My Girlfriend Becky (GXG) -Completed-

NINETEEN: Bad Driving

BECKY POV: 

I wonder if my brother has dumped the news yet. 

My hands clutched around the wheel, my mind was a clock oscillating between what possibly could be happening back home right now, and the person sitting beside me on the passenger seat. Deep inside, I knew it was a challenge my brother had to face on his own. For once, without needing me there to back him up; it was his decision alone to make, and my dad needed to know that. On the other hand, I had no idea where I was driving us. 

Of course, it was my wishful thinking to assume that Sonya didn't realize that. 

-"Are we going to keep going straight?" She raises an eyebrow, eyeing me from the corner of her eye. 

I manage a laugh. "Fancy going somewhere?" 

It has been 2 years since I last put my hands on a car wheel. 

She shrugs and throws her gaze on the opposite side and I bite my lip. There were too many constraints; I was not familiar with this area, intersections and turns still gave me bundles of sweat on my forehead..

Well, maybe not that much. 

-"How about school?" 

I gulp down a lump inside my throat when I see her gawking at me with confused eyes. 

-"I have something I want to show you" 

To say I was in utter disbelief at what was gushing out of my mouth would be an understatement. It took me one cheeky glance at her to take in the beauty that was emanating from the depth in her eyes, the moon couldn't possibly compare, and despite the tension that was still clamping my shoulders as my hands trembled ever so slightly on the wheel, I couldn't miss the subtlety of this moment. A few moments later, her hand gently touches the back of mine. 

I must have blushed. 

[SHORT TIME SKIP]

It was a small treehouse at the back of the school that my dad and I built when I was only 6 years old. It came in very peculiar circumstances; my mom was going through a really tough time which I have suppressed in the back of my head somewhere, my brother was by her side, and I couldn't digest all that has been happening. I have spent so much time in my bedroom, and I must have refused to come out for a long while. At some point, my dad just had to break into it, destroying the door into broken bits. I thought I was in deep trouble, I couldn't stop crying all the way inside his car. 

-"My dad hugged me for the first time that day" I breath out, deep in thought. 

The treehouse was only visible from the highest spot in school. It was hidden in the oldest, tallest tree that was planted before the school itself, and its window had a panoramic view of the yard. Being able to know everything that was going on behind everyone's back in secret; some would call it sneaky, but I've felt like a divinity. 

I take another inhale. "He also told me  to hide here if I didn't want to be found"

There was a short pause. A glacial breeze permeated through the windows, carrying a bit of dust into the space, and if it wasn't for the moonlight seeping through, drowning our little hideaway in a sea of white whimsical gleam, we would be sinking in darkness. 

-"Except for him" she echoes my thoughts, with a light chuckle. 

I nod, and we lock eyes again... 

-"Funny. I thought it would crumble with someone else in it" My voice was as low as a whisper, my eyes meander around the corners of the house. 

I didn't know why I was telling her any of this. The situation has gotten out of hand and in the midst of my yapping and rambling, I didn't know how to stop. Then, she scoots closer to me, and I had to hold my breath inside my throat when her head leans on my shoulder. She reaches for my hand and undoes the knot it was clutched into. 

-"Maybe this house is more solid than you give it credits for"

For a moment, I couldn't tell whether she was still talking about the house or something else. Instead, I interlace our fingers and I hold onto the silence. So many questions were still lingering in my head. In fact, I still had so much to say, but none of it was a match for this moment inside our small temple.

I take a big inhale into my depleted lungs, and I steal a playful glimpse at her. I nuzzle next to her like a penguin for heat and I caress her hair back with my finger. Then, I drift off into a peaceful sleep. 

AUTHOR NOTE:

QOTD: Did you have a secret hiding spot? If yes, what? 

Re-edited: April 2021