THE LAST DRIVE

The inside of Nell's car chilled me to the bone. I stuck the keys into the ignition quickly, just so I could flip on the heat and not freeze to death.

Relax, the store's not that far away, I told myself. But there wasn't a good reason to relax. I didn't have a license, and that caused me a lot of trouble when I was Clarke.

Something told me that this was going to end in a huge fiasco, but I ignored it completely.

Still in the driveway of the Kissinger's house, I clicked every single feature of the car.

"C'mon, c'mon," I muttered.

As the rain pounded on the windshield, I turned the blinkers and the headlights on and off, but I still couldn't locate the wipers.

After what felt like an hour, I found out the wipers and put them on their highest speed. Then, I flipped the headlights back on and adjusted the radio station.

To the sounds of nineties hip hop music, which I wasn't opposed to, I pulled out onto Creekside Drive and my gut lurched. I was driving again...and was going okay.

The first stop on my list was the Auburn Organic Foods, and it was some place I vowed never to go. However, driving there in the rain felt like a enjoyable task that I had a pleasure doing.

After a few minutes, the store came into view. The parking lot was empty and I flipped on my blinker before I swung the wheel to enter the lot. That was when I encountered a problem; I did not know how to park the car.

I moved the wheel back and forth in bad attempts to park, and eventually settled for parking crooked and over the line. I forgot about it though, because at least there was no one else there to witness my failures.

In a rush, I turned off the car and dashed out into the rain, dodging every rain drop. I pushed through the front doors of the health store and shivered some more. With my clothes soaked from the rain, the AC inside was devastating.

The almond milk's location was easy to find, and I payed for it and left, doing my best to get in and get out. The cashier, a kid from my high school named Horace, tried to spark conversation with me about signing up for a rewards card, but I was gone the second the milk was payed for.

On my way back to the car, I felt a tingling sensation in my leg.

Bzzz, Bzzz, Bzzz

Nell's phone was ringing in my pocket. I did my best to answer it, but it became a challenge to do while avoiding the rain and lugging the milk back to the car, so it never happened.

Soon the phone call was out of my mind, and I was pulling the car out of the parking lot for my next destination: the Jones supermarket.

But then as I pulled out onto the main road, getting myself back into the groove of driving once again, the ringing started again.

Bzzz, Bzzz, Bzzz.

I clenched my teeth together, but kept on driving.

Bzzz, Bzzz, Bzzz

I stared forwards, resisting the urge to grab the phone.

Bzzz, Bzzz, Bzzz

Four times the phone rang, and four times I ignored it. However, on the fifth time the phone rang, I went a little loco. It was too much to let go.

Whoever was calling had to have a good reason, so this call must have been important. Maybe someone died, maybe Nell's dad was calling for me to come back home because he had everything he needed already.

At the next red light, I jammed my hand into my pants pocket, feeling like an asshat the entire time. I promised myself before that I wouldn't be this type of driver.

The glowing of the phone screen blinded me. I had to blink several times to recover, but when someone honked at me from behind, I ignored the splotches of color in my eyes, hit the gas, and moved forward.

With one hand still on the wheel, I used the other to rub each eye one at a time. Then, I silently cursed Nell for turning the brightness on her phone up all the way. I imagined her scheduling laser eye surgery and wearing an eye patch for years to come. It didn't sound half bad either. Right then and there I decided that if I ever returned back to my original body, I'd tease Nell for being a pirate because of how bright her phone was for many years to come, for as long as I saw fit.

After a few seconds, I uncovered the fact that I actually hadn't gone blind. My eyes turned out to be fine. Maybe I was just that paranoid.

The car in front of me came to a screeching halt, so I did the same, slamming the brakes and scaring myself half to death. They resumed driving a moment later and I found myself pressing the gas again. Yet as I did so, Nell's phone flew from my lap and onto the floor. As I continued to drive, I could hear it sliding across the mat near my feet.

Bzzz, Bzzz, Bzzz

From its spot on the floor, the phone continued to ring, and out of the corner of my eye, I could almost make out the name on the caller ID.

All I could conclude was that there was an 'A' in the name, but many names did.

Bzzz, Bzzz, Bzzz.

Certainly a tiny peek wouldn't hurt.

I took one long look at the road before hunching over and retrieving the phone. I felt a wave of calm once the phone was back in my grasp, and I was ready to give an earful to whoever had been calling me nonstop this entire trip.

But the screen was bright white and I fell blind again, already planning on sending my hospital bills to Nell.

Fighting through the pain of my eyes,
I squinted at the phone to see the name that was flashing on the screen.

S-A-D-I-E  A-R-L-O

My imposter self is calling me.

I uncurled my body and went back to see over the dashboard.

I recalled thinking, that's real funny, but was the last thing I remembered.