"If we don't stop to pee in the next 60 seconds, this whole car is going to feel my wrath," Emily announced.
"Alright, chill out," Parker said, with a sigh. "Rest stop in 2 miles, can you make it?"
"If you step on it."
"I'll do my best. Put your headphones back in, relax. We'll be there in no time."
I glanced over my shoulder. McKenna still had her headphones in, oblivious to the conversation taken place as she stared intently at her laptop screen, a movie playing out in front of her.
Emily had been listening to music, but now she was shifting around uncomfortably in her seat as she stared out the window, clenching and unclenching her fists.
Parker was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, trying to get over in time to make it to the rest stop. Because I'm pretty sure if he missed the exit, all hell would break loose in this car.
I went back to staring out of the window, my back resting against the seat, as I'd been doing for the past two hours.
Parker had been shooting me glances every once and a while, probably waiting for me to blurt something out or annoy the living shit out of him.
But I just didn't have it in me. Not today.
I felt drained of energy, as though I could sleep another full night although I'd just woken up not too long ago. I reached up and ran my hand across my eyes, biting back a yawn.
Maybe a nap wouldn't be such a bad idea.
"Okay," Parker said, swinging into a parking space at the rest stop. "Does anyone else-"
Both McKenna and Emily abandoned the car, Emily taking off in a waddling-run.
It was clear she desperately had to pee.
"You sure you don't have to go?" Parker questioned. "Because I'm not stopping again until lunch."
Bullshit.
If someone had to pee, it wasn't like Parker was going to make them hold it.
"I don't have to go. I'm perfectly well aware of my bowel movements, thanks."
"I'm just checking."
"Well you don't need to."
He leaned back in his seat, silence settling across the car.
"Is something bothering you?" Parker asked, after a minute ticked by. "You seem really on edge."
I tugged on the tan bracelet on my wrist, calming my nerves down.
I'd let my façade slip, but I had to keep my walls up. Parker had enough shit on his plate, he didn't need to add my problems to it.
"I'm fine," I said, glancing over at him.
His eyebrows immediately furrowed, and he glanced over at me.
"In the true sense of the word," I added. "I just didn't get much sleep last night I guess."
That's a lie. I got a full night's sleep, plus more. And I'm still exhausted.
"Why? Was something keeping you up?"
I just shrugged.
"Well let me know if it happens again tonight."
I nodded in agreement.
I hated that he trusted me so easily. It made me feel like completely and utter shit whenever I lied to him.
But it was for the best. Parker had been under a lot of extra stress lately, and it was evident on his face and through his actions. And just in these past couple of days had he been leveling back out again, smiling a bit more and his temper remaining low.
I missed that Parker.
And I didn't need to fuck things up now. Not anymore than I already had.
"I feel so much better," Emily commented, clambering back into the car. "I thought my bladder was going to explode."
"We've literally been on the road for two hours," Parker pointed out.
"Don't judge me."
McKenna climbed back into the car as well, shooting me a smile.
"So I have a fun idea," Emily said, as Parker merged back onto the highway.
"I don't like it already," Parker muttered.
"Alright Debbie Downer, cool it with the attitude."
Parker let out a long sigh, but he didn't comment any further.
"I have a trivia game on my phone. And I just thought it'd be a fun car game," Emily continued.
"I'm not helping you beat me in Trivia Crack," Parker declined.
"Although I'm going to kick your ass, it's not Trivia Crack. It's a different app."
Parker hummed in agreement, reaching over and taking a sip of his probably now cold coffee.
"Okay, first question," Emily announced. "What Russian spy was exchanged for U-2 pilot Francis Gary powers in 1962?"
"How the fuck are we supposed to know that?" Parker questioned.
"Rudolf Abel," I answered.
"Okay, we need to limit you on your answers," Parker muttered.
"Point for Lee!" Emily announced. "Ooh, here's a fun idea. We should do, like, points. And then whoever wins gets something fun."
"We're not in school, and I'm not going up against Encyclopedia Boy over here," Parker declined.
"Party pooper," Emily muttered. "Okay, second question. What nursery rhyme character was rich on Monday but broke on Saturday?"
"Every adult that ever lived?" Parker questioned, chuckling to himself.
Solomon Grundy.
