Chapter 3♡ Drifters

I was so scared to be the getaway driver. We pulled up to the front of another house except this one I was sure the boys knew the residents. They had given me specific directions to this street. I felt terrible. I really didn't enjoy doing stuff like this. I never understood the point of taking eggs and throwing them at things; other people's things. Why was that fun? I shut the lights off like I was supposed to, the boys each opening their doors, then slamming them quickly as to shut the cab light off. I sat patiently with my foot on the break. My heart was beating in my chest. I technically wasn't even doing anything wrong but if we were to get busted than I would get in the most trouble; and I knew that. This was a terrible situation for me. I could hear the eggs hitting the roof of the building like rain drops. Cringing every time I heard the little white orbs hit their mark.

"Go go go!" They shouted as they jumped back in the truck. I eased into the gas so I didn't dig out in the gravel. The truck pulling forward quickly. I had driven almost three entire blocks before I realized my lights on my truck were still off. A white car was trailing slowly behind us. My heart was in my throat. If anybody was really paying attention, they would have been able to see it beating vigorously trying to break out of my skin; but instead we were all focused on the lights directly behind us. I turned down a street making sure to drive the speed limit. If this was a cop I didn't want to get pulled over. My driving had become so precaution it was almost insane; the boys squealing at me to floor it and get out of there. My hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly, my knuckles were turning white. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like I was going to throw up.

Once My lights were finally on I took a few more turns before we slowly pulling into an abandoned gravel pit, only realizing this was a silly idea as it gave us away as terrible teens. I was panicking. My breathing had slowed only slightly as soon as the car kept heading up the road passing the final turn I had taken. We were in the clear. I quickly opened the door of my truck sliding myself into the cold brisk air of the autumn whether. I tugged at the sleeves of my jacket pulling them down over my hands. My breath hit the darkened sky like a dragon. The temperature colder than those summer nights I missed so much. Everybody else piled out of the truck after me, whooping and hollering. Did they really think that was fun?

"That was a close one!" A shout echoed across the night sky. Everybody was laughing and smiling. They were barreling in circles jumping in excitement like overjoyed boys do. I stood still, trying to calm my breathing before I had a heart attack. I didn't want to die at age seventeen; I needed to relax. How was I the only one freaking out about this?

"God, how long did that car follow us?" Our curly haired friend shouted. My eyes shot in his direction. I was suddenly angry with him, wanting to boil him with glares. I had no reason to be mad, my nerves had just finally snapped. I closed my eyes letting the cold air wrap around me. 'Calm Down, come on you need to breath.' I whispered to myself, giving myself tiny little reminders to focus.

"Felt like forever I swear to god." I didn't mean to sound as harsh as I had, my fingers running through my blonde hair. I could feel tiny pools of sweat on my forehead. My nerves were getting the best of me. The cold air making it freeze against my skin, I wiped what I could before jumping back into the driver's seat of the truck. The soft material was comforting against my now cooled skin. My nerves had calmed slightly and my body began to relax again. I was able to focus and finally breathe properly once more. I switched the truck back on glancing down at the clock. It was almost time for us to start heading back. I had a midnight curfew and had already been late a couple times this month; once more and my father would kill me. I buckled my seatbelt as the boys looked at me teasingly. Rolling my eyes I put the truck in drive pulling it out of the abandoned gravel pit.

"Hey will you drop me off at my brother's apartment?" Mr. Mariah Lover questioned from the back seat of the truck, his cellphone light showing the minor details of his face. He broke the uncomfortable silence that had aroused around the cab. I nodded my head looking up at him in the rear view mirror. Flicking the signal on I turned into the parking lot of an old shabby college dorm, I parked in a stall assuming I was going to be dropping both boys off. The kid in the back seat unlocked the door opening it slightly before smacking our friend on the head. He turned around glaring daggers at the curly haired demon.

"See yah bobby." He groaned turning back to look out the windshield, his greasy fingers found their way up to his face to rub at his eye. Our friend just jumped out of the truck slamming the door as he waved goodbye jumping towards the steps of apartment B.

"So I am assuming you need a ride home then?" I questioned pulling my truck out of the stall, already heading toward his house.

