"Come again?"
"I said I live up there. And I go to school there." He just looked at me, eyes wide. Then he just burst out laughing, like I was lying to him. I couldn't believe it...
"No, you don't. You're too hot! Tell me you live here. And that you go to school nearby." he looked at me, and continued to laugh.
"I'm serious. I go to school up there." I pointed to the mountains that were buried behind the hills. He cocked his head sideways. He looked me up and down. Then he shook his head.
"Nope. With the way you look, dress, and act, I know you live here. I'll find out. You're just too hot!"
"Kira's old classmate goes there too."
"Kira likes to talk, but doesn't back it up."
"You said it yourself. You might go there-"
"I'm going, if there are hot guys going there. Mac even lies, just as bad as Kira." Yikes! Okay then. "Jesse and Nic left before the school year started. Soon, other boys left, so I transferred here, thinking they came to this school, since it's so up-scale. But I was wrong, so I am stuck for the rest of the year. If there are kids from here, how do they get up the mountain to the school?"
"That's easy. The bus comes somewhere in town, and takes those kids up there. It's a pretty big school."
"Jesse was the quarterback here. He's carried the school through many wins, until he left last year because fights broke out too." Jesse? The image of the kid bumping past me came back again...
"He's so hot. His long, curly locks, muscular football body, and he's popular."
Yep, that Jesse alright.
"Since you're visiting my house, how about I cut you a deal. You prove to me you actually live up there. And I know how to navigate that mountain, too." What?! You wanted to see me badly back at that car lot.
"Uh, okay. Sounds fine with me." We got back into Elias' truck, and left the bowling place. Great. I hope I don't see Rae or Tristan with this kid. Especially Rae. Then I had an idea, more like I was about to forget something from his house.
"Take me back to your house. I need to get something. And say good-bye to your folks. Don't want to be rude and just leave like that."
"Hey. Yeah. I almost forgot." We drove back to his house.
**************************
I've said our good-byes, while his mom said I was more than welcomed to visit. I grabbed my phone from Elias' dresser. My phone had no messages, strange, but okay. We got into Elias' Yukon once more, and left the city.
The city was packed, as always, but now it was full of high school kids on spring break hitting the malls, bowling alleys, the skating rinks, the "pitch-n-putt" golf courses, paintball wars (they hurt, bad), movie theatres, and if I get lucky, Rae and Dylan hitting the pick-n-pull yards for engines and parts, and hanging out at the CarQuest/Advance Auto store for tools and more car parts. On top of that, there were a ton of road construction that made the traffic worse to navigate, and the roads were crowded.
This summer, there's a Milwaukee Electric Tool store that is going to have its opening, and Rae was definitely looking forward to that. I'm very certain he's not leaving the place empty handed, like he does on his Home Depot trips every Saturday. My dad wanted to check it out, but he's busy, but luckily for me, he might drop me off to check out some of the latest tools Milwaukee has to offer.
The traffic was as bad as the other part of the city behind that mountain, and we were at a standstill, barely moving, if at all. This Yukon XL doesn't have SiriusXM anymore, or for that matter, its OnStar, as its now too old for that stuff, and the radio and AC controls are facing the driver more, unlike Ryo's Suburban, my truck, or even Rae's Dodge. And it has a handle built right into the dash, above the airbag box, unlike Ryo's, Rae's or mines.
For some reason, this vehicle feels smaller than being in Ryo's Suburban. I guess its because of the blocky dash design of the era, and the smaller front windshield.
Or, it's because of my new body, and I still haven't yet gotten accustomed to my new grown body, and this vehicle feels a bit smaller.
Elias read my mind, and turned on the radio. And right at that moment, from the local FM station, this comes on after the station's sweeper callout...
... The Valley's Number 1 Home for Folk and Indie. Lobo 97.1 FM. Sponsored by you, the community. Thank you.
The first few chords play over while the sweeper runs, and finishes before the first vocal begins...
I recognize the song from the movie Tristan and I watched. Ten seconds in, the radio has this display that reads: MYSTERY OF LOVE by SOUFJAN STEVENS (as spelled on the radio). After that, THE VALLEY'S #1 HOME FOR FOLK/INDIE 97.1, and the same display scrolls again. It's too bad this is a great station, and it plays songs like these, but it loses signal the moment we charge up the mountain, and there's nothing at the top.
Tristan wanted to recreate that scene, just him and I, since we live in the mountains, and behind my house there is a similar landscape just like in the movie, that my dad uses mainly for our wood cutting trips. He wanted to have this song playing as well.
Only SiriusXM works, unless you're into oldies or country, which is lucky enough to reach us, in FM. Otherwise, Q102, a Top-40, K95, a hip-hop/rap station, and Hot101 FM, along with Quik 94.9, both Adult Contemporary stations, lose signal right at the top. We also have a kpop station, started in 2015, but that one stays around the valley, and is fairly weak even though we're close to the broadcast tower.
