Welcome back ^~^ How were your M&Ms? And Skittles? Just an FYI, Skittles tie to this chapter and you're going to see why..
Enjoy!
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~*CHAPTER 4*~
At first, Adelaide thought she could handle the car ride if she stayed silent, trying to forget the fact that Julian was sitting right next to her, with nothing but the console between them to separate their seats.
She thought that if she busied herself with other things, like poring over the car's interior- noting the slightly greasy dashboard, the crumbs caught on the frizzy floor mat, the fact that the speedometer wasn't working (it really wasn't)- she could distract herself enough to forget his rather obnoxious presence.
It was, however, a lot more difficult than Adelaide had expected.
If only her mother wasn't too overprotective and had bought her a phone before her condition- she would busy herself with that. She could have plugged in her earphones and scrolled through an electronic copy of a book she liked. Of course she wouldn't be texting her best friends; it's not like she had any anyway. She wasn't even sure which group she fitted in most- jocks, nerds, bullies, the bullied, the popular kids- in school. She loved reading, and naturally, graduating high school with a high GPA was her top priority. She was organized, and mostly a perfectionist- she even made lists about making lists!
Did that make her a nerd? She's clueless, and no one can blame her- who is she to judge? She doesn't keep close tabs on the social circle, much rather tabs at all.
Either way, she would have found some sort of entertainment.
Even better (or worst), Julian was singing along to a Paramore album- and his singing was horrid.
Five minutes in and he was already driving her insane. "Dick, please stop singing."
He sent her a sideways glance before grinning a maniac grin and belting out the lyrics of For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic even louder than before.
Adelaide never thought that she could feel so much hatred for one person at that moment. She glared at him, wondering if her ears would bleed to death just by hearing his tone-deaf screeching. And even if they didn't, Adelaide wouldn't be surprised if her auditory sense had been permanently impaired.
When it became clear that there was no way Adelaide could force Julian to stop singing as long as she showed the slightest bit of annoyance, she pursed her lips together and looked out the window instead.
There was something nagging at both of them since the start of the insanely crazy day, although they refused to acknowledge it completely. They could feel it, though, as the events of the ride played back in their heads. It was like they had so much in common- and they identified them already- their short tempers and mutual hatred for each other. They could see why they would clash like two cars colliding with each other, casualties be damned.
But if they were even the slightest bit similar, did that mean that Adelaide was just as insufferable?
Well, at least I'm not a terrible singer, Adelaide thought.
"Turn left here." Her voice had lost the fight in it. Ignoring Julian's singing (if one could even call it that) had sucked all the energy out of her.
Julian owed her big-time, even if Adelaide had a benefit from this experience.
It seemed like they had been together for hours, although it had only been about fifteen minutes.
Just the thought of having to stay with Julian one more hour made Adelaide want to moan pitifully to herself. It was that bad, and possibly worse. It was hard enough to keep fighting the terrible hallucinations brought about by his singing, which she was sure would haunt her long after they've parted ways- hopefully, forever.
"Dick, please stop singing!' Adelaide snapped when he sang a particularly high note that no one could ever sing more horribly than he just did.
Julian looked at her with a sneer, but did stop singing. (The annoyance, however, didn't exactly lessen with the look on his face) "I've heard most girls like it when guys serenade them."
"I hate it when guys serenade girls." Adelaide made a face. "Second, your singing isn't exactly lovable."
"Georgina isn't complaining." He momentarily reached out for the dashboard, rubbing it soothingly. "Right, Georgie?"
"Now that I think about it, remember Georgina's whining when you turned the engine on?" Adelaide recalled. "That's exactly how your singing sounds like- a dying walrus."
"Aww, Georgie," Julian gushed. "Dell complimented your singing. We should harmonize and serenade her, G."
"Georgina, Dick here sits on a throne of lies. That was not a compliment to either of you."
He started snickering all of a sudden, making Adelaide wonder if he finally cracked, going bonkers from all this stress. However, the next few words explained it all.
"You're talking to car," he rationed.
"You're talking to a car."
Shooting Adelaide a quick look, Julian smirked. "Unlike you, Georgie and I share a special bond."
Adelaide looked away and focused instead outside the window, watching the houses disappear behind them. "Oh, I'm sure it's a very special relationship."
"You got that right," he said with a grin.
Adelaide sighed, and tried to refrain from rolling her eyes. "This was a mistake."
"What was?" Julian shot her a glance from the corner of his eye, careful not to crash into a tree or something else on the way. Georgina was too special.
"Coming with you," Adelaide finally said. "It's all a huge mistake. I don't even know what's waiting for me out there and I chose to go just for my mom. Don't get me wrong- I want to help her heal- but I'm pretty sure the doctors would have found a cure for her condition much easier than we will or could."
Julian stopped talking for a minute, before a mischievous grin took over his firm stare. "You're a mistake."
