Finding My Own

52. Home, Sweet, Home

"No, I wanna see it. Lemme see it, Maison."

"Stace, I swear to--"

"To what? No, you don't. Now lemme see it. It can't be that bad."

"If I show it to you, then I get to see yours, too."

"Ew, no! You're driving a hard bargain, mister. Just lemme see before they wake up."

I was already awake. I'd been awake since we'd crossed the Florida border. I hadn't gotten much sleep after we left the rest stop. I woke up to find myself lying in Elijah's lap. I didn't dare move now. Stacey would definitely laugh at me. She'd tell me once more that I'm still in love with Elijah. Maybe I am. I don't know.

"I think it's highly unfair that you want to see mine, but I can't see yours," Maison grumbled.

"I think it's pretty fair." Stacey laughed. "You can't ruin my life, if I don't show mine."

"Oh? You think I'm going to let you ruin mine? Respect of privacy."

"How do you know I haven't seen it already?"

It got quiet again. What are they even arguing about?

"Stace, don't touch me!" Maison warned. "If you do, I just might hit you."

"You wouldn't dare." Stacey laughed again.

"Get your hands off of me. I'm driving. This is totally inappropriate behavior."

I felt the car swerve and couldn't pretend anymore. I sat up just as another car in the other lane honked at us. Maison and Stacey looked at me through the rearview mirror.

"Sorry," they replied in unison.

"What are you guys even talking about?" I asked. "I've been awake for the longest and you don't even make sense."

"What? Since when?" Stacey swiveled around to look at me.

"Since you yelled about us being in Tallahassee. I'm assuming it won't be long before we're in Jacksonville."

"I suppose not."

"Are you hungry?" Maison asked. "It won't be long before we pass a Huddle House."

I scrunched up my nose in disgust. Who eats Huddle House these days? I forgot the place even existed. I'm usually eating in fancy restaurants and ordering takeout from Wu Chow. I haven't been to a Huddle House since college.

"Look, we don't have to stop there. Just asking. We all haven't had a decent meal since we left. Some lunch would be nice. Besides, I doubt we're stopping anywhere once you're driving."

"Fine." I sighed. "I guess I can be a normie for one day."

"I have a feeling you haven't been to Huddle House in ages."

And he was right.

We didn't stick around long after grabbing lunch. After bathroom breaks and an hour of shopping, we crossed the Georgia border in no time. It felt nice to be back home, but I wasn't looking forward to the family reunion. I wanted to get to the hotel and sleep. Even if that meant missing out on meeting cousins I haven't seen in forever. I could care less about that.

Historic Brunswick Georgia

I felt more relaxed after seeing that sign. It meant I didn't have to do anymore driving for the day. Now all I had to do was make it through the rest of the day without beating anyone up. I was hoping we'd arrive at night, but that meant we should have left earlier than eight. Maybe then we could have avoided unwanted attention.