My way, Highway!

Chapter 1: Serene, peaceful and... nauseous?

He bit his lip and narrowed his eyes as if he was studying me, "You are a chaser, aren't you?"

"True."

"Let me guess, this is your last summer and you decided to go on a solo trip away from your home and friends looking for adventures."

Regardless of the fact that he was not entirely correct, a smile grew on my face. He was going in the right direction. "So, you are-"

"Chasing my dreams." I completed his sentence. "Not bad. Sherlock!" A victory smile crept on his face when I said, "Not fully convinced, but half-interested."

"Okay. So, you said you are collecting memories?" He asked and without waiting for an answer he clapped his hands looking around searching for an idea then, "How about this? You are in your 70s, sitting in your bedroom listening to Taylor Swift and you look at this locket on the dresser. All your memories rush down to you about how exciting this summer was. How dreams mattered to you when you were young and you would smile because you fulfilled all of them. So, don't you think buying this would be an amazing addition to the memories you collect this summer?" He asked.

'It certainly would,' I wanted to say. He was good at this thing. Also, I was out of reasons for not buying it. Thinking that a crystal locket won't be that much heavy for the bag I gave in.

"I will buy it."

"Yes." He cheered and I chuckled to that, "but only if I get a 30% discount."

Surprisingly nor his smile faded neither his eyes left the sparkle. "Hm. How bout 20%?"

I shook my head denying. He bent forward and hushed. "25%? But don't tell him."

"We have a deal." I hushed back. He packed the locket in a brown paper bag while I handed him the money.

The shopkeeper came back with a smile, clearly pleased with his friend's marketing skills. "How a bout those photos?" He asked.

We clicked some pictures from my pawn purchased camera and when I was about to leave, "And Matteo? Next time start with complimenting the girl."

He lightly chuckled while releasing his folded arms and said, "Will keep that in mind."

I started walking away when he called, "Hey, what's your name?"

"Dreamchaser," I called back without looking behind. I probably won't even see him again, I thought. It was nice, talking to strangers. They didn't know shit about you and you didn't know shit about them. Also, it was the first time ever since I fled, that I talked to a guy without worrying about its consequences. When you had dated the baddest boy in school, there had to be consequences because according to Justin, boys would never talk nicely to girls unless they were interested in being more than friends.

Albeit he never doubted me or restricted me from talking to others. He just loved me too much. I think that was the problem.

I shook myself from the beautiful but hurting thoughts when my eyes fell on a particular kid. He was jumping in the water shower coming from the sprinkles, another tourist attraction, especially for children. How was it possible? How could this kid be here? I wondered. I remember meeting him 2 days back on the Georgia border. I blinked my eyes to see if it was real. I wanted to go talk to him and give him more M&Ms but if he was truly there, then that only meant someone else would be there too. I looked up from the child searching for two particular grown men. I couldn't find them and when I looked back at the kid, he was gone too. I felt a little sad. Albeit, I shouldn't feel like that.

Shrugging the unwanted feeling I roamed the area. There were white coloured tents on the side of the road leaving a passage in the middle for the customers to navigate. I looked around to see families enjoying their summer holidays. Ladies arguing with shopkeepers, men roaming around the food hawkers while children playing at the sprinklers. I hopped from one tent to another. Ate awesome hot dogs for lunch and climbed down to navigate the heart of the city.