It was hours later and the three of us were in the garage. Kel was sitting on a crate on the floor as I held a light for Lorelai under the car. I don't know what she was doing, but she was cursing like a fucking sailor.
"Easy there, Wilks. Can't have you exploding before the car runs."
"Fuck off, Kel. It's going easier than I thought it would, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating...you fucking piece of shit asshole!"
"It was just a joke..."
"I'm sorry, I wasn't talking to you. Ah." She rolls out from underneath smiling (despite the grime on her face). "Fixed! Only took basically three hours straight, but we're almost done. Last step is the battery and then it should be running."
"That's great!" I smile as I exclaim this and again there is that feeling. It's a mix of anxiousness and excitement and...hope. I don't know what the other two are feeling, but it should only get better from here.
"Where are you getting all of your supplies from, by the way? Isn't a battery alone expensive?"
Kel makes a good point.
"My uncle barely pays me when I work at the garage, like four dollars an hour barely pays me, so in gratitude he let me take what I need. None of it is affecting him at all, it's all stuff that was just laying around." She picks up the battery and disappears behind the hood as me and Kel stay to the side.
"It's still cool of him, even if he owes you," I say.
"Yeah, he's pretty cool. That's why I'm there so much, he's a lot easier to be around than other family members." As she says that I look at Kel and he raises his eyebrows in question. I shrug but shake me head so that he doesn't ask. That was the deal, we don't pry into each others' lives.
"The only family I have are my parents, so at least you have him," Kel says. I know that he is trying to make her feel better, but it sounded the opposite. Like when someone tries to downplay your troubles and uplay their own, as if trying to prove that your feelings aren't valid. She must not have been bothered by the statement though as she agrees that she is lucky to have him.
"I mean, I have seven aunts and uncles on my mom's side and just as many step ones on my dads but I have noone to rely on. I guess no matter what we'll all be affected." We all simultaneously sigh and I can feel all of us getting sucked into our thoughts. Maybe now is a good time for a break.
"What else do you have to do to connect the battery?" I question, standing up to see what she's up to.
"Um...nothing, actually. If you want to get the keys we can try it out." She says this with less enthusiasm than I would have liked, but she still smiles. I smile back and smack Kel's head as I hop into the truck. Leaning over to the glovebox, I open the creaky thing that holds random crap and get a hold of the keys with the Snoopy keychain. I hold it in my hand and grip it tightly. Hopefully nothing catches on fire.
"Hurry it up, Saylor!"
"Shut up, Kel," I laugh as I insert the key into the ignition and turn it...but nothing happens. All that it does is make a rough stuttering sound. I turn the key back towards me and look over the dash at Lorelai.
"Try it again, don't worry. I thought that it might happen."
I turn the key again, expecting the same thing as before to happen, but this time after it stutters it runs. My eyes widen and I laugh incredulously as it stays on. Fuck yeah!
"Fuck yeah!" Lorelai exclaims, reading my thoughts. "Rev the engine a bit, Saylor. Let's see how it sounds." I step on the gas quickly and hear the engine rumble obnoxiously loud, but just how any old car would. It's music to my ears.
"Hell yes. Can we take a ride around? See how safe it is?" Kel asks, looking at the both of us hopefully.
"Yeah, we can go around the block or to the store or something, as long as Lorelai thinks that it will make it." We both look at her and she rolls her eyes before completely closing the hood.
"If it makes it a few minutes it's more likely to make it across the country. Let's go." The both of them get in, Kel in the middle and Lorelai by the door. Adjusting my mirrors, I put the truck in reverse and slowly let my foot off the break and back of the garage into the road. Good thing I learned how to drive on a manual and not only an automatic, otherwise I would be screwed.
Cruising along, I can't help but feel happy. Yes, there isn't an airconditioner so it's a bit hot, and sure there's no music, but portable speakers and windows were invented for this reason. Even though the thing is obnoxiously loud and people are staring, I could care less. This is the feeling that I've been searching for and we haven't even officially left yet.
I know that Kel and Lorelai feel it too. I don't know exactly what they are looking to get out of this, but I know that the feeling of living, this feeling of no worries is what we all need.
If only I didn't have to come home after aimlessly driving around to both of my parents home from work, both in shitty moods because they work jobs that they hate. That's what I don't want out of life and why I need to do this.
YOU ARE READING
Road Trip Across the U.S. of Gay (gxg)
Teen Fiction[Road Trip Across the U.S of Gay; AKA- if John Green was gay and a girl he would write this] Her parents are nagging her, her depression and anxiety are rising off the charts, and she has no idea what she is going to do with her life. At the age of...
