One For The Road

Chapter Eight

I was guilty and almost humiliated when I didn't wake up until six o' clock that evening.

It was rare for me to get half an hour of good sleep in the car, and even rarer for me to get more than six hours of sleep per night since I was always up waiting for my mom or watching YouTube. Heidi and Just didn't know that, but I still felt embarrassed for some reason.

"Where are we?" I asked groggily. Heidi was still driving, and Just turned back to look at me. He smiled.

"You're awake," he said. "We got to into Nebraska a little while ago. Six and a half hours under our belt."

"Sorry I was asleep for so long." I felt the tips of my ears going red. It was frustrating.

"I think you needed it," Heidi piped up. "You seemed really tense earlier.

"I'm always tense." I sat up from my slouching position in my seat.

"Then sleep probably helped at least a little." She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. Just was no longer looking at me.

"We were planning on getting dinner around nine o' clock," he said after a moment, "or later if we can't find any places to eat by then. We can't live on junk food for the entirety of this trip, so at least one good meal will be worth the money, even if it's just fast food."

"'Fast food' and 'good meal' shouldn't be used in the same sentence," I joked. I'd had my fair share of fast food dinners for the times Mom couldn't make anything for Kaleb and I before she left for work.

My statement caused Heidi and Just to laugh, and it wasn't until that moment that I realized I hadn't really heard either of them laugh. Heidi's was very giggly and maintained. The best word I could use to describe Just's was melodic. His laugh was beautiful; that was undeniable.

"Anyways," Just said after his laughter had died down, "I think after we eat we'll turn it over to you so you can drive, Chase."

"Sounds good," I replied.

After a moment, the music that had been paused before started playing again as Heidi pressed play. The music was quiet, and almost calming. I stared out the window, watching the sceneries pass.

"Okay," Heidi sighed after a few minutes. "This is boring. We should do something."

"We're in a car," I pointed out. "There's not really anything to do."

"You, my friend, are closed-minded." She paused, thinking. "Twenty questions. Just asking questions in general. Guess the song. You and Just could play Pictionary. Endless possibilities."

"Pictionary would eliminate you, though," Just pointed out. "That's no fun."

"It would be funny enough to watch, though."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, so Pictionary is out of the picture. We could play twenty questions. Get to know each other better." My words were clipped, but as much as I hated to admit it, these two had gained my curiosity in the past few days. I really did want to get to know them. They seemed interesting and kind. There weren't many people like that that I had met in my life.

"Good idea," Just said. He turned and shot me a playful look. "It has occurred to me that we don't know much about you, Mr. Mysterious."

"Don't- don't ever use that nickname on me again."

"You can't tell me what to do." He turned back around. "Someone ask a question."

The questions started off fairly normal- when is your birthday, what's your favorite color, do you prefer coffee or tea?- but they progressively got weirder and weirder as the minutes ticked by.

"An army of ducks is marching towards you," Heidi proposed through her fits of giggles as she gripped the steering wheel. "Do you attack or retreat?"

"Clearly attack," I scoffed. "They're ducks."

"Which means they're harmless," Just argued, "so why would you have to attack them? I would retreat."

"I would retreat," Heidi agreed. I rolled my eyes.

"You people are weak," I whined, eliciting giggles from both of them.

"Not weak," Just corrected. "We're empathetic."

"Yeah, okay. Next question." I searched for a more serious question and decided on, "Any siblings?"

I knew Just had a sister- he had shared it in English on the first day back- but I kinda wanted to know more about her.

"I have a little sister," Just said, as I expected. "She's the sweetest person I know, and we get along really well."

I smiled a little. "You're just saying that. You speak like you two don't ever fight."

"We really don't. We have the occasional quarrel, but other than that, we know we have each other's backs."

It sounded like my relationship with Kaleb, just with far less bickering. I didn't know why, but imagining Just and his sister solving a jigsaw puzzle together or talking to each other about what was frustrating them made me feel warm inside.

When Heidi didn't speak up next, I decided to. "I have a younger brother," I said. "His name's Kaleb. He's adorable and compassionate."

"How old is he?" Just asked, smiling softly.

"Seven." I smiled proudly. "He's strong. Been through a lot, but he's still cheerful."

Just blinked. "That's nice."

There was a pause. Heidi still hadn't spoken. "Heidi?" I asked. "Do you have any siblings?"

Just made a cutting motion over his throat, signaling for me to stop, but the words had already come out of my mouth.

"I have a brother," she said, her voice taut and her words clipped. She was gripping the steering wheel so hard her knuckles were going white. She left it at that, and silence settled over the car. Her silence made me wonder what had gone on between Heidi and her brother; there was obviously some sort of tension between them. But I knew better than to push her. How many times had people asked about my parents and what had happened? It was annoying and emotionally draining to bring those memories up. I didn't want to put her through that, especially since it had probably happened to her before if Just knew. He had clearly been trying to get me to shut up.

With that, we drove on in silence.