Hazel's Hitchhiker

52: The Text Message

Hazel

The night wasn't as young anymore. Joey was ready to call it a night and headed back to the hotel room to prepare for the day's journey ahead of us. Unlike him, I wasn't tired for some reason. Maybe it was the adrenaline that I put upon myself that night. A big life decision had been confirmed. Why would I want to sleep at a time like this?

I found myself sitting on the ground with my feet in the refreshing warm water that was the pool. The night was quiet. It was nice. Having an Arizona Iced Tea on me made the night better. Sitting there, I kept thinking that my dad needed to know the decision I had made. Was tonight the night to inform him? Should I just wait until my parents returned from their vacation? It was hard to know. What if they forced me to drop out of school or something? Without thinking, my phone came out of my pocket. My fingers began texting my dad and they began to tremble with my heart about to explode into a million pieces.

"Dad, I made the decision not to become a nurse. I'm going to major in Business Finance instead."

Crap, there it was. It was the text message. Was I really going to send this out to my own father? My heart was beating faster by the second. My entire body began to shake along with my fingers. For a brief moment, my phone almost slid out of my slippery and sweaty hands. Sending this out would be a damn bold move. It would be a move that showed initiative. It would show that I was standing up to my own authoritative figure. This was something that had never been done before. Something inside of me told me not to send it.

What if I sent it and threw my phone in the water? If I did that, I wouldn't have to hear from my dad for a while. I could enjoy my time in Austin for a couple of weeks until getting a new phone. Once I did that, I could deal with him and the hell that would be unleashed. There I was, with my hand lifted out about to throw the damn phone into the water once the text was sent out. My thumb was ready to hit send followed by its destruction.  

Before throwing my phone into the water, my sight caught notice of something coming out of my pocket. Damn, it was the business card that Howard gave us at the Grand Canyon. In an instant, I had to put my phone down. It wouldn't be going into the water that night. It couldn't. Destroying my phone would mean destroying those precious pictures that were taken. And yes, I've heard of the cloud and how pictures can be saved there, but it's too confusing.

"Thanks a lot, Howard," my words quietly said.

With that, my thumb immediately scrolled to one of the pictures of Joey and I. I couldn't help but smile looking at one of the pictures.

"You know, for a genius tutor, you're pretty stupid when it comes to using technology," claimed Joey during one of our tutoring sessions in the library."

"Give me back my phone," I was laughing, but seconds away from crying trying to get it back.

"Seriously. You really don't know how to back up any of these pictures? What happens if you lose your phone or you get mugged on the street?" My phone was handed back to me. With relief, it went under a stack of papers.

"First of all, I would never lose my phone. If anyone were to lose their phone, it would be you with all the damn alcohol you drink. Second of all, I'm too pretty to get mugged on the street."

The boy couldn't help but laugh at my response. "So you admit it? You could easily get robbed?" I'll admit, it was a funny response.

"Shut the hell up," I continued with a sweet chuckle and an attempt to stab his hand with a pencil. The boy returned the favor in trying to stab me. We had entered a stabbing war. Go figure.

The thought of that memory had me in giggles like a little school girl. My face began to blush as if someone was actually sitting next to me. My nose faked Joey's smell of sweat and cologne. Oh, how I wished Joey could be sitting next to me at that moment. Looking at the picture, my spine was in shivers remembering how the boy had his arm around me. Who could forget the rough, but soft skin that was placed over my shoulders?

Damn, I loved the way he smiled in that picture. I loved the way he looked. There was so much confidence in him. Without him, I probably wouldn't have made it this far. It's like he somehow had all the answers when in reality, this whole trip had been a guessing game. He was a good guesser.

The boy was simply gorgeous. And I agreed to start a business with him that night? What was this power that this amazing idiot had over me? Hell, I took him to see his mom. Who else would do something like that? Yeah, my dad would be disappointed in me. I didn't want to spend my life disappointed in myself.

"God, if you can hear me," I unexpectedly began praying with my eyes closed and fingers together. "Life is weird. I don't want my parents to hate me. I don't want anyone in my family to hate me. I want to do what's best for my future. I don't really know if Joey is a part of that future or not. It seems like he wants me to be a part of it. I kind of want that as well." A brief pause was taken with a heavy sigh. "God, I don't know if there is anything wrong with me. I'm scared and excited. Yes, scared and excited. Thanks for listening. Amen."

Out of all the things to happen that night, I didn't expect myself to pray. It felt nice. It felt like a load of concrete was lifted out of me. For now, I was keeping my phone and saving the text message as a draft. Once I got to Austin, maybe I would break the terrible news to my old man. Terrible for him at least. Time to get to sleep.

Looks like Hazel is growing a spine! Thanks for reading! Not many chapters left! Don't forget to comment and vote!

Has your phone ever fallen in water?

Should Hazel have sent the text out to her dad?

Should she have thrown her phone in the water?