We Bent Fate

Chapter 12.

My mother was the most excited. She had let out a screechy scream when I told her that I was bringing a girl home for the weekend. She must have realized how serious I am about Martha. Besides, I never had brought a girl home even as a kid for some help in homework, or to play. Never. 

She ended the call immediately saying that she had to clean the house and arrange a few rooms for us to stay in. She told us not to have come eaten a lot because she'll be cooking a lot for Martha and her sisters. I tried to tell her to calm down but she had already hung up. 

On the contrary, Martha and I were filled with braids of nervousness as well as excitement at the same level.

She was wondering how it would be meeting a boy's parents  for the first time and not even being able to remember dating him. While my concern was if my parents would like her, if Martha would remember everything after all and if the attacks would follow us there to my parents place in Leeds, Yorkshire. 

It had already been twenty minutes since we climbed inside my car and hit the road, and the quiet had started to feel almost deafening.

Martha sat to my left, her green eyes oscillating between me and the window. Chloe and Lila sat at the backseat saying nothing and looking at the view. I sighed, shifting uncomfortably in my seat. Should I turn on the radio?

As if Martha could read what was happening in my mind, she turned on the radio and 'What makes you beautiful' by One Direction blared in the speakers. Chloe and Lila groaned as Martha started humming.

"Hey, I think I know this song." She smiled between singing a few words into the first verse.

"Yes, you love this band." Lila informed.

"They are amazing!" She squealed when the song ended and I tried to tell myself to focus on driving more and less on Martha, the demigod of Death fangirling over a boy band. 

"I heard they broke up." I tease and her face fell. "I am just messing up with you. They are just on a break." I affirm her.

"Oh, uhm...well, that is a cute way of putting it like that." Chloe says and she pouts. On the rear view, I see Lila stifling a smile and hope pumps in my heart. Maybe this trip will mend all threads. 

"It is the only way to put it like that." Martha argued and I shook my head in amusement and then one thing dawns on me, and I jerk my head towards with a whiplash at Martha and her sisters, bringing the car at a halt.

"How does she remember this song, though?" I could feel my eyebrows disappearing into my scalp and my heart pounding loudly against my ribs as I gape at the three Moirais. 

"One never forgets a song. Music induces deep emotional recall that makes the tune and the lyrics unforgettable." Lila explains and then something crosses behind her plain expressions but she quickly recovers from it and tries to seek her composure. 

"Especially, if its a song so beautiful." Martha gushes and we all ignore her.

The air between us quietens momentarily leaving just the continuous chiming of the radio station and occasions when both Martha and I lip synced the song.  

Her voice reminded me of the night she sung me the song of death. I smiled at the memory as if that was what I wanted. Besides, why wouldn't I? If death turns out to be so beautiful, I'd kill myself a thousand times just to get lulled into the sedation of eternal sleep. 

The radio blasted 'I hate that I love you so' by Rihanna and Ne-yo when the streets started to dwindle a little into nothing but almost a  concert stage. Martha was mumbling the parts of Rihanna and I for Ne-yo. 

We both looked at each other, our lips moving in sync and harmonizing the bridge part of the song. Martha's smile stretched from one ear to another as the December wind made her hair blow, tousling the brown ringlets of them into a wild mess. I feel myself smile and move along with the music just as Martha. I hear her say, "Nice duet!"

"I know, we should sing often when we are together." I say and I hear a few groans from the backseat. 

"No, please. You two sound like dying seagulls." Chloe retorted and I laugh as Martha's mouth drops agape, staring at her sister. "If you two continue to sing, I would gladly throw myself under the said wheels." 

"We don't sound so bad." I said although I agreed that I didn't sound as good as Martha. 

"Yeah but honestly you two can't sing to save your lives, so you know." I hear Lila say and I was about to ask if that was that pun intended but I didn't for obvious reasons. Then I saw Chloe looking at Lila with surprise in her eyes but she was smiling which was unusual. Lila giggled silently. 

"Well then sorry to disappoint, sister but I shall not refrain from our joyful singing." She said and I mentally congratulated myself that I thought of this trip.  This was going to be one heck of an interesting vacation. 

***

The clock on the dash said we had been driving for an hour now. It was too cold, and I tried to wiggle inside my seat to rub some heat on my skin and ended up disrupting the comfortable position of the seat cushion. Martha had stopped singing now and so had I. 

"I am hungry." Martha moaned and I nodded. 

"There's a fast food place just up ahead. Its almost lunch time now, anyway. We'll stop there."

I see Martha craning her neck, pressing her head against the window, trying to spot the fast food place I was talking about. There was a big neon sign up ahead that spelled out 'Leon'. 

"I want a burger." Martha declared and I felt my stomach rumble. 

I pulled the car into the parking lot. Thank God, we were going inside. I badly wanted to stretch my legs. I yanked the door as I slid out and almost collapsed on the sidewalk. My legs felt like they were made of jelly when my feet hit the ground. 

The heater gave us a blow as we entered the said place and I felt myself relaxing a little. We moved into the unending line behind the other customers. This is going to take forever. 

The cashier in our line, a fat, pink haired woman with a sever nose leaned to one side to look down at her lineup in dismay. She doubled her speed, her fingers furiously punishing the bill machine, eyes furrowed in panic. It took forever, but eventually the line thinned and I found myself standing at the front. 

It took them fifteen minutes and when our order came, I snatched it up with a quick thank you and walked out to where Martha and her sisters were sitting. "Oh man, can't wait to dig into this." I said as I fished in a fork full of chicken noodles.

I wiggled around in my chair, trying to get comfortable. My arse felt sore from sitting in the same position with the messed up seat cushion, and now these stupid chairs were killing me. I mentally debated whether I should take off a layer of my sweater and place it on the chair so as to get a smoother and more comfortable layer to place my bum on. 

Then suddenly, my chair shook underneath me. When I turned my head, I realized it was Martha's doing. I laughed. "Milkshake?" I asked and her eyes widened. 

"How did you know?" She squeaked in disbelief. 

"Its our thing." I said and something flashed behind her eyes. She didn't answer for a whole minute. "Martha?"

She shook her head and then smiled. "I just had a deja vu moment, I guess." She said and my eyebrows went all the way up into my hair. I jumped on my seat in excitement. 

"Really?" I yelped and a few heads turned towards us. Her eyes looked in amusement at me and then she nodded slowly. 

"What did you deja vu about?" I asked eagerly. 

"That I was shaking you." She shrugged. 

"Is that all?" My hope sloshed over from a shock of reality. She nodded in reply, her eyes sympathetic. 

I smiled back at her. I should not push her.

"Let me get you a milkshake." I said, getting up from my seat.