Fluorescent lights make most people look sickly, with a disgusting white sheen that only resembles the look of a cadaver, but I have never seen someone look as alive as Carter. He glows, actually glows, as if he were a freckled beacon with tired eyes and wide, white smile. Flynn on the other hand, seemed gone. He, like he had been in the taxi, had a glazed over expression and kept stealing glances over at Carter, later darting his eyes towards me. The air had palpable tension, and although silence had always soothed me, I was feeling smothered.
"So," Carter looks towards me, "you're hitch hiking?"
Carter beams, "yep," he pops the 'p' in a carefree manner, "gotten all the way from Alabama to here through very generous donations," he nods his head towards me, recalling the meal I bought him, "and working odd jobs to keep myself afloat."
Flynn is still not completely there but he's paying enough attention, "how old are you? you still look like a kid," there's a curtness to his tone that's hard to miss, at least for me, because Carter continues with a friendly demeanor.
"Twenty, celebrated in South Carolina about," he lets his head roll back as if he's trying to remember how long ago his birthday was, "two months ago," there's still a question in his voice.
Flynn doesn't say anything and just continues eating his soggy fries.
I ignore his off-putting attitude and turn back to Carter, "why? why would you start hitch hiking?"
Again he ponders, I can practically hear the gears clanking in his head, "I got tired of going to school. I went to Alabama State, studied architecture, realized I hated drawing buildings, realized I hated having to wake up for eight a.m. classes, realized that I was stuck in a rut I needed to get out of. One day instead of going to class I just packed up my bare necessities and bought a bus to the farthest place I could go for forty dollars. Now I'm here and I've never been happier," he finished off in one breath and just continued eating his chicken nuggets.
I wasn't done, "just like that?"
He tilted his head as he nodded, "uh, yeah pretty much. There was nothing really worth keeping me there."
I had nothing left to say except, "wow."
He grinned over at me before shifting his eyes over to Flynn, "what about you guys," he looked back at me, "how long has this whole," he made an odd waving motion between us, "thing been going on?"
I pull up my sleeve once more, "well it's three a.m. now so about, five hours, give or take."
Carter chuckled, "well you act like a married couple, I assumed you were together, but I guess not."
Flynn laughed as I did, not because we thought it was funny, but because the tension was back and it was much more suffocating now, thankfully Carter was able to break it. He clapped loudly, making both Flynn and I jump in our seats.
"Alright Flynn, Waverly I think it's time to head back to your car before you have to spend the night on the side of a very noisy highway."
At the mention of all the noise I would have to endure, I leapt out of my seat, catching the attention of both Flynn and Carter. I began clearing all our trash as Flynn rifled through his pockets to find the keys. Carter remained still as he watched us, analyzing our every move. He was like that, Carter was. In the short time I had known him, I realized that he was very observing. He noticed that Flynn liked folding up the paper from his straw and that I ate fries two at a time; he wasn't ashamed of admitting it either. Finally he began lifting up from the booth we had been seated at and stretching his mile-long legs. I thought I was tall, but compared to both Flynn and Carter, I felt dwarfed. At 5' 9" I had always felt freakishly tall, but both Flynn and Carter reached the six foot mark quite easily.
