The Road to Ruin
Just to explain, I put my i-pod on shuffle and now I'm just writing a series of connected drabbles about Leo and Reyna. Each is named after the song I was listening to while writing it.
Song: San Francisco
"You know, you don't have to do this for me," Reyna said, quirking an eyebrow at Leo, but handing over the keys to Camp Jupiter's truck.
Leo smiled at her, "Really, I should be thanking you for this. It helps to ease my guilty conscience."
Reyna gave him a look and hopped into the passenger side.
"But honestly Leo, if you're doing this because of the thing with the eidons, you need to stop. You don't owe me or the camp anything for that. You're name has been cleared," she told him, grabbing his arm as he began to turn the key in the ignition. While it wasn't completely true that Leo's name was cleared due to the fact that a good portion of the camp was still extremely suspicious of him, as far as Reyna was concerned, he was no longer a threat to Camp Jupiter.
That stupid, lopsided smile formed on Leo's face and he brushed Reyna's hand away, turning the key all the way. The engine rumbled and shook alive bellow them. He looked at Reyna, his eyes bright with joy, before flooring it.
Song: Anna Sun
The hood of the car was rusted and the boy driving it was a mess of curls and had an infectious energy the strength of 10 lightning bolts. The leather on the seats was faded and pealing. The windows were slightly clouded from the dirt. It was comfortable and secure, yet Reyna still felt awkward about the whole situation.
"You know, you really didn't have to do this Leo," Reyna said for what felt like the fiftieth time that day.
Leo just smiled kindly like he always did when she said this.
For a while they sat there. The scenery rushed by in a whirl of golden hills and suburbs. Reyna listened to the light music playing in the background. Leo had slipped in his favorite CD. Most of the songs were cheesy pop-ish sounding beats that made Reyna feel uncomfortable. She didn't really beliee Leo listened to this kind of thing. It sounded more like something someone like Piper McLean would listen to.
"I know."
Reyna turned to Leo, confused, "What?"
"I said I know," Leo responded, shrugging his shoulders, but keeping his eyes on the road. Reyna supposed that driving was no problem for the man who sailed a flying trireme across the world.
"But why?"
Leo let out an exaggerated sigh, "Because you said I didn't have to do it. I said I know I didn't have to do it, but that doesn't mean I won't do a friend a favor."
"You're not my friend Leo, I hardly know you."
Leo gave her sad eyes and put his hand on his chest, "That hurt me, Reyna. Right here."
He then proceeded to point at his heart and make pained whimpers.
Once Leo had thoroughly annoyed Reyna to the point where she could no longer take anymore of those stupid puppy dog looks he was giving her, she made a disgruntled noise and said, "You know what, fine Leo. You may not be my friend, but I don't have any friends. I'm alone, so I guess it's okay that your not."
For once, Leo's expression didn't look like a fallacy. He seemed to sincerely understand, "Well, I guess we can be alone together."
Song: Oh Well, Oh Well
When Leo's head hit the window, his eyes closed, Reyna figured it was time to change drivers.
She pinched him on the shoulder and Leo looked up, sleep in his eyes.
"Huh, what?" Leo said, yawning.
"The road, Leo! The road!" she hollered, pinching his slightly pointed chin between her thumb and forefinger, twisting his head away from her and toward the black stretch of the rural lane before them.
"Holy Hera!" he yelled, swerving onto the side. Reyna's body was thrust forward as Leo slammed on the breaks, bringing them to a screeching stop.
Leo brought his tongue out of him mouth and looked at it, pinching it a bit before turning to Reyna, his tongue still sticking out of his mouth like he was a tired dog.
"Ith meh thuong bleding?" he asked Reyna, holding it out to her, "I bibit wenb we stopped."
Reyna scrunched her nose, slightly disgusted, "No no, you're fine."
"Okay good," he said with a look of relief. Luckily, he'd stuck his tongue back in his mouth and seemed basically back to normal.
"Yeah, that's nice," Reyna replied, getting the kinks out of her neck with a small groan.
After a few minutes of catching their breath and recovering, Reyna turned to Leo and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Maybe I should drive for a little while?"
"That's probably a good idea."
Reyna smiled and they switched places.
They drove for a little while before Leo commented, "You know this kinda goes against what I was trying to do by going with you on your trip to Seattle."
"Really," Reyna said, raising an eyebrow at her lethargic companion, "And why is that?"
"Well," he told her, yawning before continuing, "I figured I could give you a break before you had to talk to Hylla."
"How thoughtful."
"Well," he told her, reclining the chair and closing his eyes, "I am a very thoughtful person."
Then he passed out.
So, I started a new story. That doesn't mean I'll be committed to it, but the plot is simple enough that I think I can actually keep up with it. The chapters will be relatively short but, hopefully, frequent. Also, the drabbles ARE NOT BASED ON THE SONG IN THE TITLE, I was just listening to that song while writing. (Also, the chapter was written after the song I was listening to while writing the authors note.)
Now for a quick list of songs for those who are interested:
San Francisco is by The Mowgli's
Anna Sun is by Walk the Moon
Oh Well, Oh Well is by Mayday Parade
And the title is a reference to a song by Fall Out Boy called Alone Together
Please check out all these awesome songs and thanks for reading!
-Vans
(PS: I wrote this without editing what-so-ever. It's midnight and I'm tired. Sorry.)