Playright
I could feel my heart beat faster and my skin had goosebumps. I felt relieved, excited, that James was alive, but mom and Cat are yet to be discovered. Looking off in the distance, I heard a sound, a song, playing from inside the truck. One of the drivers had opened the rear window.
"This will calm you down."
I couldn't really hear any lyrics, or instruments for that matter, over the growling engine, and it appeared to grow softer as the sun switched with the moon and the stars woke up and filled the sky like an endless playground. I almost forgot James was here until he fell into a coughing fit and leaned against the toolbox that rest in the corner. He looked at me disterningly. I could tell he couldn't see me because of the darkness.
"Hey." He mumbled.
"Hi." I tried to change my voice as much as possible, and it worked because he said:
"You get caught up in the flood too?"
"Yeah. It's hard not to."
He nodded slightly. "You from Citi?"
I hesitated, "Uhh, no. Out of town."
"Ahh I," he cleared his throat, which left it worse off than it was before, "I see. Me, I'm from Terrine. It's a little town way out. If you're wondering, Terrine is french for-"
"Bowl."
He looked surprised and he sniffled. "Uh yea."
There was a moment of silence, which was awkward for both partys. I said, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong." Sniffle.
" Something must be." oops, too Lucy, "Tell. Please?"
He sighed and looked around. "I lost my best friend to the flooding. I blame myself for her...Sniffle....her death."
"You can't blame yourself."
After a long silence I said, "What was her name?"
"Uh. Lucy."
"What was she like?"
He smiled, "Oh, Lucy? God she was the best. Nothing ever got her down, nothing. She was the happiest person in Terrine, the world. She was the kind of girl who wouldn't watch you play video games, she would play, and kick your ass too. She's..... Ah, well, she was, amazing."
"It sounds like you..... 'liked' her."
"Well I--" He was cut off by a huge pothole in the middle of a road, which launched us into the air. I looked up. We were in a small town. The truck chugged up to a stop at an inn,the truckers got out and went inside. A few minutes later they opened the door and one said, "Come on, get something to eat."
I pushed myself out of the truck and James followed a little while after. The driver led me inside to a table in a small dining room. After we got settled, a waitress practically skipped over and said, "What can I do for you guys?" Insert fake smile.
We all ordered something that related to breakfast, but I chose a hot chocolate instead of my usual: Coka~Cola. Yum right?
When the waitress left it was complete silence except for the couple in the corner that might as well have been making out.
"So," the driver said, "Where are you two from?"
"Terrine..." James mumbled.
"Really?And what about you miss?"
"Me? Oh I'm from..." I knew I was trapped at this point, I hardly knew of any citys, but then I had no choice but to lie. "I'm not from... anywhere, really. I'm on my own."
The truckers looked at each other, they looked kind of shocked.
"Don't you have parents?"
"They were killed in a fire...... When I was younger."
James hesitated.
"Well, I'm sorry to here that, miss." The driver looked into his coffee. "How old are you two?"
"Fifteen." We answered at the same time. We looked at each other and quickly looked away again. The driver laughed, his voice booming in the small room.
"Well it seems you two have something in common." He barely finished speaking before James abruptly stood up and left. The driver leaned over.
"You must have something special with that kid. We couldn't get him to talk no matter what we did. How'd you do it?"
I grabbed my hot cocoa to warm my hands. "Let's just say we have more in common than you think."
I heard the T.V. in the next room switch on quietly as the waitress came back with our food.
We ate five minutes until James came back, sat down, and ate like nothing changed. The meal lasted about twenty minutes and when we finished a waiter came in and announced that there is going to be a blizzard, and that we should seek a place to stay. He then added in that they had four rooms free. The couple said they'd take one on the bottom floor. Then the driver called one for him and the other driver, leaving one: James and mine.
"Sorry." the driver said as he and the other stood. "We have to hit the sack early. Go'd night."
James and I sat there for quite sometime before there was a loud fizzing sound and the lights went out. "Great." I said as my eyes adjusted, I partially meant it was great, considering my situation.
"We should probably get to bed." He then realised what he said, and was quick to revise it, "I-I-I mean... Not-Not like that I meant that.... We are sharing a room and all so I meant that... I.....Uh...." I could see his grow bright red through the dark. I giggled.
"Okay, okay, calm down. Geez don't get so tense. Relax."
He stood up and started walking away. I watched him for a moment then followed after him.We grabbed the key from the desk and trudged up three flights of stairs before we got to our room.
I immediately plopped onto the bed closest to the balcony door and snuggle into the corner. James took the bed next to the wall and sat down.
We didn't talk at all that night, until the maid came in with pajamas. Both exquisite: James got silk pajama tops and bottoms, and I got a silk, long sleeved nightgown that resembled my dad's shirt, except the nightgown was shorter.
Since James snuck into the bathroom to change, I changed under the sheets. When I popped my head out and threw all my clothes to the side, the lights were out and James was already in bed. I turned my back to him, cuddled under the comforter, and watched the blizzard whirl outside.
