Irregular

Chapter 17

         Nalsa leads us outside where a silver 2017 Ford F-150 is parked. How do I know exactly what vehicle this is? I lived in a house full of boys who dreamed of vehicles. Keegan always wanted this particular truck since he first saw the commercial for it.

         "How did you afford this?" I ask. "This thing is like $30,000?"

         "Uh, I just took it." Nalsa smiles and jumps in the front seat.

         "Zinn," Dugger grabs my arm. "I think I'm going stay back."

         "What? Why?"

         "Well, we can't just leave the house. Plus, there are only five other seats and there are seven of us."

         "Well, who is going to come?"

         "The twins and Damien can go with you, Lymiex and I will stay back and watch Marah."

         "No!" Marah whines. "I want to go with Zinnia!"

         "Marah, its unsafe."

         "I'll protect her." I assure him.

         "Yay!" Marah jumps in the middle front seat. Dugger stares at me. I knew he was mad that I was allowing her to go. He's very protective of Marah, and I get it. But, if this other world does exist, I definitely want her to come with me. She deserves it.

         "I'll come back for you and Lymiex if we discover that this world is actually real and this lady isn't high on some foreign plant." I smile.

Dugger smiles back and pulls me into his arms. "I love ya, kid." He says. "Please be safe."

I pull back from the hug and nod. "You too, kid." He laughs.

Dugger and Lymiex stand outside watching as we all pile into the truck. They reminded me of worried parents sending their kids off to their first sleepover. Their faces are sad and you can tell they want to come, but also they know we will be okay without them.

As Nalsa began to drive off, they waved and we all waved back. Except for Marah; she was too excited that she was actually leaving the house for once.

         "Alright, so where are we going?" I ask.

         "Kansas." Nalsa chirps. I don't understand why she makes everything sound so exciting, but she's kind of growing on me.

         "Kansas!?" Jaley yelps in my ear.

         "Sit back, Jaley!" I shove her face, but she smacks my hand away.

         "Why are we driving to Kansas? That's like a two-day drive?"

         "It's about 19hours." Nalsa informs. "It's where the portal is right now. It moves around. We will drive as far as we can today, stop at a hotel, then finish tomorrow. It won't be that bad. Promise."

         "Yeah, well you better keep that promise."

         "Jaley, quit." Mae rolls her eyes. "We can make this fun!"

         "Oh yea, I'm having the time of my life. Nothing is more fun than being stuck in a vehicle with only one person I like."

         "Would that be yourself?" Marah rolls her eyes.

         "You're adorable." Jaley growls.

         "For real though." Mae continues to attempt to cheer Jaley up; although, it's no use. "We get to stop at a hotel, Jaley! You use to talk about how you wanted to travel all the time. Just pretend we are doing that!"