One For The Road

Chapter Seven

"Okay," I muttered as we walked alongside each other into the grocery store. "Get whatever you want, but don't go too crazy. We don't want to spend loads of money before the trip even starts."

"Sounds good," Just said. "We can meet up in the front when we're finished."

Heidi flashed two thumbs up. "And we might be living off of stuff like this for a few days, so choose wisely. Go!"

She dashed off toward the candy section, Just following closely behind. I sighed before heading off to get some chips and water bottles. Would I regret taking these two on my trip? Maybe. Only time would tell.

It took about fifteen minutes for us to meet back at the front of the store, holding various unhealthy foods.

"You got so much," I pointed out, amusement in my tone.

"That's the point," Heidi scoffed as we put our food on the conveyor belt so we could get it scanned and paid for.

A few minutes later, we were exiting the store with several bags of chips and candy. Heidi and Just has another race to see who would ride up front, with Just winning again.

We all climbed back into the car and it wasn't long before we were on the road again. I had plugged my phone into the car's AUX cord and played my music. The two stayed quiet to listen for a moment before Heidi piped up from the backseat.

"This is depressing," she said blatantly. "I would know. I used to listen to this stuff."

I rolled my eyes, skipping to the next song, which was a bit more cheerful than the previous. It happened to be Believer, which was so overplayed on the radio by now that Heidi and Just already knew it. They bobbed their heads to the beat, dancing and singing along. It was amusing to watch, but I had to focus on driving. We had to get to Idaho as soon as possible.

Another energetic song played next, and they continued dancing, mumbling through the lyrics they didn't know but enjoying themselves nonetheless. Just nudged me lightly.

"C'mon," he chided, still dancing in his seat, "loosen up a little. Have some fun!"

"I don't sing," I deadpanned. I wasn't lying. I had never enjoyed it, and quite honestly, I sucked at it. The next part was a lie, though. "And I don't know the lyrics to this song."

"Please," Heidi scoffed from the backseat. "This is your playlist, isn't it?"

"What," I said, "you know every lyric on your entire playlist word for word?"

"Yes, actually," she replied defensively. "I live off of my music, and I have a lot of time on my hands."

I stared out at the road. "Yeah, okay."

They finally continued singing and squirming as if I wasn't there, and it occurred to me that someone would have to drive overnight. When the song ended, I turned the radio down so it was nearly muted.

"Sorry to crash the party," I said, "but I advise that at least one of you sleep for a while so we can drive on the road."

"If I drive at all on this trip," Heidi reminded us, "someone else is going to have to be awake. Technically, I don't have a license, but I have a permit."

"That's okay," I said. "One of us can stay awake, or you don't have to take any night shifts. If anyone else wants to drive now so I can take the night shift, then I can find a place to pull over so we can switch."

"I'll drive now," Heidi said. Just looked over at me.

"I'll monitor her. Go ahead and get some rest when we switch, okay?"

"Okay." I gripped the steering wheel a little, looking for a good parking lot to stray towards. We weren't on the highway yet, so it wasn't hard to pull into a small plaza of buildings so we could switch positions. Heidi and I swapped seats as she took her place in the driver's seat.

"Should we turn the music off?" Just asked, glancing back at me.

I shook my head. "If you want, you can keep it on. Could you just make sure it doesn't get too loud? You can play your own music if you want, too. Just make sure you're paying attention to the GPS." I had Google Maps pulled up on my phone, set for a destination in Troy. They hadn't questioned the trip or the destination lately, but I imagined they'd be asking again soon.

Though they were quieter now, they were singing and dancing again, and I left my eyes opened for a moment to watch them. I was sitting directly behind Heidi's seat, so I couldn't really see her, but I could almost hear her smiling as she sang, and Just had the biggest grin on his face, one that helped portray the happiness he was showing through his movements and reached his eyes.

His eyes were green, from what I could see.

I fell asleep to the sound of them singing along to Heidi's playlist.