Highway Part 14

Highway Chapter 11(continued)

“Who is it?” I asked innocently, making my voice a high and feminine as possible “I wasn’t expecting company. Golly, who could it be at this late hour?”

I heard her muffle a laugh from the other side. Then all of a sudden, the door swung inward, smacking me head on.

“Oh!” I heard Veronica exclaim, “I didn't know you were in front of the door. Oops.”

I held my nose, for she had smacked me in the face. It stung, but I wasn’t bleeding at least. She had been unusually kind enough to get me an ice pack from the fridge.

Although it was obvious she hadn’t meant to hit me in the face, Veronica sure found it amusing.

“Oh me, oh my!” she mocked, her voice higher and exaggerated as well, “I apologize for your nose darlin’ I was always clumsy. Never could dance at the square dances back home. Poor Billy from out back never did recover from that broken toe.”

We both chortled at that one, and Veronica confiscated my television for her own use. When  I got up to get a glass of water, she was on the ground, and when I came back, she was laying on my bed stomach first, her feet swaying back and forth.

“Shoo,” I said, attempting to reclaim my spot.

She wouldn’t budge and I thought about pushing her off, but I wasn’t that mean. I had already poured water on her. But then she had smacked me in the nose with a door. I figured we were pretty even. I took a spot on the ground, and watched a talent show with her. This arrangement didn’t last very long, because I had a “big head.”

The beds were surprisingly large for how small the building was, and so she separated it with an imaginary line and cleared room for me to sit.

I had found a book on the table earlier, a mystery thriller. With nothing better to do, I lay against the headboard and started to read. Veronica had flipped the channels and come across a documentary on Meerkats, and was now watching them with fascination. I wondered how she was comfortable, for she had her feet crossed and leaned up against the headboard, and she was watching upside down. We continued this until it was around 10, and Veronica began to yawn. She tucked her legs under her and stretched, preparing herself for bed time.

“I’m still mad at you, you know,” she said drowsily, taking me by surprise.

Remembering the gift in my bag, I smiled.

Stretching as well, I simply replied, “Is that so? Well I suppose if you are mad at me, you don’t want the present I got you today. Such a shame.”

She exclaimed something about secrets, and asked me what it was.

“I can’t tell you. But you obviously don’t want it because you are mad at me, so I’ll just have to take it back.”

She told me I was being a jerk, and to stop it. After a little bit more prompting, she finally conceded that she was not mad at me, and did, in fact, want the present. Glowing in my victory, I reached across her for my backpack and pulled out the little toy.

A stuffed octopus, it was vibrant red with yellow tentacles that had blue suckers. On its face was a content smile, his little eyes cole black. The bottom side of one of his tentacles read happiness. At first, Veronica didn’t say anything. I thought she might have disliked it, and was about to yell at me for thinking her childish enough to want stuffed animals. Then, after a long moment, she took him from me.

As she looked at me, I saw the smallest smile of happiness there. A genuine smile, one free of attitude or sarcasm.

“Thank you, Matt. Really. He’s so adorable.”

She looked at me, and then looked away, fearing I would see her little smile.

I was happy she liked the octopus. I couldn’t be sure what she liked. And then, she could have just as easily told me it was too infantile for her. She got up to leave, the octopus snuggled in the crook of her arm. We bid each other goodnight, and just as she was about to leave, she peeked back in.

“Hey Matt?” she asked.

When I looked up, making an affirmative sound, she said, “If you ever tell anyone that I like him or other stuffed animals, waking up to being soaked is going to be the least of your problems.”

With an unusually cheery smile to follow such a statement, she popped her head back out. Despite the fact I had just been threatened, I was happy. I felt victorious and accomplished, for I had found the indestructible Veronica’s weakness.

Sometimes something so simple could be the answer to a solution. I wouldn’t have ever thought I would have gotten that smile over something like the little octopus. I had found the secret, and as I went to bed I smiled at the unexpectedness of it.

The toughest girl I had ever met, one full of snarkiness and attitudes, was in love with such a soft, plushy thing.

They say to be grateful for the little things. And tonight, I will agree with that. Tonight, I was thankful for all the good things in the world. I was thankful for my life, in this moment, and thankful I had been chosen to be a part of it. But most of all, I was thankful for stuffed animals.