"Wait, I might know this one," McKenna said, biting on her bottom lip. "My mom used to tell us this when we were younger."
"We?" Emily questioned. "Do you have a sibling?"
I glanced back at Emily, shooting her a glare.
Emily curled a piece of hair behind her ear, catching my glance. "So do you know it?"
"Grundy, right? Simon Grundy?"
"Pretty close, I'm giving it to you. It was Solomon Grundy."
McKenna and Emily high-fived.
"Okay, who were the rival gangs in West Side Story?" Emily asked. "Oh, I love this movie."
"Easy," Parker spoke up.
"Only because I made you watch it the other week," Emily said, with a laugh.
"There were the Sharks, right?"
Emily nodded.
"And then the Jets."
"Of course."
"What do I win?"
Emily just rolled her eyes.
"Next question," Emily announced. "Who lived at 221B, Baker Street, London?"
Sherlock Holmes.
"That's clearly not Finding Nemo," Parker declined. "Because that address was P Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney."
"It's scary how you know that," Emily said, with a sigh.
"Finding Nemo is the shit."
"We're not talking about Finding Nemo-"
"Sherlock Holmes," I interrupted.
"We're not talking about him either," Parker declined.
"He's right," Emily said, her eyebrows raised.
"About what?"
"The question dumbass. Sherlock Holmes lives at 221B, Baker Street, London."
"Oh."
And so the questions continued. For the next hour and a half, Emily would ask a question, that she and Parker would usually debate over, before someone would eventually answer.
7 times out of 10, that someone was me.
But to be fair, the questions were easy.
"Wait!" Emily called out, dropping her phone. "Turn up the radio."
"No," Parker declined. "We have a long drive ahead of us, and I can't deal with-"
"Just this one song?" Emily pleaded.
Parker let out a long sigh, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. "One song," he bargained.
She let out a squeal of excitement, and he turned up the radio to blast the song throughout the car.
"Oh don't you dare look back, just keep your eyes on me," Emily belted, elbowing McKenna so she could join in as well. "I said you're holding back, you said shut up and dance with me."
"This woman is my destiny," McKenna belted, joining in. "She said, ooooh. Shut up and dance with me!"
And so the singing continued for three and half excrutiating minutes. Only it didn't end there.
The next song came on, and it continued on. As did it with the next song, and the one following that.
I leaned my head back in my seat, willing for this nightmare to be over.
It wasn't their singing necessarily, though that was a part of it. It was their poor taste in music. My ears felt as though they were going to possibly bleed or explode, or maybe both.
I glanced over at Parker after song number five or six, possibly seven. He was using his left hand to drive and his right hand to massage his temples, clearly as over this as I was.
Why was he still putting up with it?
As if he could read my mind, he reached over and flipped off the radio.
"Hey!" Emily called, jutting out her bottom lip.
"I think one song was over a long time ago," I muttered.
Parker let out a long sigh. "Can I please just get ten minutes of silence?"
"But I-" Emily started.
"Ten minutes," Parker repeated, his voice a little sharper.
I knew that voice. He was trying his best to control his temper, trying to keep himself in check.
And then he reached into the center console, pulling out his Advil and popping two more pills.
That had to be his third dose of the morning.
Parker popped Advil like they were candy. My mom used to get onto him, used to lecture him about Advil and the recommended usage and side effects.
Parker never listened to her then, and he certainly didn't now.
My right leg was bouncing up and down as I logged into my Trivia Crack game, playing back the few people I hadn't already.
I could play this game for hours.
"The Venus de Milo is believed to represent which goddess?" my Art trivia crack asked me, for my first crown against Emmett.
Easy. Aphrodite.
Aphrodite was often portrayed as half-naked. This sculpture was done during the late Hellenistic Period, classical in essence with innovatory features such as spiral composition, the positioning in space, and the fall of the drapery on the hips.
My personal, favorite reference of the Venus de Milo was in the movie Soul Surfer, when Bethany Hamilton was ripping the arms off of her Barbie dolls because they were no longer "perfect" or "beautiful". Her mother then showered her a sculpture that was considered ultimate beauty and perfection by those who viewed it, the Venus de Milo. And she was missing both of her arms.
