The Girl From Spain (girlxgirl)

Day 25/93: Sally

"I'm gonna kill us both."

"Just relax, will you?"

"This feels so wrong."

Sally rolled her eyes. "And people call me dramatic," she muttered.

"You don't understand," Mila cried out. "I'm a bad driver, even when the wheel is on the right side." She paused and frowned, probably because she realized her sentence could easily be misunderstood. "And the right side is left!"

"That's why we're on a deserted parking spot." Sally glanced around. Not a single soul or vehicle was around. "Nothing can happen."

Mila sighed, started the engine, and choked off the car. "Oh bloody hell," she muttered and tried again. This time, she actually started driving. As they crossed 10 mph, Sally advised, "Now gear up."

Mila glared at the clutch and clumsily did what she was told, shaking her head and mumbling Spanish words Sally didn't understand. She didn't mind. Whenever Mila was so agitated and irritated that she switched languages, it was cute as hell. So, Sally could only stifle her laughter while they circled the area twice.

"Do you want to drive home?" Sally asked as they came to a stop.

Mila opened the car door in response and, chuckling, Sally did the same to sit down in the driver's seat. She drove a little slower than usual to delay the arrival, her body tense with the prospect of having to digitally talk to two strangers who would have trouble understanding her but most importantly, whose opinion was important to Mila.

But of course, the traffic was as smoother than ever and miles just flew by. A couple of minutes later, she sat in her bedroom while Mila called her parents. Very unsurprisingly, they turned out to be nothing but kind and friendly. Their English skills on the other hand - awful. Mila had to start translating for both sides after the first "Hello" was exchanged.

Sally didn't mind as that meant she didn't have to say more than a couple of awkward pleasantries before she could lean back and listen to the conversation continue in rapid Spanish.

Sally had never learned the language but with her ability to speak French and the hours spent watching Netflix with Mila in Spanish with English subtitles, Sally soon figured they were talking about the ride on the parking spot. She had been wondering what they could possibly talk about that often but it seemed like this family discussed every little detail about each other's life.

Weird.

Sally continued sticking around with a forced smile until Mila whispered, "Feel free to leave if you want to."

Relieved, Sally abandoned her room and, seeing Jake peacefully reading a book in the living room, she chose to annoy him. "What are you doing?"

He lifted an eyebrow - something that had always stirred up jealousy in Sally because she couldn't do it and he managed to make it look so effortless - and slowly said, "Reading."

"What's the book about?"

Jake annoyingly had figured out long ago how to shut her up. Ask uncomfortable questions. "Did you ever continue writing by the way?"

"I suppose I spent some time with it lately," she mumbled. The topic of her hobbies per se wasn't uncomfortable but the act of writing was insanely personal to her. She had used pretty much every free minute to scribble into her notebook. He was satisfied with the following silence and Sally closed her eyes, thinking about which food to order later. Jake had spent the last hour repainting the kitchen and she truly wasn't in the mood to cook. Pizza would be nice, she decided.