You Lie All The Time [S.Harrington]

chapter nineteen

"Drive, Steve, drive!' Dustin screamed.

"Go, go, go!"

Steve pressed on the gas and quickly drove away.

"Go, go!" Dustin continued. He looked back at the owners through the window. "Shit, they look pissed."

"It's not ever day you lose your house and car in one fell swoop." Robin replied.

"Hold on! Hold on!" Steve reminded. He made a sharp turn. The owners continued to chase after them. They gave up once Steve drove out of the trailer park.

A little further down the road, everyone was much calmer. They drove in a rather empty road that was surrounded by a forest. Susie and Steve hadn't said a word to each other since their moment on the stairs. James Taylor played on the radio.

Steve glanced over at Susie for a moment. She had been staring blankly at the road since they started driving. He sighed and looked back ahead. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a cassette behind the steering wheel. He reached for it with one hand, quickly reading it while trying to keep his eyes on the road.

The Cure
The Head On the Door

Steve huffed. He held the cassette out to to Susie. "Don't look at it. Just play side B." He requested. Susie turned to look at him in confusion.

"I can't put it in. I'm driving. I wanna change the song." Steve urged, waiting for her to take the cassette from him. Slowly, she took it. She didn't bother looking at it and just placed it into the radio.

Six Different Ways by The Cure started playing. Susie furrowed her eyebrows, then lightly smiled to herself, hoping that Steve wouldn't notice. He did.

"Whoa, how'd...how'd that start playing? That's crazy. I had no idea." He joked. Susie huffed, nodding slowly with a slight smile. She continued to stare ahead at the road. "You're something, Harrington."

"I try my best." Steve grinned. There was a moment of silence between the two before Steve spoke again. "Yeah, it's...it's silly, but I...I've actually..." He trailed off. Susie listened in, but didn't look at him.

"I always had this dream that I'd have this really...really big family." Steve started. "I'm talking, like, uh, full brood of Harringtons. Like, five, six kids."

Susie scoffed. "Wow." She shook her head. "Sounds like a total nightmare. Six?" She turned to him in shock.

"Yeah. Six little nuggets. Three girls, three boys." Described Steve. "And...and every summer, I figured all of us Harringtons, we would pack into something like this." He referred to the RV. "And...just see the country."

"All the great things that America has to offer, huh?" Chuckled Susie.

"Exactly." Steve replied. "You know, the Rockies, Grand Canyon, maybe Yellowstone." Steve turned to look at Susie for a moment. As soon as he did, she tried to conceal her smile.

"End up in some beachside town in California." He looked back at the road. Susie smiled again and watched him.

"Spend a week parked in the sand." Steve added. "Learn how to surf or something."

Susie chuckled. "Drive through Canada and up to Antarctica too." She joked.

"Yeah, you get it." Steve chortled. Susie smiled, then stared back at the road. "That's nice, Steve." She sighed. "Six Harrington spawns sounds horrific, to say the least, but, it's nice you have it all planned out." She pursed her lips. "I have no idea what i'm gonna do." She stifled a laugh.

Steve sighed, then looked at Susie for another moment. "Hey, if only I had some practice." Steve gestured to the back of the RV, referring to his six kid plan. Susie looked back, then nodded. "Babysitters revolution." Susie held out her fist towards Steve. He gave her a fist bump.