yes." she says hurriedly, opening her eyes. I take an end of the cloth, spreading it out over to her. She immediately grabs it, bringing it up to her neck. Her shivering subsides, and she stops holding her breath.

"How many hours do we have?" Liam asks from the front.

"Damn, mate, we've been driving for about forty five minutes." I respond, shaking my head with a grin.

"Oh, ah." He laughs, crinkles running through the corners of his eyes like tissue paper. He turns his gaze back to the road, his smile still lasting for a few minutes thereafter.

"Do we by any chance have a pillow?" Ethel mumbles, voice lazy and soft.

"Yeah, and we have a mattress, with heated padding too!" Liam retorts sarcastically, earning an eye roll from Ethel, with a half smile from me.

"Man, if we had a mattress, I'd be out like a light." I murmured.

"If we had a mattress, I think we'd all be a little cramped in this rickshaw." Ethel giggled.

"I agree, let's not have a mattress then." Liam chuckled.

"I second that." I mumbled, resting my head sideways. I was growing restless, either because I was cramped up in this thing, or I was just tired. My eyes were getting heavy, but the rest of my body managed to stay alert.

Maybe it was Ethel that kept me alert. No matter where I was, when she was around, everything seemed sharpened, and everything seemed a little more real. Ethel was real, she wasn't perfect. Yeah, that's what it was.

Anybody could be perfect, but not everyone was real like her.

wow im tired wow

ok bye ily and yea heyoooooo

ps i didnt edit this so wey hey bad spelling????