One For The Road

Chapter Ten

I was both jealous and surprised that Just and Heidi were basically passed out against the windows of the car within ten minutes of the car ride.

It was eerily quiet, so I put my playlist on shuffle. There was a long period of time where I was left with my thoughts. I was such an idiot. I'd come so unprepared, and dragging Just and Heidi with me would only make-

"You really listen to this stuff?"

Just's voice startled me, and I jumped in my seat.

"What, do you have something against Queen?" I glanced over at him. His elbow was leaning against the bottom of the window, and his head rested on his chin.

"Not at all. I just didn't think of you as the type to listen to their kind of music."

"I normally don't. They just produce good stuff."

He nodded in what I interpreted as agreement, and then it was quiet for a moment. I glanced into my rear view mirror to check and see that Heidi was definitely asleep. Her lips were gently parted, her fingers bent as her head rested on top of her gently curled fist. My eyes moved back to the road, and I lowered my voice.

"Why..." I tried to phrase this carefully. "Why did Heidi get so... closed off when I asked about her brother?"

Just sighed, closing his eyes briefly before turning them to me. "I don't think all of it is for me to tell." I nodded. I respected that. "Long story short, he's never been very close to her. He hasn't really ever been nice to her, either. It goes further than just brother-sister rivalries."

"He's not hurting her, is he?"

He blinked again. His eyes weren't closed for as long this time, but it was too long to be considered a blink, his eyelashes grazing his skin for a few seconds before he looked back again. "It could be worse." He was avoiding my question. "But she comes to us a lot for guidance, and we try to help her."

I nodded, glancing at the small girl in the rear view mirror again. "You guys are good friends. She deserves that."

"Yeah."

There were a few more minutes of silence.

"Why aren't you asleep?"

He snorted. "Do you know how much coffee I drank today?"

"I guess not."

"A lot. It was a lot."

That was understandable. This was going to be a long, dragged-out trip.

"So," Just drawled, "on the first day of school, you said you have leopard DNA. What's that like?"

I shrugged. "Not too fancy. One of my parents had it, so I got a few of those genes passed down. I've got really good hearing, and I can kinda shapeshift into a leopard for a certain amount of time? Like, half an hour at a time. I've also kinda got cat-like eyes." I moved one hand away from the wheel to point at my eyes, which were golden and wide with small pupils. He smiled.

"I like your eyes."

"Thanks." The sentence took me off guard; I was rarely complimented, much less on my eyes. In fact, people had the tendency to make fun of those. It didn't bother me at this point. Still, I found myself smiling slightly when Just said he liked my eyes.

"Which parent did you get the genes from?" he inquired curiously, and my smile was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

"My dad. My mom's mortal."

"Oh." He seemed to notice my sudden cold tone because he dropped the subject fairly quickly. "Well, tell me more about Kaleb. Your brother. What's he like?"

This was much easier to talk about. I was grateful for the subject change. "That kid is going places, let me tell you. He's seven, but he's insanely smart and can look after himself really well." I didn't tell him that was because of the fact that we were left alone so often. "He has leopard DNA, too, so he has really good reflexes. He's hard to sneak up on. And he's really sweet. He has a lot of friends because he's just likeable." I added the last part quietly, mumbling, "I would do anything for him."

"He sounds wonderful." Just smiled at me. "And you seem to really love him."

"I do. He's everything I wish I could've been when I was his age, and I know he's going to stay this way as he grows up, too. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to him."

Just's gaze was soft. "It's good that you two are so close."

"Yeah." I could feel my grip on the steering wheel loosening. This was oddly calming.

"I know you're hopped up on caffeine," I chuckled, "but at least try to get some rest, okay? You're gonna have to drive tomorrow."

"Yeah, I know." He shifted in his seat to get more comfortable. "Wake me up if you need me to take over a shift for you, alright?"

"I will. Thanks." I paused. "That was a nice conversation."

He smiled. "You're fun to talk to."

With that, he turned away, resting his head against the window and drifting into a light sleep.

•••

deep late night car conversations yo