"Bryn, who is that?" Will whispered, well he can't whisper so it was just talking.
"No clue, I ran into him, literally, in the café." I shrugged and turned away from the blonde boy to face my friend.
"Ah, I see. Can we go now?" Will started up the car and turned up a Justin Timberlake song and we both sang along loudly and horribly.
The both of us alternated radio controls, Will listened to basically anything but he still felt the need to pick on my music taste. I played a wide selection of punk and pop music, nothing too hardcore, I didn't take myself too seriously.
"Oh fuck, I love this song." Will turned the volume dial and my ears were filled with the beat of a Hilary Duff song circa 2007. We screamed the lyrics at the top of our lungs, my hair blowing in the afternoon wind and Will pounding on the steering wheel along with the beat.
I stared out the window and tried to remember how Will and I had become this close, I tried to pinpoint the exact moment we felt that click, how we had gotten this far.
As my hair was blowing through I wind I was taken back to third day of my freshman year. Everything was going great, my mom sobered up and we lived in a small house just outside of the suburbs. But after my last class I had a hard time getting into my locker, which resulted in me missing the bus. I knew my mom would have my head on a silver platter if she found out.
My hair was blowing in the wind as I stood outside of the school, weighing my options and settling on just walking home. I began the fifteen mile trek, but I was stopped before I even got started.
"Hey! You need a ride?" A floppy haired boy that was sitting shotgun motioned for me to hop into his car. An older girl was driving, I later found out that was his sister. She was a popular girl, mostly for being incredibly intelligent and always friendly, I looked up to her a lot when I was 15.
I stared at the boy before giving him a tight smile and a nod, then stepping into the back seat of the car. I quietly thanked him and folded my hands in my lap as they drove past the huge homes that covered every block.
I soon felt panicky, sweat prickling on the back of my neck. How was I supposed to let them drop me off at my small town home? We were already about three blocks away from my house and we quickly exited the nice part of the neighbourhood.
"Um, it's this one up here." I pointed to a medium sized house with a basketball net in the front.
"You play ball?" Will pointed to the net.
"Yeah, sure." I swallowed and quickly stepped out of the car, waiting for Will and his sister to pull away, once they did I ran the rest of the way and told my mom the bus was stuck in traffic.
The next day, Will followed me around and bombarded me with questions. I felt very overwhelmed and ran to the bathroom after he was finished his crazy interview session. I cried, a lot.
I cried because I knew Will was such an amazing guy and there was no way our worlds would be able to mesh together perfectly, we would never work. I cried because I so desperately needed to get out of here. I cried because I knew my mom wasn't as sober as she said she was and I don't know why I kept believing her. And once I was finished crying I wiped away my tears and confidently strode out into the hallway.
"I heard you in there, Bryn." Will softly touched my shoulder and looked at me with his ocean blue eyes. I was startled at first and I slumped my shoulders, feeling my chest get heavy.
"Oh," I sighed before coming up with a lie. I was a great liar.
"I can drive you home tonight if you want, I mean you don't have to but--" he started but cut him off.
"Can you please? My bus smells like piss." I earned myself a laugh from Will and we walked to his sisters car, talking about how our math teacher looks like an elephant.
I fast forwarded myself four years later and gazed at Will, he had grown about seven inches and thankfully, cut his hair.
"Whatcha thinking about Brynny baby?" Will looked at me for a second before focusing his eyes back onto the road.
"Nothing, just how I can't believe you made me wake up at 7am to drive for three hours." I lied and he laughed.
"Oh c'mon, the sky looks so pretty!"
"I can't fucking see the sky because I'm stuck in this god awful car." I rolled my eyes and him and he grabbed my hand before placing a wet kiss on the back of it.
"You're disgusting, oh my god." I ripped my hand away and he threw his head back in a deep laugh.
"I really fucking hate you right now." I said seriously but Will knew I was joking.
"You totally love me, I can just feel it." He emphasized the word feel and I chuckled.
"I'll love you if you stop at that place for lunch." I said as I pointed out the window to a small diner that only had three cars in the lot.
"Okay fine, we only have one more hour until we get to Huntington Beach so I don't want to make any stops." Will wagged his finger at me as we parked next to a green minivan.
"No fucking way," I ignored him and stared at the car next to us, glancing at the license plate.
"What is it?" Will walked over to my side and put his hands on his hips not understanding what the big deal was.
"It's the cute surfer guy, this is his car." I averted my eyes and began to walk into the diner. I still wasn't sure how I felt about him, he seemed kind of arrogant. I felt like his head was always up his ass, but I tried not to make assumptions.
Will picked the booth that was right in front of the surfer guy and his three friends.
"Seriously!?" I hissed at him as we sat down and he stifled a laugh.
"I'm going to fucking kill you." I grabbed the menu roughly and decided on the kids chicken nuggets, my favourite. Will got a classic burger and fries and I accused him of being too much of a guy.
"At least I don't order off the fucking kids menu!" He joked and I swatted at him.
Halfway into my meal I felt a pair of eyes burning a hole into the back of my head, I started to turn around to face surfer guy and his posey.
"He's looking at you like you're his next kill." Will stopped me and I stiffened in my seat.
I heard footsteps coming closer to our booth and I felt my heartbeat spike. The tall surfer guy walked swiftly by us without a glance and I allowed myself to relax.
"I have decided I don't like him, not at all." I huffed and Will nodded in agreement. When the guy walked back past us he gave me a tight smile and a nod and I just scowled. I never took too kindly to strangers and I wasn't about to make an exception.
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a/n: super short chapter but the fic is gonna be taking off in the next little bit so get excited yay
And I made the other boys super cool and sweet I can't wait for them to get introduced x
YOU ARE READING
Long Way Home ☀️ l.h
Fanfiction"Now, on this road trip, my mind seemed to uncrinkle, to breathe, to present itself a cure for a disease it had not until now, known it had."
