Summer

The sun was hot, I could feel its rays beating down on my face as my hair whipped around freely in the wind. It was better with the hood down. The fresh air felt good. Besides, it was hot.
My eyes drifted to Paul’s face. His chocolate brown hair waved in the wind while his light skin glowed in the blazing sun. His face was soft, calm. Though his eyes were serious concentrating on the windy road.
“Where do you think we are?” I asked. We were backpacking through Europe and decided that it would be interesting to see how far we could get and the things we could do and see by not keeping track of where we were going, or what our schedule was going to be for the next week. It was simply that if we felt the need to leave the place we were already in, we would ask where the nearest village or town or city was, (depending on where we were) and go to wherever that was. The only problem was that I grew up needing to know every little thing. I was sickeningly organized and was always one of those paranoid freaks. I was still just the same, though a little less than before.
“I told you Emma, it doesn’t matter. Besides, don’t you want to wait and see for yourself?” Paul said. I could tell that he was a little frustrated from repeating the same sentence more times than either of us could keep track of.
“And didn’t I tell you that I hate surprises?” I answered.
Paul sat in silence as he racked his brain for an answer. “Touche” he finally said in defeat.
I straightened my posture before giving a big “ha” while proudly inching a bit higher in my seat.
“Can we at least know what time it is?” I turned back to see Devin with a guilty look on his face. Devin was tall and skinny. He had short spiked blond hair with a long bony face. He was the smartest one of the group but was a major push over.
Paul just glared at him in the rear view mirror. “5:57” he said in a flat tone obviously still aggravated.
“Thanks…” Devin said with a cracked voice.
Paul just nodded.
We all sat in silence for at least 10 minutes, then 20 then so long I couldn’t tell how long it had been. I couldn’t stand it! So I turned on the radio to break the silence. I couldn’t help but think about how angry Paul became in such little time. It wasn’t like him to get impatient. I became so lost in my train of thought that I didn’t even realize that I had been tapping silently to the beat on the thigh of my jeans. I quickly stopped just to make sure that I wasn’t irritating anyone.
“Are you mad at me?” asked Paul.
I was shocked by his question. He suddenly went from angry and frustrated to sad and regretful. “Not at all!” I said a little too excited. “Are you?” I couldn’t help my curiosity even though I kind of already knew the answer, or at least I thought.
“No…. it’s just…. Well… I don’t know. I guess I just…. I guess I might just be tired or something.”
“Oh.” For some reason, as much as I wanted to, I just couldn’t believe that. There was something going on with Paul and I was going to figure it out.









Continued






Unexpected


I guess I fell asleep because when I woke up, it was very dark. Devin must have also because I could hear snoring in the backseat. Paul was still awake though, obviously. “How long has it been?” I asked still a little bit tired.
“uuummm, I’d say about 3 hours. Tell me, did you have a bad dream?”
I was confused. Did I say anything? Did I do anything? I quickly tried to remember. Nothing. “Ah, not that I can remember. Maybe, I don’t know. Why?”
“You wouldn’t stop groning. In fact, I think you actually started mumbling at one point.”
Thank goodness it was dark! I could feel the blood rushing up to my face. “Oh really?” Just when I thought luck was on my side, my voice managed to crack. I cleared my throat. “I mean, did you manage to understand anything?”
“A bit.”
“Like what?”
“You said a lot of things.”
“But what kind of things?”
“Well, you said…”
“What?”
“You said you were worried about me.”
I slunk down into my seat shocked and embarrassed by the uncontrollable words that he’d heard! Let alone the fact that I was making any noises while I was sleeping.
He leaned in close to me. “You don’t honestly think I make fun - ”
I suddenly heard a huge thud. Then a loud crunch. It sounded like someone was chewing on glass. I felt my body fling forward, jerk against the seat belt and then slam back into the seat. Then everything went black.