Run Away With Me

Chapter 5 (Katherine's POV)

Where the Red Fern Grows? Jack? Yeah right. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt though. I've only got about half of the book left. Now, I could've finished the book before he was even done driving. But I want to see how much effort he's willing to put into this. I mean, he has to have a reason for telling me he read it. I guess it's possible Jack actually read it. But I don't think so. Sometimes I think maybe there's something there, just out of reach. I caught him staring at me earlier. Maybe he was just spacing out. But then again, maybe he wasn't . . .

Why am I even thinking about this? I don't care! It doesn't matter. I shake the thought and look at the dashboard. I started driving at 5. It's now 6:37. 23 more minutes. Well, hopefully 2:23 minutes. Davey's trying to convince Jack and I that he can do his own shift. The one and only time Jack and I will be on the same team. 

"Guys, I want to drive! It's MY car, I should get to drive it!" Davey whined. In all the years I've known Davey, I never knew he could be so CRANKY when he wakes up. 

"Look Davey, you're tired. Just go back to sleep and we'll wake you up when it's your turn," I say. He seems complacent, and begins to lie back down. 

"Nah uh," Jack says. "He has to sleep Katherine! If don't want to keep driving fine, but Davey needs his sleep!" I am disbelieving that he fell for my trick. 

"Come here!" I hiss. Jack moves his head scarcely an inch closer to mine. I grab his head so that it's barely and inch from mine. I can feel the blood rushing to my cheeks, but I will it to go back down. 

"I only said so that Davey would go back to sleep! I wasn't actually going to wake him up!" I whisper-yell. I can see the wave of realization that washes over him, followed by the embarrassment creeping into his cheeks. He turns around to face Davey as I fix my eyes back on the road. 

"Katherine has convinced me that another half hour of sleep will be good enough. We'll wake you when it's your turn." But by now Davey had caught on. 

"Nuh-uh. No way am I going back to sleep now."

"Great. Now you've done it Jack." I scowled at him. He gave me a very sheepish look. I could feel myself melting. I tried so hard to stay mad at him. I knew resistance was futile, so I sighed and glued my eyes to the road. 

"You know what this car needs?" Jack asks. When nobody suggests anything, he continues. 

"Music!" He opens the glove box, looking for CD's. He pulls out a few and begins reading off the titles. 

"AC/DC? Pink Floyd? Styx?" He turns and looks at Davey. 

"Yes. You got a problem with that?"

"No, it's just. Didn't peg you as a classic rock person."

"Well, what did you peg me as?" Davey asks with a pointed look. 

"Umm, I really don't know. Anyway, there's got to be some good radio stations on here, if I just," Jack says. He fiddles with the knobs until he finds a radio station playing 'the greatest hits of the 80's, 90's and today!' He bops his head along with American Pie as it comes on. I have to admit, the music is nice. I begin to get into the music when I hear a groan from the back-seat. 

"Ugh, Katherine! When are we going to get dinner?" Albert whines. I was personally hoping to go all the way to New York before we stopped again. 

"Umm, how soon do you need food?" I ask. 

"Well," Jojo starts. "I could go an hour without food, but I would like a rest stop sometime soon." I silently groan to myself. Davey pulls out his laptop, which by the way, seems unfair. How come he can have his laptop but I can't have my phone? I mean, I know why, but still. I don't like it. 

"Okay. We can stop in Philadelphia," Davey says. 

"Okay, how long until Philadelphia?" Crutchie asks. 

"5 ish minutes," Davey replies. I look at the clock. 7:02. I guess I dipped into Davey's time a little bit anyway. 

"Which exit am I taking?" I ask. 

"Uh, 344." I see exit 342 pass outside the window. 

We reach Philadelphia with no problems. I pull into a gas station with a McDonald's.

"Alright everyone. You know the drill. 10 minutes. Everyone okay with cheeseburgers?" Everyone answers with nods and yeah's. 

"Hey Davey, are you going to give me my Skittles yet?" Jojo asks. All the boys, including Jack and Crutchie, echo their collective hurt feelings that Jojo didn't have Skittles. I can't help it. They are just too good. I laugh. Davey looks at me and shakes his head. But then he laughs too. 

"Alright. I'll get your Skittles." Cheers erupt from the whole car. Yes, the whole car. And with that, we all head inside. 

I have a strong determination not to be left outside with Jack this time, so I hide out in the ladies room the whole time. At 9 minutes, I head back out to the car. Everyone but Jack is there. Maybe he had the same idea. We all sit down to eat our burgers as Jack comes out. I notice he has something in his hands, but I don't see what it is. Davey passes out burgers (and Skittles) and we enjoy our last stop until, well, home. 

Davey gets in the driver's seat, and I retreat into the middle row. As we pull out onto the highway, I finally get a glimpse of what Jack has in his hands. It's a copy of Where the Red Fern Grows.