To me, that had a much deeper meaning than what it brushed on the surface of the meaning. And it's a message that I'd tried to convey to Emily during our many talks and chats.
Maybe Emily should watch Soul Surfer. Although the movie is mostly about Bethany Hamilton overcoming her arm getting bitten off by a shark, there are some deep moments about perfection and beauty too.
I wonder what it's like to have your arm bitten off by a shark. It would hurt initially, the pain would be overwhelming. But eventually your body would go into overdrive, shock would settle in. I wonder how much of it you really feel.
It's like losing any limb really. Not just having it bitten off by a shark, but losing a limb in any type of accident. It must be painful at first-
"Lee?" Parker questioned, reaching over and snapping towards me.
I glanced over at him, and he waiting on my response to a question he'd asked.
"Huh?"
"Lunch Lee, where do you want to go for lunch?"
I let out a groan, letting my head rest back against the seat.
It was only lunchtime.
~*~
"I spy with my little eye something..." McKenna trailed off, her eyes searching around her as the scenery whizzed by. "Something green!"
"The grass," Parker deadpanned.
"No."
"The trees!" Emily called out.
"No."
"The bushes?" Emily guessed.
"No."
"The car riding next to us, the Jeep," I guessed.
"Yes!" McKenna said, with a bright smile.
"Damn Lee," Emily muttered, shaking her head.
"Take my turn," I said to Parker.
"I don't want it."
"I don't want it either."
Parker gave me a look.
"Fine," I muttered, folding my arms across my chest. "I spy with my fucking eye, something blue."
The entire car fell silent.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," I muttered.
"Is it the sky?" Emily guessed.
"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner."
She rolled her eyes, reaching over to giving my upper arm a good shove. "You're such a spoil sport."
"Call me what you will, I didn't want to play."
"Then you shouldn't have guessed."
"The answer was obvious, it wasn't my fault that-"
And then the car swerved, and we were in the grass off the side of the highway, before slamming to a stop.
My heart was pounding in my chest, and I tried gripping the sides of my seat to calm myself back down.
But it wasn't working too well.
"Is everyone okay?" I heard Emily's voice question.
Door handle. Find the door handle.
My hands fumbled around for a few seconds until I managed to open the door, and I practically fell out of the car as I tried to suppress the oncoming panic attack.
Breathe. In through the nose and out through the mouth.
It took me a few minutes, but I managed to get myself bring myself back down.
My hands were still shaking, and I couldn't quite catch my breath, but I wasn't going to have a full-on attack here on the side of the road.
"I'm sorry," Parker was saying, crouching down next to me.
"Shut up."
"He just swerved right in front of me," Parker continued, his voice thick.
That's when I noticed Parker's hands were shaking too.
"Are you alright?" I questioned, through my hyperventilation.
Parker nodded, tucking his hands away behind him.
That lying son of a bitch.
Sorry mom.
It took me another few minutes before I could stand up again. I still felt shaky and disoriented from my minor panic attack, and the car situation really wasn't helping too much.
I didn't want to get back into the same car that had just caused the attack. But I of course didn't have a choice.
After a few minutes of convincing myself that I had to get back into the car, I slowly clambered into the passenger seat, still hyperventilating a bit.
But Parker was still outside the car, Emily joining him.
McKenna took my shaking hands in hers, kissing the backs of them.
All I could do was close my eyes, wishing for this panicky feeling to go away.
I knew that my medicine was in the center console, but I hated taking the post-panic attack stuff. It made me feel numb and exhausted.
But maybe that's all I really wanted to feel right now.
And then, much to my surprise, Emily climbed into the driver's seat.
"So damn tall," Emily muttered, readjusting the side and rearview mirrors to fit her height, as well as the driver's seat itself.
I glanced back in the backseat, where Parker was slumped over, massaging his temples.
"Are you okay with me driving for a little bit?" Emily asked me.
"S-s-sure."
Parker leaned over, opening up the center console and handing me my post-panic attack pill bottle. "Take one."
I held the pill bottle in my hand, still contemplating whether I wanted to or not.
"It'll help," Parker added. "And sleep won't be so bad either. We still have a long drive ahead of us."
And that was all the urging that I needed.
I couldn't deal with this panicky feeling for multiple hours. I'd probably have a full-blown panic attack before the trip was over.