"Am not."
"Am too."
"Am not."
"Am too."
"I don't think you've fully grasped the concept of an accident." She pointed out, teasingly.
Something in his face shifted. His slightly annoyed expression was replaced with a stern look. "Oh, trust me, I have."
Adelaide blinked. She was sure she hadn't just imagined the change in the tone in his voice- clipped and resentful, bordering on bitter. Whatever it was, she hadn't expected to hear anything remotely close to that from him.
She figured, however, that it wasn't any of her business, so she shut up and tore her eyes away from him. She clamped her mouth shut, trying not to wonder what that was all about.
Despite the stereo blasting Paramore, the silence in the car was heavy with something Adelaide couldn't pin-point. For a second, she wondered if his horrible singing would have been better than this eerie hush.
*****
It was interesting to see how at one point in life you completely hate someone, but when you get to know them and work with them, your opinion about them changes. That's how both of the trouble-makers turned out to be, until now of course.
Here Adelaide was, running around the town to go on a mystical journey that's filled with anything but rainbows and unicorns with a guy she hardly knew, riding a car who was named Georgina, while trying not to think how this day would have gone if she didn't ask Julian about the rings, or stayed at home to study and eat Nutella.
Adelaide checked her wristwatch as the car slowed down. It was not thirty-seven minutes past four- they've been driving for almost an hour. Who knew the gas station was this far from the school? Or was it because of their constant bickering that had slowed them down?
The Paramore album was already repeating itself, confirming both of their sudden light-bulb realizations. That was when Georgina's engine started to decelerate, falling quiet. They gradually slowed to a full stop. Julian had half a mind to jerk the steering wheel to the right, somehow managing to get the two in a (slightly sloppy) parallel park position. For a second, they just sat there, neither of them speaking to the other, much rather daring to breathe, as if it would shatter the natural flow of the universe- or something like that. Adelaide took in a deep breath before finally breaking the deafening silence.
"Please tell me this is not what I think it is," she pleaded.
"That depends. What do you think this is?"
"Did Georgina just break down?"
"Ah. Then it isn't what you think it is," he assured, but didn't sound too happy about that. "We ran out of gas."
"I beg your pardon?"If the engine had broken down, that would have been better, since neither of them could prevent it, and no one would be at fault. Georgina wasn't exactly brand new and it wouldn't have come off as a surprise. But running out of gas- something so utterly simple and something that could have easily been avoided- was another story altogether. "You're telling me you didn't notice we'd been running low on gas?"
"I see why you needed to beg," he tried, deliberately not looking at Adelaide, adjusting the gear stick, and trying to turn the engine on. Georgina whined again, but it was a futile attempt.
"I can't believe you haven't been paying attention to-"
"How was I supposed to think of the-"
"You're driving, it should be-"
"Can we just"- he gestured vaguely between the two of us-"maybe not do this? It's not exactly helping."
Adelaide swallowed back a few insults, as she forced herself to take a deep breath and tried not to think that this trip was a lost cause altogether. Julian looked out of the window, and Adelaide followed suit. Anything, anywhere, would be wonderful.
Julian finally sighed and directed his attention to the A/C, turning it off along with the stereo, making sure nothing is on as not to drain the battery.
"There!" Adelaide pointed hopefully. "That's a gas station."
Julian grinned. "Hey, what do you know? Our original plan is back on track. Remember? We said we were going to stop by a gas station?"
"That's true." Adelaide forced a smile as they both scrambled around, looking for loose change and hoping not to run into other items being thrown around. They looked between the seats that were crusted with cereal and god knows what else, and underneath the mats, until they finally came up with a few bucks to help them.
"Seems around a little less than ten bucks, and I have twenty in my pocket," Julian calculated.
"Then why the hunt for loose change?"
"Just for fun," Julian said with a smirk. If only they knew what was in store for them later. "Well, then. Lock the door before you leave, Dell. No time to waste." Julian pulled the key off of the key slot, the others clanging together slightly at the motion.
He opened his door and clambered out of his seat, shutting it close behind him without so much as a backward glance. He didn't even wait for Adelaide as he started to walk.
Such a gentleman, Adelaide teased in her head.
She rolled her eyes and followed after him, getting out of the car and standing there for a few seconds before finally deciding that he was hopeless. "Hurry, Dell."
Adelaide sighed and trudged faster, until she finally caught up with him.
"You're slow," he commented, as she retreated to his side.
"Slow and steady wins the race."
Julian frowned and rolled his eyes. Adelaide suppressed a smile. It wasn't much, but she couldn't deny that seeing the flustered look on his face made the situation slightly less crappy.
*****
It was considerably more difficult not to acknowledge each other while walking than it was when stuck in the car. At least with that, Julian was driving, so that made one of them busy with something. Walking, however, offered nothing for either of them to be busy with.
