Thoughts of a Thinker

Chapter six

The highway is empty, and the windows are down. Driving like this having no where to go is oddly therapeutic. Vincent is sound asleep in the passenger seat. I keep looking at him and laughing. His mouth is wide open, and drool is collecting on the side of his face.

My mom has texted me multiple times since it's already morning. I answered the first one letting her know I was alright.

Then my phone died.

Basically, I'm going to be grounded for a month when I get back. Pulled from my thoughts, I notice a sign signaling we've entered Cook County.

I notice a lake up ahead and smile to myself. I pull over and put Vincent's car in park. I sit for a few moments before turning to Vincent. I place my hand on his shoulder and lightly shake him. "mhhm," he mumbles while slowly opening his eyes. I giggle at his cuteness and silently thank whatever brought him into my life.

"Morning sunshine," I say mockingly. He gives me a sleepy glare. He pushes himself upwards in a sluggish manor.

"Where are we?" he says while looking out the window.

"We're in County cook," I reply. My eyes slowly analyze the gorgeous lake ahead of us and I feel a sense of calm. "Come on, lets go. Look how sunny it is!" I say, excitement filling my voice.

He laughs at me before getting out of the car and I follow. I skip around to the front and meet him. "What about the blankets?" he asks.

"Oh right, I almost forgot," I say before crawling in the backseat to grab them. We start making our way down the beach and I decide to take off my shoes.

"Good idea," Vincent says before taking off his clean barely marked shoes and fully emerging his feet in the sand.

In this moment I feel stress loosening its hold on my body. I don't care that my phones dead, I don't care that my mom is going to kill me, and I really don't care that I'm sick. I only care about being here with Vincent and covering every inch of my body in the warmth the sunlight emits.

"Do you think this is a good spot Vincent?" I ask while taking in the organic scenery.

"It's perfect," he says making me even happier if that were possible. Who knew I could be here with this boy at this time? The boy with the stormy eyes who I thought was only ever going to be mean. I assumed the last possible thing from the truth. Vincent was truly a good guy and I never would have guessed.

Vincent is busy laying down blankets and that's when I notice something. I gawk at what has appeared in front of me and soon Vincent catches on.

It's funny how the second you change your thoughts, god gives you a glimpse of what heaven looks like. He shows you the beauty of life and motivates you to believe in small miracles. I don't even know where this is coming from; that's the weird thing. I've never been a believer of this sort of thing before. It's like the sky has sent me a message. It told me to believe and have dreams and everything in between.

"Rena..." he says trailing off in a sort of exciting way. Different colors of light dace across the sky.

I feel stupid for feeling shocked. We're in cook county; of course, there would be a huge chance of seeing the northern lights.

The sky blooms into artwork while Vincent and I are struck with amazement. "It's amazing," I say.

"You're amazing," he says. Somehow, I expected a response like that. Mostly because Vincent's a nice guy. Partly because it's the cliché thing to say. Even though it is sweet, I cringe slightly. I smile at him anyways, appreciating the compliment.

"someone's feeling cheesy," I mock him.

"Just take the compliment Rena," he bickers back. We both laugh, and everything seems so perfect. The universe puts on it's show for us and we consume it like it's our last meal. We lye side by side on the blankets staring at the sky. I feel sleepy; only now realizing I haven't slept the entire night.

"This reminds me of the first day we met, Vincent," I say in a soft voice.

My eyes shut despite my efforts to stay awake. I am slowly fading away from reality and the last thing I comprehend is Vincent's sweet voice.

"Goodnight Rena, sleep well silly girl." Then I slip into dreams of days just like this.