~*~
"Is that the last of the groceries?" McKenna questioned, placing the bags she was holding on the kitchen counter inside the cabin.
"That's it," Emily agreed, closing the cabin door behind her. "Parker and I will unpack everything. You guys go ahead and get settled in."
Parker raised his eyebrows at her.
And Emily just smiled.
I didn't need any further urging.
I knew that until Emmett came, we all had our own bedrooms. And then two people had to bunk up together.
And those two people were going to be Emily and Parker.
McKenna and I headed upstairs to where the bedrooms were.
I opened up the first bedroom.
It was clearly Emmett's. There were soccer trophies on the shelves and posters on the walls. It looked like a young teenager's room.
The second room was a bit plainer. It had a plain blue bedspread with light decoration on the walls, more of a cabin feel to it.
"Mine!" I called out, tossing my suitcase inside.
Done and done.
I went out into the hallway to find McKenna. She standing in the hallway, biting her bottom lip.
"What's the matter?" I asked her, leaning against my doorframe.
"Well if I choose the room that's clearly Emmett's, then I'm going to have to move out in a couple of days," McKenna explained. "But if I choose Emily's room, then Emily is going to have to sleep in Emmett's room, which isn't very fair since it's her cabin and all."
"You're way overthinking this," I said, with a laugh. "Take Emily's room. I doubt she'll even be sleeping in it."
McKenna's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"I'm sure she'll take the Master," I explained.
"Then where will your brother sleep? Do you think he'll sleep in Emmett's room?"
I slowly shook my head. "I'm sure he'll take the Master as well."
And then it dawned on her.
"Oh."
I nodded, laughing as I picked up her suitcase for her and dumped it in what was clearly Emily's room.
The bedspread was grawy with bright pink flowers sprinkling the top. And the room was floral themed, not at all meant to fit a northern cabin.
"It's so cute," McKenna gushed.
I just chuckled, dumping her suitcase at the bottom of the bed. "Well it's yours to call your own for the next two weeks."
The two of us headed back downstairs, where Emily and Parker were engaged in an argument in the kitchen.
"I am not doing that," Parker declined, in a flat voice.
"Oh come on," Emily said, her voice bubbly. "It'll be fun, I promise!"
"Why would I make a pizza, when I can call and have one delivered in 30 minutes tops?"
"Because where's the fun in that?"
"The fun is in what we can do while we wait."
"Parker Adams!"
He chuckled, his eyes flickering over and noticing us for the first time.
"Guys, opinions on something," he said, motioning us over. "Emily here wants to make a pizza. Like, each one of us make our own personal pizzas."
"Look!" Emily exclaimed, opening up one of the grocery bags.
Inside were all the ingredients to do so.
"I want to order a pizza," Parker bargained. "And skip all the work."
"I'm with Parker," I said, leaning against the counter.
Emily wrapped her arms around Parker's waist, looking into his eyes. "Please? Please oh please oh please? I think it'd be a lot of fun and something new for us to do on our first night here."
Parker was staring into her eyes, a smile spreading across his face.
"We're making pizza," I informed McKenna.
"I thought you voted not to?"
"Yeah, well Parker is about to-"
"Okay," Parker said, with a laugh. "Alright, we'll make the damn pizza."
Emily let out a squeal, rising up on her toes to peck him on the lips. "I love you."
"You better."
"Okay," Emily said, whirling around to face the two of us and clapping her hands. "It's pretty simple. Parker, come around here."
"Ma'am yes ma'am," he said, with a salute.
She just rolled her eyes at him.
Everybody has to take one of this dough containers and make a circle for their pizza. And then put the sauce on and all the toppings that they want."
"Sounds simple enough," McKenna said, with a shrug before looking over at me.
I nodded in agreement.
Emily tossed me a container of dough, and I went over to an adjacent counter in the kitchen, alongside McKenna.
"Here," I said, handing McKenna a roller. "Because I'm a gentleman, you can go first."
"Since when are you a gentleman?"
"The sass, I like it."
She just laughed, using the roller to try and roll out her dough.
It was a lot harder than originally expected.
"It won't stay flat," McKenna said, giggling as she tried. "It keeps sticking to the roller."
