Felix:

"Man, this trip is gonna be epic," Alex shouts over the stereo, "there's all kinds of caves and lakes to swim in; it's just a great place to get away."

"Yeah, your mom was showing me some of the pictures you guys took there, it looks real nice. Did your family actually go every summer?" I inquire.

Alex turns down the stereo, "Yup, as long as I can remember."

"Why aren't you guys going this year?" I stare out onto the highway twisting its way through the trees.

"Well Rachel is taking some classes over the summer, so we have to wait till she's done and we'll go altogether later in the summer, as opposed to us going when we usually do without her." he takes one hand off the wheel, "Pass me a pop from the cooler will ya."

"Dude," I pop the can open and hand it to him, "we're gonna be seniors. I can't believe we made it this far." I reach back to get myself a coke.

"That means I've almost known you thirteen years! Can't believe it." Alex takes a swig from his coke. "Never thought we'd make it this far; I didn't plan this far ahead." he laughs and I have to laugh too.

I place my right hand with the can of coke over my heart, "Ahh, it seems just yesterday we were sitting in a circle for story time, picking our noses and wiping it on each other." I reminisce.

"That was yesterday, and that's how one makes friends, isn't it?" Alex jokes.

I laugh, really noticing how close we are to graduation, everything we've known for the past 13 to 14 years is gonna change. Being on our own, college, it's a big change that has been looming over me since freshmen year. That's when everyone starts asking about the future, 'what's your career path? Where are you going to college? What are your plans for the future?' and my answer has been "I don't know" I say aloud, making it more real, as tangible as the condensation on my coke, putting it all in front of me.

"Dude," Alex brings my thoughts to a halt, "did you say something?" he asks, genuinely.

I clear my mind, "No, I was just... thinkin'." I stare out the window.

"Well you have plenty of time for that after this weekend, 'kay?" he says trying to brighten the mood.

"Yeah," I say smiling, getting more excited for the summer. I turn up the music until the car vibrates, drowning my thoughts. "How far is this place anyway?" I yell over the pumping bass.

"What?!" he shouts back, I lower the volume back down a couple notches.

"How far is this place?" I reiterate.

"Oh, about one and a half hours. Hand me another coke will ya?" He attempts to crush his last can in his hand.

I laugh at his struggle to compact the can to a puck, "Sure, just don't hurt yourself." I pop the top and hand it to him as his phone bursts out in Eminem.

"Can you get that?" he looks down to his phone, taking a drink, "My hands are full." He says trying to balance driving and holding his pop in the other.

His iPhone sits in the cup holder along with other random junk like old napkins and coins. I slide it open, forgetting to see who it is, I answer, "Hello?"

"Hello? Who is this?" A female voice sounds on the other end.

I take the phone off my ear to see the caller ID: 'Natasha <3'. "Natasha, hey, it's Felix." I shoot a glance at Alex who starts to chug the rest of his drink.

"Oh, hey Felix! Is Alex there?" She asks.

Just as I'm about to respond the phone is yanked out of my hand. "Natasha! How are you?" Alex begins and pauses for a response, "Yeah we're on our way right now," he gives me a sidelong glance. I raise my eyebrow, "Yeah, just for the weekend. Felix is really excited." He smiles at me, and I give him a shove. "Yeah, but... fine." he hands me the phone, "Put her on speaker."

I press a button on the screen and hold it between us. "Hello? Can you hear me?" Natasha asks.

"Loud and clear babe." Alex says. He turns to me "She didn't want me on the phone while driving" he says loud enough to make sure she heard.

"I don't want you guys getting in a wreck because of me. Plus it isn't safe in the first place, thanks to your driving skills." She states.

I chuckle "Thanks Nat, you just might have saved my life." I joke, but Alex still gives the stink eye in my direction as Natasha quietly laughs through the phone.

"I'm a great driver!" He protests.

"Really? Remind me what happened to your last car again..." I prompt.

Alex stares ahead. "Wait, what happened?" Natasha asks.

"You didn't tell her?" I inquire, my eyebrows raising.

"I thought it wasn't that important to tell her." He tells me, forgetting Natasha was still here "I mean, it never came up." He tries to cover up.

"What happened?" She asks, tension in her voice.

We exchange glances, knowing there's no way out of this, Alex starts "It was about a month after we started talking." He sets up, "lt was icy, and dark. No one was around, no one else got hurt." He makes clear before continuing, "There was a light at the bottom of a slight incline where the road forked. I couldn't stop and slid through the light into a tree on the other side of the road." He stops, as if waiting for a response. He tries to pick up the mood, "Well I'm obviously fine." he waits again, "I just didn't want you to worry because I knew you were so busy with your school work and so I just kept it quiet." He finishes, "Natasha?" He waits for an answer.

About 5 seconds later we hear her exhale on the other side, "I understand." She inhales slowly, "I understand, you know I would have flown in as soon as I heard about this."

"Which is why I didn't want to bother you with something that wasn't that bad." He explains.

"I know. It's fine, you did what was best. But you can tell me when these things happen, what I do about them is my choice, but I still appreciate your concern for me, thanks for telling me."

"You know I love you." Alex says, probably forgetting I was in the car with him.

She lets out a small laugh, "I love you too." I can feel her smiling through the phone, "Well I better leave you guys to the 'great outdoors'."

"Huh?" Alex snaps back to reality, the one where he was expressing his feelings for his girlfriend right in front of me, "Oh, yeah, I'll call you Monday, okay?" The blush blooming across his cheeks.

"Yeah, sounds good. Hope you guys have fun. Bye Felix, love ya Alex." She says in her usual cheery tone.

"Love you, bye." he responds and I hang up his phone, putting it back into the cup holder.

"Sooo..." I encourage.

"Shut up." He stares ahead, but a smile play on the sides of his lips and soon we're both bursting out laughing for no reason.