Love, Romance And A Boy (bxb)

Part Eight

Part Eight

•••

"Zayn, look!" Scott yells behind me. I turn around to glare at him.

Scott is pointing into the distance. I squint, trying to make out what he's indicating.

When I see the truck coming down the road, a grin spreads across my face. I can't contain my excitement and start waving my arms wildly.

"You weren't this excited for me," Scott deadpans, rolling his eyes. "Glad to know where your loyalties lie."

"Can you cut it out, please?" I snap. "This isn't the time to argue about my feelings. Help is arriving."

A thought suddenly hits me. Could this actually be help? We're in the middle of nowhere. What if this person is dangerous?

"But wait..." I voice my concern. "What if this guy is a robber or worse, a kidnapper? I'm not ready to be shipped away or killed."

"Oh no," Scott says, shaking his head. "You can't back out now. This might be our only chance! Do you see any other vehicles or human figures around here?" He dramatically spreads his arms wide and turns in a circle.

I hate when he's right. When I don't respond, he says proudly, "yeah, I thought so."

The grey truck pulls up and stops for us. We quickly run to the other side to approach the driver safely.

A man with a long, thick beard and a baseball cap smiles at us. Scott grins back. "Hi, we're lost," he greets. "Are you on your way to California, perhaps? Or do you maybe have a cellphone we could borrow?"

He grins, revealing a missing front tooth. I grimace at that. Yikes. "¿Hacia dónde se dirigen?"

Scott's grin falls from his face, and he immediately looks at me with panic in his voice. "Do you speak Spanish?" he asks urgently. "Please tell me you do!"

"I took it back in ninth grade," I admit with a shrug. "But I can't quite catch what he's saying."

Spanish class had never been my forte. I struggled through it multiple times, barely passing. Glancing down the road, I scratch the back of my head nervously.

"Well?" Scott presses, his brown eyes fixed on me impatiently.

"What do you mean?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion.

He snorts loudly and jabs a finger toward the man in the truck. "What is he saying?" Scott demands. "Ask him if he's heading to California."

I take a deep breath, struggling to recall my rusty language skills. "Um, California?" I tentatively ask the man, hoping to convey our destination.

The man chuckles, shaking his head. "No, no California. Voy a la ciudad cercana. ¿Quieren venir?"

I grasp onto a few recognizable words and nod slowly. "He's going to the nearest town," I translate, feeling a hint of accomplishment. "He's asking if we want to come."

Scott visibly relaxes. "Yes, I want to come for you, Zayn." I glare at him, he clears his throat. "Yes, we want to come," he affirms eagerly, nodding his head emphatically.