"Well I'm not going to walk." Was his quick response before he suggested I take a different route. His response was kind of harsh and it left a slightly bad taste in my mouth. I was unsure how to respond so I just followed his pointed finger towards a road that lead to the mouth of the canyon. "Head up there for a little bit?" He looked at me, a childish glimmer in his rough green eyes. I shrugged my shoulders, I had thirty minutes to spare.

We drove slowly through small town roads and four way stops. Eventually we had found ourselves in a richer looking neighborhood as the darkness hung to the houses like blankets. The truck took us to the mouth of a canyon, better known as a viewing point. I pulled the truck forward before switching it into reverse and backing towards the edge of the mountain. We jumped out into the brisk air once again, him a little quicker than I. He headed towards the back of the truck pulling the tailgate down taking a seat. Watching as cars drove to whatever location they were headed to. We watched as lights began to flicker off as parents were heading off to bed. The roads were becoming empty and the town was dying. It was comforting to sit there though. To realize how small we actually were.

He reached his arm over wrapping it around my shoulder as he pulled me closer to him. I smiled falling into his cradling grip. I loved being close to him, I loved when he did things like this. I loved how he always smelled a tad like motor grease. I always had a weakness for boys who would rather spend their time face down into the mechanical heartbeats of vehicles; and the boy sitting next to me, that was exactly who he was. It was completely different from his personality for him to do cute things. He was so hands off and unromantic that I was shocked anything interested me about him at all. I loved these moments and I cherished every second of them.

He leaned over whispering into my ear "You are beautiful," before planting a kiss on the side of my forehead. My face began to flood with heat as my cheeks turned a vibrant red. He rarely did anything like this, so moments that he did completely left me speechless. He reached down with his hand turning my face towards his as he planted his lips on mine softly. His lips moving slowly with mine. I melted into his body as the kiss became more passionate. We sat there for a moment, him finally pulling away from the kiss. I smiled like an idiot, closing my eyes setting my forehead against the side of his face before pulling away to look at his features. His bright green eyes looking out over the town once more. His jawline was still strong, like he was angry or thinking about something. I was so curious about what was going on in his brain.

I silently cursed at the sky as my phone alarm began blaring. I had set it to the time I needed to leave to make curfew. It was a new thing I had started to do to help me get home on time more. I didn't like being in trouble. Especially not when it was with my father. I'm an only child and with the lack of siblings I was able to steal all of my parents time. We were very close because of this and I loved it that way. I pulled away from the boy sitting next to me. My eyes began to water slightly as I was sad that this moment had to end. I grabbed his hand squeezing it slightly before jumping from the tailgate. Dragging myself in the driver's seat of the truck once again I started it and pulled out of our little spot. We drove in silence. The common silence that was always between us especially after any kind of romantic moment. He seemed to harden after anything romantic. Sometimes it was so hard to talk to him, he was just a quiet person. One whose emotions were hidden so well. He reached down and turned the music up a little louder before he leaned back in the seat closing his eyes. The rap music flowed through the speakers, his hand bouncing on his thigh to the beat. When I pulled up to his house he opened his eyes. He glanced over at me before waving; jumping out of the truck without a word. I watched as he walked up to the house, never once did he turn back. This caused my heart to jump. I pulled out of his driveway heading in the direction of my very own house.

Honestly I felt a little hurt that he would just get out of the truck without saying a word. I was so confused how he could go from being so cute to instantly silent in a split moment. It was strange. I was always the type of girl who wore her emotions on her sleeves. If I was sad or hurt everybody knew I was. I was very open with my emotions and hardly ever tried to keep anything hidden away. Maybe I've never known real pain but I didn't understand him. I wasn't expecting a good night kiss though it would have been nice. I wasn't expecting him to get down on his knees and propose to me right there on the spot. I didn't want any of that. I just wanted his affection and attention. It was always hard on me when he would give me a little then just shut me out.

I continued to drive listening to the same song that he had left on the stereo. It was coming close to an end so I grabbed the Ipod out of the center console switching it over to my favorite band. I knew I'd only be able to listen to two and a half songs before I had made it home. I stopped at the red light in front of me. Ready to cross the main highway. A car full of teenagers was parked in the lane next to me. I watched as they all jammed to the music blaring from the speakers. I couldn't help but smile thinking of all the times the boys and I had done that in whatever random vehicle we had that day.

