Take Me Home | ✔

Chapter Twenty-Five (revised)

“Oh? How so? Do explain.”

“Because you talk so much,” he rolled his eyes. He was stalling, I just knew it.

“I talk because I know you want me to,” I retort.

 He groaned loudly. “Maybe you should drive.”

I was more than thankful Eli wouldn’t be driving in his anxious state. “Yeah, sure. Just don’t tell Elliot.”

He’s already getting out of his side of the car and giving me a hasty, relieved smirk. “Deal.”

And that’s how I found myself driving Eli home, and strangely enough, he didn’t sleep through any of it. He oddly stayed awake beside me in the driver’s seat while I drove my way through the highway at midnight. It was absolutely puzzling to me because it was the perfect time – and no matter how he denied being tired, the number of times he yawned betrayed him.

“I’m fine right here,” Eli told me as I suggested the notion of sleep to him. “Besides, if what Elliot says is true—“

“—don’t even say anything about my godforsaken driving, or so help me God I’ll throw your iPod out this window.”

- x -

Even if Eli didn’t feel like sleeping, exhaustion got the better of me. Maybe it was the darkness all around us, or the vague emptiness of cars on the highway, or the soft music playing from the radio, but nevertheless, my eyelids were getting precariously heavier and heavier.

“Hey,” I said shakily, flicking the headlights on brighter so I could see farther up the roads. “Could you do me a favor?”

Instead of responding, he yanked out one earphone to let me know he was listening.

“Uh, this may sound weird—“

He gave me a strange, fearful look.

“—but could you help keep me awake?”

He shrugged, taking out both his earphones now, giving me his full attention. “Sure, why not.”

I changed lanes. He didn’t talk to me for the longest time. “Well?”

“Oh! You mean I have to talk?”

“That was kind of the general idea, yeah?”

“What do I talk about?” he seemed a little uneasy about this. I knew he wasn’t the type to talk as much as I did, at least not on my level, so I was a little hesitant. But I also knew falling asleep on the wheel was as fatal as Eli driving.

“Anything you want, Eli, anything you want.”

Clueless and faced with a daunting task, he shrugged. “Only problem is, I don’t know what to talk about. I’m not very good at talking.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“Oh really? Is there any other reason why I always listen to music instead of interacting with other people?”

The harshness in his tone became less and less like a slap to my face, mainly because I was becoming used to him so hostile. But he was all that I had left to talk to. Elliot deserved some sleep, with all the problems of Samantha troubling his mind. I didn’t think I’d mind silence as much as I did, but I could hardly bear it while driving. Nevertheless, what Eli said made sense. I guess the reason he always had earphones jammed into his ears was because he hated socializing.

“Fine, fine,” I relinquished. “Would you rather me talk to you then? I can’t stand silence.”

“No, it’s fine,” he said almost too quickly, “I’ll talk.”