The gas station wasn't too far, seeing the dimly lit lights of the name of it dangling loosely on a sign. It was still enough to make the situation awkward.
Julian felt it too, because not a moment later, he took a deep breath and said, "so."
Honestly, that made things even more awkward. Adelaide would have strangled him for his stupid so, seeing as the punctuated silence afterwards was strictly unbearable. She didn't even bother continuing the conversation, knowing that it wouldn't be such a bright idea.
"Are we going to stick with our original plan or not?"
Ignoring him, Adelaide took in her surroundings. They were in that part of town where there were a lot of boutiques and small bars, but seeing as this was Friday, they were closing earlier in the afternoon. The sun was now close to setting, and night was going to take over the bright skies any hour now.
We better hurry out of here, Adelaide thought. This was part of town isn't safe to be in after dawn.
"Dell," Julian sighed when she hadn't answered him. "Are you seriously not going to talk to me?"
Adelaide gave him a pointed look as a reply, fixing her stare ahead of them.
"Dell," Julian repeated firmly. "We're not going to get anywhere if you keep ignoring me."
"Last time I checked, you didn't want to talk to me at all."
"Last time I checked, we weren't even supposed to be in this situation," he reasoned without missing a beat, shrugging his shoulders just a bit. "As much as we both hate to admit it, we're going to have to work together and get along if we want to end this mission fast."
Adelaide frowned, but knew that he was right anyway. They were never supposed to be caught up in this situation, and it was hard on both of them.
Suddenly, a question she forgot to address popped into Adelaide's head. "Why are we even bothering to get the rings? Are we trying to save humanity or something?"
"Something like that," Julian muttered, trailing off while cursing under his breath. Adelaide could have sworn his eye started to twitch in irritation.
"I hate you," she mumbled.
"I know," Julian replied with a shrug, and then a teasing smirk. "But for someone you hate, you've been checking me out quite a few times."
Adelaide gaped at him, And Julian started hoping her jaw would drop to the floor. "I am not-"
"Admit it, Dell!"
Adelaide let out an exasperated groan and fought off the urge to rip her hair out. She was going to murder someone by the end of this journey, and she hoped it would be Casanova.
*****
Julian and Adelaide were both quite thankful for the A/C in the small convenience shop in the gas station. The fact that they've been walking for what seemed like forever in the midsummer humidity was suffocating and made them feel sweaty. Their tops clung to their back, and beads of sweat covered their neck. Julian would have been surprised if they didn't start evaporating by the end of the day.
There were two other customers beside the two, whom looked like an aging couple. Okay, let's face the facts- they were old.
Adelaide looked behind her through the glass wall, eyeing Julian, who was still buying some bottled gasoline. He had asked her to go ahead into the convenience store to buy them some snacks. He didn't even hesitate when he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket to fish out a wad of bills.
"A blue Gatorade for me," he said. "Buy whatever else with the rest of the money."
Adelaide started pondering about what to get, contemplating on what kind of a guy Julian was and what kinds of snacks suited him best.
Maybe he's a chocolate kind of guy? She tried lamely. Nah.
She was bent over a shelf, deciding between gummy bears or gummy worms when a female's voice filled the atmosphere. "Get Skittles."
Adelaide shot up, bumping her head on the shelf above in the process. "Ow," she groaned.
Great, her first impression on a customer whom she's never interacted with and she already made a fool of herself. Way to go.
"Are you okay?" The girl panicked, rushing over to Adelaide's side. "Sorry I startled you."
Adelaide rubbed her head before waving the girl's comment off. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it."
"I'm Alissa, by the way," the girl introduced, picking up a king size packet of Red Skittles ad threw it to Adelaide.
Like the fool she was, Adelaide made a futile attempt to catch it, but failed- as usual. Cringing, Adelaide picked it up, making Alissa laugh. "Don't worry about catching. I suck," she assured.
"You do?" Adelaide's eyes widened as she realized she wasn't the only girl- no, human- in the world who couldn't catch. When she realized what she said and how dumb she sounded, her eyes widened even more, if that's possible. "I mean, I'm Adelaide. You can call me Delle."
Alissa giggled. "Did you know that they changed the green one from lime to green apple?"
Adelaide looked dumbfounded, before realizing that Alissa meant the Skittles.
"Oh. No. I'm not usually up to date on that kind of stuff."
Alissa shrugged it off. "Still, you should get Skittles. They're the best," she advised. "Well, I got to go. Nice meeting you, Delle!"
Alissa rushed out of the aisle with her own packet of Red Skittles, paying for them and leaving the shop.
She's nice.
Yup I made it very long. Oopsy daisy. Anywho, now you guys see the Skittles reference? Adelaide is one of a kind. Most of these chapters are unedited, so bear with me on the mistakes. Thanks for reading! Until next time..
Donuts and cinnamon rolls,
~R. W. Shadowfax