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The Highway

The highway is long and open, just like her thoughts; she increases the volume of the music playing so that she can feel something other than silence. It was just another drive for Gold, passing along the same billboards about lawyers advertising themselves for road injuries, a new Buc-ee's being built along the way to her campus, and the same rash and restless Texas drivers. Her driving path is just muscle memory for her at this point. Whenever there's an empty stretch, she pushes her pedal until it touches the ground—speeding being one of her only escapes.

As she pulls up at her college, she cannot help but wonder how she even got here, and what part of her kept fighting today—and always, since her childhood.

Gold drives around the busy lot trying to find a parking spot, and by luck, she finds one extremely close to the shuttle stop. She parks and exits her car, pulling out her headphones and slinging her bag onto her back. She glances at her phone to see multiple messages from Dan about new music that he found.

"This idiot," she smiles to herself. She opens up some of those songs while she waits for her shuttle.

She reaches her class before it starts and looks around, going for a seat on the back side of the room. As she makes herself comfortable, she's greeted by Rayn, one of her friends and classmates. They sit together exchanging random conversation to pass the time until class starts.

As their professor enters, Rayn pulls out his notebook, listening and taking notes, while Gold fires up her browser to escape into the internet. She opens Discord to respond to some of her friends. While it's just an online platform, she has made some truly good connections on there—one of them being her current roommate.

When class comes to a close, she walks out with Rayn and the two of them decide to go grab lunch together. They walk to the Taco Bell by their campus, chatting about their upcoming project. Even though Gold barely paid attention in class, she never slacks on her grades or work, which she shows time and again. Even with half the lecture lost to Discord chats and music recommendations, she was already mapping out the project deadlines in her head.

That was the unwritten rule she lived by: she might let herself zone out, drift, or feel completely disconnected from the room, but she'd never actually let herself fall behind.

It was funny, in a bitter sort of way. She'd just been wondering what kept her going before class—what part of her refused to stop fighting. But looking at her phone calendar filled with deadlines she had no intention of missing, the answer was obvious. She was too stubborn to fail. No matter how far she drifted, her mind always dragged her back into the fight.

After lunch, she and Rayn walk back together and part ways at the library. Gold goes inside, while Rayn walks to his next class.

She spends some time in the library working on her academics and her hobbies. The number of windows open on her screen would make anyone dizzy: a browser with multiple tabs of computer science notes, a video playing in the background, an open DAW with a music piece she's kept incomplete for three years, a story that she's half-written in super detail and another half drafted but never got around to, and a drawing project.

Before she knows it, hours have passed. She decides to leave. As she exits the library, she glances at her friend working their shift and goes to greet them.

"Hiya, Gold!!" her friend says enthusiastically as Gold waves back, smiling.

Gold orders a coffee, and her friend prepares it before asking for a quick break to sit down with her.

"So, how's Moxie been doing?" Gold asks.

"I've been fine, y'know, the same old. I like being a barista, so moving here from the pizza place does feel nice," Moxie replies.

"I can imagine! That place suckedddd—don't even get me started on our manager. I hated that bitch with my entire being."

The two proceed to have a friendly conversation as Gold sips on her coffee.

On the drive back home, Gold notices a subtle glare in her rearview mirror, which she shrugs off as another car behind her.

Later at the apartment, as Gold opens the door, her roommate's cat rushes to greet her, rubbing against Gold's pants. Gold bends down to pet her. She then goes toward the kitchen to check her food bowl, noticing it's still half full.

Walking toward her room, Gold takes off her jacket, switches into a comfortable pair of shorts, and crashes onto her bed. The cat curls up near Gold's legs, and the two of them fall fast asleep.