Caraphernelia

4 - day two

Sunday

"Wake up, you cheeky fucker." I clamber on top of Matteo, shaking him by the shoulders.

A tired moan sounds from the back of his throat. "What time is it?" His voice is low and gravelly with sleep.

"8 a.m.," I reply.

He groans again and rolls over, burrowing himself deeper into the sheets. "Fuck you, Spencer."

➳ ➳ ➳

"Remind me why we had to leave so early?" Matteo, still grumbly from being woken, asks as we pile into the car.

"So we can beat the traffic."

He just scoffs and stares out the car window. I steal a glimpse of him.

We'd both just woken up, showered, threw on some clothes and left, and Matteo is still groggy. It's kinda cute, in an amusing way, how irritable he gets when he's just got out of bed, and his sloppy appearance doesn't hurt, either.

Then it hits me what I'm thinking and shudder at the thoughts.

➳ ➳ ➳

After a few hours, Matteo is finally awake after having dozed off a bit while I've been driving. "So," he starts. "You must really love Cara, huh?"

"What?" My head snaps to look at him. He's still looking out the window, but now he turns to me.

He shrugs. "I mean, you're traveling across the country for her. If that doesn't mean something then I don't know what does."

"Oh," I return my gaze back to driving, and suddenly the yellow lines blazing down the road become much more interesting than the conversation and I don't really feel like talking anymore. "Oh, sure, I guess. I mean, she's cold company but company is company so I take it."

I guess it's where my parent's never really paid attention to me as a child, and when I was ready to start college, they were more than happy to send me off; and now, I'm a sophomore and they only ever call during the holidays. I was always left alone. So, I have Cara to make up for that now. Sure, she may not be as into it as I am, but she's my sun and I'm the earth. I wouldn't be without her, I'd have nothing, nobody, to revolve around and keep me alive.

In other words, Cara's all I have, and if I lose her I'll be lost.

I don't say any of this though and Matteo nods slowly in understanding.

"What about you?" I question to break the silence that has grown.

"Well, she doesn't pay much attention to me but--" He starts, but I shake my head and cut him off.

"No, I mean, do you have a girlfriend?"

Then a red creeps up his neck and he begins to stammer. "N-no. Actually, I-I'm gay."

I blink.

He continues, "B-but that doesn't mean I like, like you or anything."

I chuckle, watching him trip over his own words, flustered, and bite his lip until the skin turns white.

"Matty, dude, chill. I know. It's fine." I say. I slip my hand into Matteo's instinctively, as I would do for Cara but then remember that he's not Cara so I take it back awkwardly as it tingles with the feeling of his skin against mine.

➳ ➳ ➳

Around 3 in the afternoon, after hours of silence except for the soft radio and hum of the motor in the car, Matteo's phone goes off.

He swipes the green answer button. "Hello?" He greets, bringing the cell up to his ear, only to yank it away again.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" Somebody screams so loud on the other side that I could hear it without it being on speaker.

"Elliot? Oh, hey, man. Uh, I think we're just now entering Illinois. What's up?"

"WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU IN ILLINOIS?" The same voice yells, at the same time there's some rustling on their end and another, higher voice screams, " 'We're'? Who are you with?"

Matteo ignores the first guy, Elliot, and answers, "Spencer."

"Spencer Kelley?" The second person, a girl it sounds like, asks, then, "Ooooh. HI SPENCER!"

Stifling a laugh, I smile and wave even though they can't see me. "Hey!"

The girl squeals and Matteo snaps, "Shut up, Camille. We're driving to California. Keep the fish alive," before hanging up.

➳ ➳ ➳

"Who was that?" I ask after a bit.

"They were Camille and Elliot. They're my roommates." Matteo answers.

I nod. "I didn't know you have roommates."

"Well I can't live alone, now do I?"

I just shrug.

"No, I can't. I share an apartment with them. They're pretty cool, when Elliot isn't being like a third parent and Camille isn't fangirling excessively over nothing. And when they're not trying to kill the fish."

"Fish?"

"We have a fish, because the landlord won't allow other pets. His name's Gerard."

"Gerard?"

"He's way cool."

"I hate you."

➳ ➳ ➳

When night falls, we're stuck in the middle of nowhere. The same, dull view stretches out in every direction for what seema like forever. The night sky stretches over our heads, stars twinkling, the full moon the only source of light besides our headlights.

"I think we're gonna have to sleep in the car tonight," Matteo says, yawning.

I groan. "Why? We can keep driving until we find a hotel."

"Spencer. The GPS literally says 'You have reached the end of the world'. It could take hours until we find a town. Plus, last night cost us, like, a hundred dollars. We can't stay at hotels every night and buy food and gas."

"Fine," I grunt, pulling over and off the road after a minute.

"I can fold the back seats down so we can make a bed," Matteo suggests.

I just nod and stretch out a bit, "Okay." I say and we both haul ourselves out of the van to circle around to the back doors. We force the seats down and lock them, then we unload every blanket and pillow we brought with us - plus a pillow that Matteo stole from the inn last night - and throw them into the makeshift bed.

Standing back to admire our work, I ask, "What do you think?"

He answers by flopping face-first into the car, making me laugh and follow him.