The light finally turned green, pushing the gas peddle I drove off into the darkness trialing the lights from my headlights. Watching the tail lights of another car just up ahead. My eyes were so intently focused on that car, the rest of my drive home was a blur. He had taken the same turn I was planning on taken and led me all the way to my very own house.

When I pulled into the driveway of my quaint home I quickly shut the truck off. Having five minutes to spare before curfew I wasn't in a hurry to run inside. I sat in my seat for a moment trying to prepare myself for the cool air outside. Once I finally jumped out of the truck and made it into the house all lights were off. I quietly locked the front door before walking straight to my bedroom. I threw my pants off falling straight into bed. I just wanted to try to get some sleep. My body felt exhausted. My emotions were on a track heading towards a collision and I wasn't prepared for any of it. How could he change that much in such a short moment? What caused him to be so cute one second then not the next? Why did it affect me so much?

*3 Months Later*

Conversations had slowed down, words were hardly spoken, and we had slowly drifted away. It was on of the most crushing realizations I had ever come to. We were falling about, weeks had gone where we hadn't even talked. Months had gone by with forced conversations and I was just slowly becoming less and less of his life. All I wanted was to be his everything but without knowing it I had slowly become only his kind of. The saddest part was he was still my everything. He was all I wanted. He was the one I wanted to be with and the one that showed me what fun and happiness was. I wanted to take away all of his pain. I knew he had a lot. A terrible situation with his parents and a broken heart from the girl he once loved. I thought he was adorable and funny and he made me laugh in every way possible. He made me feel like he was always there but the last few months he was nowhere in sight. I had no clue where he had gone and what had happened to him.

I was driving home from my grandmother's house, Breaking Benjamin flowing through the speakers. I hummed along to the tune watching the old farm houses fly by. My thoughts fluttered back to the last time the boys and I had hung out. Twas the night we had gone egging. My brain dragged me along a trail of memories. I had no clue how I had kept the truck on the road this long, my brain was so filled with petty thoughts about the boys I missed so dearly. I wanted to spend some more time with them. I hadn't even realized we had drifted apart as soon as I began working more hours at the local grocery store. If I would have noticed I would have tried to do something about it earlier.

You couldn't really say I hadn't tried though. I'd tried to keep in constant communication with the boy who I had been ever so intrigued by. Him a confusing factor all on his own. I would text him all the time only for him to either ignore my message or take days to finally respond. We were all busy with all of our own things. I knew they would have my back if I really needed them but at the moment we just didn't see each other much. I think the boys still hung out pretty much every night. I wasn't positive on that thought though.

My eyes glanced over at the clock. I was running short on time. I had to work tonight, so I wouldn't be able to try to talk to the boys until I had finished my shift for the night. Which sucked because I had to work late tonight.

I wondered if I tried to get in contact with either of the boys if they would even answer. Maybe I had done something to piss them off. There was a lump in my throat as I made the last few turns before finally turning into my driveway. I let out a sigh, pulling the truck around the half circle. Quickly running into the house to change my clothes. I had work in about thirty minutes. I rushed to my room checking my phone battery percentage. It was fairly decent but I grabbed my phone charger just in case. Running out of the front door after throwing my black jeans on I found my way in the driver's seat of my still idling truck.

I pulled back out onto the road, driving a little slower than normal. It was crazy how my mind worked. Thinking about the same thing I had sped all the way home, my foot felt like it was made of lead and I couldn't keep it from pressing the pedal too hard. Now that I had jumped out of the truck and then back in; my brain still thinking of the same things, of the boys. I found myself consistently driving under the speed limit. Close enough cars were passing me, but slow enough I felt like I'd never get to work. I found myself driving like this all the way until I got to work. I had a couple of minutes to spare before I needed to head into the building. I figured I would show up early and maybe get all of my work done a little earlier than expected.

Maybe I would try talking to them after work. With that thought I jumped out of my truck and headed into the building that I knew all too well.