The Choices We Make

Chapt. 5 Pt. 1: Welcome To Salty's

I woke up to Grace singing along to a Newsboys song that I knew but couldn't quite place the name of. That, and a horrendous neck cramp. I stretch my neck out as I listen to her sing from the passenger seat. Her voice is beautiful and angelic. I love to hear her sing.

How long was I asleep? We'd stopped at a gas station like three or four hours ago so Grace and Jordan could switch off driving, and so we could use the bathroom and get snacks. If I hadn't had to pee so badly (because of two full bottles of Baja Blast Mountain Dew) I would have completely skipped the restroom part of our rest stop. The bathroom smelt heavily of feces and urine, which I assumed was from all of the stains inside the toilet bowl. Then it also smelt like vomit, because I threw up.

Note: Mt. Dew, Takis, Snickers, Twizzlers, and the scent of pure crap do not mix. Luckily, the puking didn't come until after I hover-peed over the probably STD infested toilet seat.

After that I remember moving up front, waiting for the others, and attempting to chew three pieces of gum at once. I guess that's when I fell asleep.

I'm pretty sure I spent a full hour with my earbuds in total during the drive, because every time we passed a song I liked on the radio, it was either 'too dark' or just a 'bad song'. After the fifth song skipped, I kind of just stopped asking and put my earbuds in. It's not like I didn't have all of the songs they skipped on my iPhone anyway. Three hours into the trip, we took the pit stop.

Right now it's 6:38 at night and I want nothing more than to get to the summer home and call Aaron. Aaron my boyfriend. I feel a smile spread across my lips. It had taken me a shorter time to get used to the perfectness of it all than I'd thought it would. Aaron had texted me and told me to call him the minute I'd arrived. My boyfriend told me that. My boyfriend, Aaron. I am never going to get tired of the sound of that.

"Oh my god." Jordan says, interrupting my daydream. "Oh my god G, shut up and look out your window!" Grace stops singing.

"Aaaaahh!!" Grace squeals. I look out the windshield to see what all the fuss is about. Just up ahead, a sign is impaled on two wooden poles that reads: Welcome To Salty Shores Bay. We're actually here.

As we enter the vacation town, the first thing we drive through is town square, although the shape of it looks more like an oval if you ask me. In the center is a minature park with walkways weaving through the grass. Two benches are on either side of the green, facing the streets around it. A fountain and an oversized abstract statue of a salt shaker sits in the center of the mini park.

A couple sits on the fountains edge, and another is stretched out on a picnic blanket. A group of three loiter around the salt shaker, laughing hysterically at something one of them said.

Restaurants, convenient stores, bars and grills, and many other establishments loop around the streets. This place has everything. Outside dining areas were covered with happy families and couples chatting at them. Groups of teens leisurely stride the sidewalks while people bike along the streets.

Everything seems so awake and alive here. Past the horizon I could make out the glistening salt lake, sparkling beneath the setting sun. This place was gorgeous. It pains me to know that Aaron wouldn't be here to enjoy it with me right now, even if he would be here in only a couple of weeks.

As we drove through, just about every head in the whole area watches us go by, making me uneasy. You'd think the locals in a vacation town would be used to vacationers driving through.

Two roads stemmed out from town-oval. One was lined with large, elaborate mahogany cabins on either side, all looking similar to each other. A small sign sat on the lawn closet to town-oval. Home Away From Home. My stomach feels uneasy as I read the name. I quickly look away from the whole road.