I'll Be

Chapter Ten: Riding in Cars with Boys

We clicked on our seatbelts, and he looked over his shoulder.

            “Should I be worried about your driving?” I asked, looking over at him “I mean, given that you risked a concussion last night.”

            We turned down the street, and the burnt orange leaves fell softly, fire-colored snow.

            He smirked, “You want to drive?”

            I shook my head, “Can’t. No license.”

            “Seriously?” He asked, turning on his blinker “Why not?”

            “Never felt comfortable behind the wheel.” I shrugged, trying not to blush. It was one of the things that made me feel like I was still a child; all my friends got their licenses as soon as they turned sixteen. I wanted to, but I didn’t ever have to get anywhere that was more than a few miles by bike, and if there was a demand for me to get to the other end of town, I took the bus.

            He nodded, “Understandable. I mean, I love to drive, but I understand the fear.”

            I smiled, and when we reached a stoplight, Sawyer plugged in his phone and turned on his music.

            Soft guitars started to play, and I smiled. “Dream Academy.” I almost laughed; Dream Academy had one hit, but as I sat there and listened, it sent me into an almost preternatural state of being.

            Sawyer spoke softly, as to not disturb the change in the air. “It makes me think of here.” He said, “About how our town is sort of in this bubble, that there’s this…untainted gloss over everything, keeping it the same.”

            I smiled, “You don’t want leave Loveland?”

            He shrugged, “Maybe one day. I mean, if I a good enough reason to go, I might.”

            “Hm.” I leaned my head against the seat and stared out the window, “Colorado’s so beautiful, you know? I mean, I know people want to leave for bigger cities, for something more exciting, but there’s so much beauty here. I don’t know if I could leave it behind.”

            “Exactly.” He said as the car turned down a road with houses few and far between. “My dad said that Loveland was the kind of place you could raise generations of a family and never feel rushed.”

            I smiled, “That sounds nice. I never really had that.”

            “No?”

            “I mean, it was just my sister and I growing up.” I shrugged, “My mom was an only child, and my Dad’s family lives in Nebraska.”

            He nodded, “How did you end up here?”

            “Dad went to U of Denver for school.” I replied, “That’s where he met mom, got his degree in pedology, and they moved here after they graduated and my dad got his job.”

            “Pedology?” He asked.

            I smiled, “The study of soil in it’s natural environment. It’s pretty much the study of why the plants that grow here grow here, and not in other places. And what kinds of trees the forestry workers should cut down versus ones they should leave to preserve the ecosystem. Plus, with all the refineries for oil and stuff, they’re trying to find ways to use the minerals to better preserve what we have left.”