Mixtape For The End of the World

2. Brendon talks to a hobo about popcorn.

2. Brendon talks to a hobo about popcorn.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to let Pete drive the DeLorean?" my mom asked my dad the next morning.

"Relax, Dale," Dad said as he handed me the car keys. "Everything will be fine."

"Thanks, Dad!" I said as I ran outside, bringing my camera with me, and opened the gull-wing doors. I then climbed into the driver's seat, inserted the key into the ignition, and drove away. I flipped through a few radio stations, but when I couldn't find one I liked, I decided to play Seventeen Seconds for the millionth time. I made a quick stop at the post office to send the letter to Mikey, and after that, I headed to Gabe's house.

I knocked on his door, and Gabe answered, wearing an absurd pair of sunglasses. I laughed, and he said, "What? You don't like my sunglasses?"

"You look ridiculous, Gabe," I said.

"Why thank you," Gabe said. "Come on, let's go pick up Brendon." Gabe climbed into the passenger seat of the DeLorean before commenting, "Have I mentioned how much I love your car, Pete?"

"Yes, many times," I said as I drove toward Brendon's house. When we got to his house, Brendon immediately ran outside and climbed into the backseat.

"Chicago, here we come!" Brendon shouted, grinning as he repeatedly opened and closed the doors of the DeLorean.

"Brendon, cut it out," I said. "I can't drive if you keep doing that."

"It's not my fault that you have the coolest car ever," Brendon said, but he did keep the doors closed, and I started driving toward the expressway.

"Weren't you the one who once said that my dad's car was the dumbest car that you'd ever seen?" I said.

"That was before Back to the Future came out," Brendon said. "Speaking of Back to the Future, can you go up to 88?"

I groaned and said, "Brendon, this thing's not a time machine." Brendon sighed, and I continued to drive into the city. Gabe turned up the music, and the three of us sang along to The Cure until we finally made it into Chicago.

"Where are we going first?" Brendon asked as I drove past Navy Pier.

"Let me look at the map," Gabe said. He adjusted his sunglasses, looked at the map of the city, and said, "The Sears Tower isn't too far from here." He gave me directions, and I followed them until we arrived at the tallest tower in the city. It took me a while to find a parking spot, but once I found a parking garage, the three of us got out of the DeLorean and went to the top of the Sears Tower.

"There's nothing to do up here," Gabe complained after walking back and forth across the Skydeck three or four times.

"I think it's pretty cool," Brendon said.

I simply waited by the windows, watching people walk by. Almost all of them seemed to be tourists, desperately trying to point out landmarks, despite all of the clouds blocking their view. "Is that the ocean?" one woman asked, pointing toward Lake Michigan.

"No, I think it's Lake Ontario," another woman said while I, forever a lake effect kid, simply laughed. A few people stared at me, but I didn't particularly care. It wasn't like I would ever see any of these people again anyways.

After a little while, Gabe, Brendon, and I took the elevator back down to the first floor. "Where are we going next?" I asked them.

"Let's go to the Art Institute," Gabe said.

I glared at him and said, "I'm going to have to move the car if we do that, and it was hard enough finding a parking spot earlier. Are you sure there isn't something else that we could do that would be closer?"