"That usually means it isn't cold enough!" Emily called out. "And these have been sitting out a little while."
"Well I'm about over this," Parker said, showing her his roller in which the dough was clinging to it. "Can I make a pizza with my hands?"
"Certainly."
Parker disengaged the dough from the roller before tossing it in the direction of the sink, the roller landing inside.
"Buckets!" he announced, reaching over and high-fiving me.
I began to try and flatten out my dough as well, trying to form it into the shape of a pizza.
That wasn't so easy either.
I let out a frustrated sigh, glancing over at McKenna.
She was having a little more luck than me, but not much.
"You just have to keep kneading it," she advised.
Fuck this.
I glanced over at Emily, and she already had her pizza in a perfect circle, and was opening up one of the sauce jars.
"How the fuck?" Parker asked, leaning against the island.
Emily just smiled at him, dipping her knife into the jar.
"You cheated."
"I can't cheat at kneading dough," Emily declined, laughing. "I'm just better than you," she said, pointing her knife at Parker.
And in the process, accidentally flinging some sauce at him at well.
It landed on his cheek, and partly on his shirt.
I tried to cover up my laugh, but it didn't work too well.
It was a good, genuine laugh. And pretty soon I couldn't control it anymore. Because it had been such a long time, and it felt good.
"I'm sorry!" Emily called out, trying to control her laughter as well. "It was an accident."
"An accident?" Parker asked, ripping a piece of his dough off.
"Parker, that's not an accident!" Emily whined, ducking down behind the island.
But it was useless, as Parker began to tear off pieces of his dough, pelting her with it.
Until one hit McKenna by mistake.
"Oh," Parker said, coming to a stop. "Uh, I'm-"
And that's as far as he got before McKenna threw a handful of cheese at his face.
I was bent over at this point, tears streaming down my face because I couldn't control my laughter.
"You think this is so damn funny?" Parker demanded.
"I-I can't," I said, using the counter to help straighten myself back up as I wiped the tears off my face.
And then an entire container of sauce was dumped on my head.
"How funny is it now?" Parker questioned.
And that's when the all-out war began.
Pizza ingredients were flying everywhere. I was covered from head-to-toe in dough, sauce and toppings, and nobody else favored any better.
Until we ran out of ingredients.
I sat with my back against the cabinets, McKenna taking a seat next to me.
The entire kitchen was covered in the remnants of our war. Sauce splattered the countertops and cabinets, cheese stuck to the refrigerator.
There wasn't a single spot left untouched.
I made eye contact with McKenna, and the two of us began to laugh.
"So I guess we're ordering a pizza then?" Parker asked, running his fingers through his sauce-encrusted hair.
"Looks like you got your way after all," Emily teased.
"I always do."
She just huffed, and he cracked up.
McKenna reached over, pulling a pepperoni out from behind my ear.
I reached over and curled her sauce-covered hair behind her ear, before crashing my lips against her.
She was hesitant at first, but after a few moments responded to my kiss, moving a bit closer to me.
After a few more moments I had to pull away, my anxiety still running a bit higher than usual after my panic attack earlier.
"So that's what the pizza would've tasted like," McKenna commented, with a smile.
"Worth it."
*************************************************************************************************
So what did you guys think about the car ride up to North Carolina? What was your favorite part? Do you think that the almost car accident kind of threw Parker through a loop? What about their first night in North Carolina? Bust or cute?
This chapter is dedicated to INNOCENT9146 for the new cover. I know that a lot of you guys have expressed your opinions, both through comments and private message, that you prefer the previous cover, but I like this one for various reasons. And I'm not saying it's my forever cover, but I like the dynamic of it for now.
The picture up at the tip top is of the previous cover, made by xJadePaynex. Check it out!
So I have a cool story for you guys. I was on vacation, and the neighborhood I was staying in, the streets were named for the different presidents. And one was named for, you guessed it, Thomas Jefferson. Only it was just called Jefferson. And then in the middle of the neighborhood was this giant lake. So essentially I stayed in Jefferson Lake. I fangirled a little bit... Or maybe a lot.
Teaser: Snow has yet to visit North Carolina, so the gang has to find un-snow related adventures. And Lee continues to hide his internal struggles from Parker (and everyone else)... Which can't lead to any good.