Highway Chapter 12

 

I heard the scream. At first, I thought it to be her. But then I realized it was coming from my own mouth. I am running so fast my lungs burn as I drag in air. The broken glass glints in the moonlight. The floor is slick with an unknown substance. I slip, suddenly falling. It all blurs, and I feel numb. The feeling of numb overcomes my body. I am falling, unable to catch myself. Then he is there. I can’t see his face, but I know who he is. My face twists in agony, and I try to speak. I am silent, suddenly rendered mute. I can only reply with a silent scream.

I jolted awake with a start. Covered in sweat, my shirt soaked, I could feel drops rolling down my forehead. I looked around my surroundings, shaking off remnants, and remembered that I was in the woods with Matt.

It was only a dream. What a strange dream, though. What was happening? Why was I dreaming about something so odd? And yet, I felt as if I knew that dream. Something about this wasn’t right. But I looked over at Matt, peacefully sleeping, and I chased away the shadows.

I was here, and it was only a dream. Letting the sound of the fire and the cool night air lull me, I snuggled back into my sleeping bag, and fell asleep.

“-onica” I heard softly, almost like a part of my dream about rabbits. “Veronica, wake up.”

The voice said. I shuffled in my bag, still attached to the dream world as I was petting a stray rabbit from the field.

“Veronica” the voice said, much more insistent, followed by a shake to my shoulder.

The sudden contact made me jump. Trying to clear my eyes of bleariness, I realized Matt was crouching there, in front of me. He said something about leaving. Looking at my watch, the time read six. Was he out of his mind?

“It’s six in the morning! What the hell is wrong with you? I am not going anywhere at six in the morning except back to bed!” I exclaimed.

There was no way I was doing anything so early in the morning. I slept until 10 a.m.

I buried my head back into my sleeping bag. He tried to reason with me, convincing me his insane request was necessary for us to make it to the motel. It was bribery, and I had, admittedly, fallen prey to the thoughts of a warm shower and fluffy pillows. When he pleaded for me to work with him, I swatted him away exclaiming angrily that I would when it wasn’t so early. Leave me alone, I thought to myself. Just wait another few hours.

Matt made some threat about the consequences of not waking up, but I was too tired to take anything serious. Sneering, I told him he didn’t have the guts to do anything. He left, mumbling about warnings, and I began to sink back into sleep. Just as I felt my eyes get heavy, I was rudely interrupted.

A wave of iciness washed over me, and I jumped out of my sleeping bag. The sudden frozen liquid caused me to yell, shocked by definition. My clothes were sucked to my skin as if they had been melded together, and my hair was sopping wet, dripping all over my back. I was shivering, my teeth chattering uncontrollably.

I searched the area for the source of my discomfort, only to see Matt standing there, a still dripping bottle open in his hand.

“You!” I screamed at him accusingly, “Did you just pour water on me?”

I could feel my anger rising, heating up my chilled body. He simply remarked that he had warned me. I could feel my breath hitch, quickly deteriorating into puffing breaths. How dare he? Who the hell did this man think he was? I looked at him murderously, thinking on how I would make him pay for this. He was too big for me to downright attack, but I could sneak something. Maybe I could let a squirrel loose in his sleeping bag, or set a raccoon on his clothes. No, that would be too simple. Maybe I would kick him wildly every night, letting him believe I am dreaming. It would be an “accident”, and it would cause interrupted periods of sleep. If I couldn’t sleep, neither could he.

He threw my bag at me, telling me to get dressed. He ignored my presence as I got madder and madder. I could feel my cheeks flush, and a headache had begun to grow. I didn’t quite know what to say.

Then, recovering from my moment of confusion, I barked at him, asking if he expected me to be okay with this. This was not going to just happen without me saying something about it. What gave him the right? He looked at me with those eyes, unaffected by most everything.

“What I expect,” he replied with a no-nonsense tone, “is that we get things done when they need to be done, and that we do it together. If you don’t want to do this anymore then be my guest, I’ll take you to town and you can get directions to where you’re going.”

I froze mid sentence. What did he just say? His voice had gone from  happy-go-lucky to one of authority and power. I realized with frustration that I was the one who was the underdog. I was relying on him to give me something else in this world, and that meant following some rules. Would he really let me go so easily? He sounded rather serious, and I was not willing to go back to that wretched town. Hoping looks could kill, I trailed off to the forest cover, using every curse word I knew to describe him.