Elias adjusted himself in the seat, which makes him even smaller. He got into his "driving clothes;" an OBEY half-sleeve shirt, the sleeve rode over his elbow, and showing off a little bicep while he held the wheel with his left hand, and his right arm the sleeve folded into the crook of his elbow, the same black skinny jeans he wore from the day and night before, and the same Converse shoes. His stomach and chest were completely flat, and the loose folds of his shirt could barely hide his flat stomach and chest, making him look like he's part of the seat. His hair was fixed like the typical emo boy, and barely shows his eyes, almost like mines, but I can still see out of.
We finally drove out of Elias' side of town, onto the freeway that went through two hills, and this is the only road that carried traffic through the hills. We decided to stay on the freeway, since this is also the only road that also snaked up those mountains that were fast coming up. Mountains surround the city as far as the eye can see, unlike the night we drove with Rae and Dylan. We passed by the final exit, and started our climb up the mountain, back to home for me.
This is what greets travelers from the city after a short trip through those dry hills...
The rest of the trip was nothing but mountains, as we're now alone, with other drivers, as we climb the mountain, and into complete wilderness.
I could tell Elias was taking it all in, even though he's fully concentrated on his driving, and yet, somehow, he's not swerving all over the road. We're still only halfway to my place...
I remembered Shaun had just started, and I can imagine him in his bus taking in all the scenery as he goes to our school, and goes home at the end of the day, seeing nothing but mountains, and the complete wilderness we're all surrounded in.
"Wow. It seems like we're just climbing higher and higher, with no end in sight. And yet, it almost reminds me of Denver and those places." Elias says, carefully looking around, before passing a truck that was slowly climbing, and blowing black smoke.
We finally make it to my intersection, and Elias was clearly taken aback as he began to slow the Yukon a bit, to take in the sight of this natural beauty I call home, before making a stop at the furthest point of the intersection.
And at the distant, snow-capped peaks in the distance that greeted us.
"This is so much better than Colorado. Look at this place. Even though there's hardly people up here, it's like a hidden gem. There's even a lot more people coming here."
"It's just between the desert town and ours. There's no tourist hotspots anywhere. After that, there's no gas stations until that desert town." I tell him, as we look at the mountains in front of us.
"I heard those snows never melts." Elias says, and I could see he was beginning to shiver a little, seeing how small he really is, and dressed very little for my hometown, and I also did the same. I didn't realize how cold it really was, until my spurt. It may be spring break, but it's still cold.
"No they don't. Rarely, if ever. Even up here we get over 100 in the summer, and the snows never melts."
"Let's check out your true hidden gem. Your home." With that, Elias and I got back into the Yukon, and continued down our little road, past the complex, and I adjusted the heat some more, after figuring out how to work the electronic dials of the GMC.
*******************************
We stopped at the Shell station, while Elias filled his tank with gas. And I just sat in the truck, since Debbie's in there, and I didn't want to talk to her about anything. She always makes small talk with us high school kids, especially when Rae's in there eating during their lunch breaks. We were done, and soon, Pine's Market greeted in front of us.
"So this must be that little store everyone's talking about, especially Kira." Elias says, as we passed by Ryo's house that was nearly hidden behind some trees and large brush, as he lived literally close next to Pine's. Just a quarter mile after that is the high school, after this bend. Soon, he saw it. It was a massive building, and its windows overlooked the highway in the front. He pulled over to the school entrance, and began to look at the huge building.
"So this-That is your school? It's so big." Elias says, looking at me, and his eyes widened.
"Yeah, its big. Most come from the town below."
"But why? There's nothing here. Absolutely nothing here."
"That's the question I also ask myself. When I started here as a freshman, it was mostly the kids who lived nearby, and now, it's kind of a headscratcher."
"You're so lucky though. I'll bet there's all kinds of hot boys who come to this school."
"Yeah, some." I knew there were lots of boys that come here. But there were just too many to talk about in the meantime.
We passed by Rae's house and garage deep in the woods, a 1/2 mile from the school. His truck wasn't there, so that meant I got lucky. For the time being. For some strange reason, it felt a bit weird, sitting in someone else's vehicle, and passing by the town that it almost no longer felt familiar. We passed some open meadows, most of which were fenced off. No problem, as these are all private property, and yes, this road does cut through some private property.
Three miles after Rae's house, was Tristan's turnoff, also deep in the woods. My home was even deeper in the woods as we continued driving,
We finally came to a small clearing, and soon, he saw my house from the highway, and he was quite shocked at how big my place really is. All the freedom a teenager could have, especially the large front yard.
My parents weren't home, as expected. My dad's "new" white Ford truck sat next to my Chevy truck. I didn't have my keys, so naturally, I was locked out of the house. With Elias still distracted I bent down and started picking some loose grass and metal nails off from the driveway, while Elias continued to look around my property.
"You're soo lucky to live up here. It's actually a bit cold here though." Elias was soon shivering again, before playing with his thick hair, and bundled himself. It was cold indeed, but I learned to get used to it. Especially now since I lost quite a bit of weight since my spurt.
I had no idea when my parents will be home, but I had an idea...
"Can you take me to the store?"
"Sure," he says, and we all get back in his truck.
A/N Just more "filler crap." But if you like, leave comments. Thanks for reading.