Cigarettes [Bennoda] ✔

Chapter 30

Chester's POV
The day finally came for us to leave Phoenix, Arizona and head to Los Angeles, California. I had never, in my entire eighteen years, been out of my home state. Mike packed up his clothes and things he brought like it was no big deal, but me on the other hand, I was a mess.

That Friday morning consisted of waking up at 6 o'clock in the morning, taking a quick, scalding hot shower, getting dressed, eating a strawberry poptart, and then eventually putting my things in Mike's car.

Before we started our 5 hour long drive, I said my goodbyes and love yous to my mom and my siblings. I wish my dad would have been there to tell me goodbye, but he was clear across the state doing God knows what. I was still a little pissed at him. He said he wanted a fresh start, but I didn't understand why he had to move 4 hours away from his entire family to do that. At least I still had my loving mother though. She wished Mike good luck on his nomination and lectured me about staying safe in the big city.

We finally got into Mike's car after taking way too long to say goodbye, and headed west to LA. We were hours away from being there, and my anxiety was already rising. Part of me wanted to just tell Mike to take me back home, but I knew I had to be supportive. This was his first nomination at a big award show, and no matter how anxious I was, I wanted to be there for him.

Mike glanced over at me every so often and gave me a reassuring smile and a gentle squeeze on my hand intertwined in his. I knew that if I just let go of the worry of what was going to happen, and the worry of what people thought, I would be okay. I just kept trying to rid my brain of the bad thoughts and tried to focus on just being with Mike and being proud of him for everything he had accomplished to get a nomination.

Looking out the passenger window of his car watching my home town passing by, and eventually disappearing, was saddening, but also exciting in a way. Sure, I was sad about how far I was going to be from my family and friends for a few days, but I was excited about leaving Arizona for the first time. Mike was giving me my first real road trip, taking me out of my state for the first time, taking me to California, where I had dreamed about going for so long.

A few hours after we left my house, we made it to the Arizona-California border. Mike smiled a little as we drove through and he was back in his comfort zone. I knew he liked Arizona, but you could tell he was, and would always be an LA boy. He wasn't cut out for the dessert. He was made for the city, studios, stages, and fancy coffee.

As soon as we crossed the state line over into California, Mike started talking about just about everything that came into view. I smiled and listened to him talk passionately about his state that he loved so much.

"Okay, we are about to be in LA. Are you ready?" He asked after a few more hours of driving. "Kind of?" I said. "I'm a little nervous actually. LA is where everything happens, ya know? It's one of those places that kids like me dream about going. I feel like I'm gonna seem out of place or people are gonna look at me weird." I chuckled a little. "Aw come on. It's gonna be great. It's obviously a lot different from Phoenix, but you'll love it and everyone will love you too."

"So much traffic Jesus Christ." I said as I looked around us. "This is nothing compared to the 405. Just be grateful that I didn't take you that way." He said. My eyebrows raised as I thought of how traffic could get worse than this. I mean, Phoenix had some traffic jams every once and a while, but not like this.

"I'm taking you to my house first. My friends are coming over tonight to hang out, so you'll be able to meet all of them then. Tomorrow we'll go and get all dressed up and ready for the show. Then after tomorrow I'll introduce you to my family. After that, we'll just spend a day in LA doing whatever. Then I guess I'll take you back home. Sigh."