Potholes

Chapter 64 As told by Rowan

Author's  note: So apparently bringing in drug cartels "disrupts the plot line" according to Parker and Eva, and they forced me to change it. Here's the revised chapter 64, minus the Russians. (I also like how I write this as if anyone cares, when Xander is literally the only person who reads this.)

Author's note #2: Once again my plot lines are inadequate, so I needed to add more to the ending.

I was sitting across from Eva, at a table by the window looking onto the street. It had been sunny a moment ago, but now a clouds passed over, casting everything in a grey hue.

Turning to Eva, I watched her for a moment. Not in a creepy way, just to pass time. Here hair fell in curls framing her face, and her light brown eyes were cast down, staring into the tea she was holding between her hands.

Abruptly drawing my attention away from Eva, a chair was dragged out from under the table.

"May I take a seat?" Emmet inquired in a terribly inaccurate British accent.

"Why of course, fine sir," Eva replied, in an even more horrendous accent. I grimace, turning to Parker.

"Care to take a seat, my lady," I said, mocking Emmet and Eva.

"Why of course," She replied, playing along.

Parker smoothed her skirt over her legs before sliding in between me and Emmet.

"I'm bored," I said, idly stirring my soup, "all we do is stay at dubious motels and gripe about our problems."

"You may have a point," Parker said.

"Ok, so what are we going to do about it?" Eva asked.

"Let's go to the coast, I've always wanted to learn how to surf," I said.

"Maybe Eva can find a hot surfer boyfriend," Parker joked, jabbing my side. Eva scowled from across the table, although I knew she was trying very hard to contain a smile.

"Hey, where'd Hayden go?" Emmet inquired.

"He said he wanted a little more time in the bookstore, but he'd join us soon," I said.

"Looks like you're finally rubbing off on him," Parker remarked.

"Ah," I sighed, "one can only hope."

A few moments later Hayden walked into the restaurant.

"Here, I got you a sandwich," I said, pushed a plate towards him as he pulled up a chair. I realized that Eva and I should have chosen a larger table, but it was too late to move now, so all five of us crammed around a table meant for two.

"So where are we gonna go now?" Hayden asked.

"I think Parker wanted to visit the coast," Emmet responded.

"How long will it take to drive there?" Eva asked.

"About a day, apparently," I said, pulling up a map on my phone. "We don't have enough money to get a motel though, so we'll be sleeping in Parker's luxurious van," I added.

"Ok, so are we ready to rock and roll," Hayden grinned. I glowered at him, "You sound like every generic white dad."

He feigned offense, but I ignored him, making my way out of the restaurant and sliding open the door to the van.

Now, Parker's van wasn't exactly the pinnacle of opulence, nor was it very spacious, but we made it work. The interior looked like it was dragged out of the seventies, but barely lived to tell the tale. The curtains are frayed at the edges, and the cushion covers had a hint of mildew that, through no matter how many washes, never fully diminished. The roof popped up, and two people could sleep there, the seats at the back, through much persuasion and finesse, eventually folded down to make a bed. Then there was a hammock that could be hooked in the front. It was inferior to the other accommodations, and I believe it was never designed for people over ninety pounds.

The air conditioning only works when it wants too, unfortunately this is never when you really need it. Case in point when we were spending twelve hours driving across the country in the middle of summer. We were also only able to get three out of the four windows to roll down. Whether this is the fault of the van, or user error as it was Eva's window and she's nutoriously bad at things like that, we'll never know.

Five hours in and we'd already argued more than than I could count about what music to play. Emmet wanted heavy metal, and the rest of us unanimously decided that was never going to happen. Eva liked trashy eighties, which I could stand in moderation and seemed appropriate for the situation. Hayden had no distinguishable music tasted as he only listens to generic rap with words he has no right to say, and whatever popular music is on the radio- he was out of the discussion. Lastly, Parker favours stuff I would consider drippy emo music, although she'd slit my throat if I said that again. She's been trying very hard to drop the emo persona she adopted in seventh grade, although some of the music has stuck. I didn't mind it though.

"Rowan, what do you think? You're the one driving." Emmet said.

"Trashy eighties. Then, once my eardrums bleed from Wham! we switch to the playlist I specifically curated for this occasion. It encompasses all our music tastes, minus Hayden's culturally insensitive rap. I even added some Robo Cobra whatever for Emmet." I passed the AUX cord back to Eva, and Hayden opened his mouth to protest, but I silenced him with my expertly crafted glare of disapproval.

After several hours on the highway, the inevitable moment occurred.

"I need to use the bathroom," Eva said.

"There's a gas station off the next exit, I think," Parker said, looking up from her phone.

I pulled into the gas station parking lot and took the key out of the ignition. Then I opened the door and stretched my legs.

"So where are we spending the night?" I asked, watching as the sun began to set.

"Dunno," Parker said, "but I'm not sleeping in some questionable parking lot."

"Ok, that's fair. Maybe there's a campground open." Emmet contributed.

Once Eva returned from the bathroom, accompanied by a can of pringles and a vitamin water, we all shuffled back into the van and searched for somewhere to spend the night.

After approximately five minutes on the road, Eva began frantically rifling through the van.

"You good?" Emmet asked.

"Shit," she replied, "I think I left my wallet in the gas station bathroom."

I groaned. I knew it was unlikely that it would be there, but I also knew Eva would be insistent that we go back. Begrudgingly, I turned the van around and backtracked to the gas station.