London Fog | school hiatus

Ch. 10

            There, on my bed, Jay was sitting, looking out of the window. I coughed and he snapped to attention as if I was an army general. Cool.

            “Ready to go?” I ask, going to my dresser and pulling out ankle socks. My boots were packed in my duffel bag, so I slipped on my tennis shoes, lacing them up quickly.

            “Yeah, we’ll have to stop by ASDA on the way though, pick up s’mores stuff, you know. Probably a couple of blankets. Camping stuff. C’mon, I drove my car,” he said, gesturing to the driveway.

            “Hang on, I’m gonna say bye to Jen first,” I informed him, making my way to her room.

            She was snoring. I gently shook her awake, trying not to laugh at her. “Hmmm?” came her sleep-coated voice, rolling over.

            “We’re about to leave,” I told her. “If Dale comes back looking for a fight--”

            “Yeah, yeah, he’s bigger than me, don’t do it, blah blah blah,” she interrupted.

            “I was going to say punch him in the throat and then while he’s down, kick him in his princess parts, but your thing works, too, I guess.”

            She propped herself up on her elbows, furrowing her brow as she looked at me. “You’re not going to warn me to call the cops if he shows?” she asked cautiously.

            “Well,” I said, shrugging. “Let’s just say that you should only call the cops if it’s a dead body. You know where the kitchen knives are.” I probably should not have said that, but if he comes around here bothering her and I hear about it, that’s the advice I would follow. Probably.

            She laughed, falling back into her nest of pillows and blankets. It hadn’t occurred to me how many pillows she had. Like, eight. Granted, some were throw pillows and one body pillow, but that was a lot.

            I left her room, walking back into mine and checking for Jay. He wasn’t in there, so I made my way downstairs before hearing him on his phone. I realize that eavesdropping is considering wrong, frowned upon, even, but I also know that secrets don’t make friends.

            “...Yeah, I’ll be there. No, of course she doesn’t know. I don’t know, seven? Okay, call you later,” he spoke into his phone. I ran backwards five feet and then made my entrance. “Hey,” he said, opening his arms to me.

            I had no idea what that phone call was about and I didn’t want to ask him, either. “Hi,” I said into his chest. His plaid shirt smelled like fabric softener.

            “Alright, let’s go,” he said, breaking away from me. I didn’t want him to end the embrace. Still, we would never get where we’re going if we didn’t leave.

            ***

            When we finally checked out of ASDA, we had a sleeping bag for me, a spare blanket, a lighter, s’mores ingredients, and hot dogs. We headed out.

            Jay’s car was nice. I am terrible with cars and stuff, so all I know for sure is that it was A.) a Nissan, and B.) Grey. The interior smelled amazing and when I asked what it was he only shrugged and pointed to ‘scent-cubes’ in the cup holder.

            “One of the rules for riding in my car is that you have to provide scintillating conversation and a back-story,” he stated once we were on the highway.