"No New Messages"
The words came as no surprise to Effie as she locked her phone and threw it down in her lap in frustration.
Her mother and father wanted nothing to do with her and that was blatantly clear. Though, she thought, that was probably the case right from the offset.
"Boy troubles?" He spoke for the first time in around five miles.
"No." Effie replied shortly.
"Good," he said. "I was worried you might say yes so I'd have to put up with your whining all the way to Seattle."
"No," she said again. "No personal stuff."
He nodded slowly. "So I can't even know your name?"
She hesitated for a moment, but then, going back on all she just said, told him.
"Effie?" he mused. "Well, Effie, it is such a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm Haymitch. Abernathy."
"That's an odd name." said Effie.
"Oh, right. And Effie isn't?"
"I didn't ask for that name." she snapped.
He flexed his hands on the driving wheel, still smirking. "Easy there, sweetheart. Wouldn't want to get your panties in a bunch."
"Asshole," she muttered under her breath, evidently loud enough for him to hear as he snorted.
"You wanna walk from here?"
"No," she said harshly and he raised his eyebrows. "And don't call me 'sweetheart'."
He chuckled. "Don't flatter yourself; I call everyone 'sweetheart'."
"I'm sure your girlfriend must love that." She retorted.
"Oh, I don't have a girlfriend."
He pulled out and continued down the road, increasing the speed as they headed onto the interstate.
Effie watched as the New York skyline glinted in the distance, just visible. She felt a pang of sadness saying goodbye to the city she had grown up in, gone to school in, made friends in. She loved the bustle, the people and the diversity on the streets she knew like the back of her hand and she knew she would miss it.
"So what's waiting for you in Seattle?"
"Family, my aunt and cousins."
"You're visiting?"
She paused for a moment, unsure of how to respond. How long was she going to be there for? The rest of her life? The summer while her parents figured there shit out?
She was glad that when she didn't give an answer, he didn't endeavour for one.
The traffic was relatively thin as far as traffic went and they glided out of the State without any hitches. They had been travelling for at least an hour when Effie next checked her phone, the fluorescent letters reading 00:41.
She sighed as if the realisation of the time had made her tired. A day of yelling, packing and walking had really caught up with her and she wanted nothing more than her bed.
"Get some sleep." Said Haymitch when he heard her yawn.
She shook her head and raked a hand through her hair.
He laughed. "Why? Still think I'm going to murder you?"
She shrugged. "Maybe. I saw this episode of CSI once and-"
"Here we go,"
"-and it was about this one guy who picked up girls on old dusty roads and then drugged them, took them back to his house and locked them in the basement. After a while, he killed them and buried them in the desert never to be seen again." She finished in a whisper to add effect.
Haymitch rolled his head back and laughed. "You watch way too much TV. Also, we are not in a desert so where would I hide you?"
"I don't know," she bit her bottom lip, looking out of the window at the pitch black landscape. "Abandoned warehouse, in the trunk, tossed over the side of a bridge."
"And you picked all of this up from CSI?"
"No. The news, the internet. I like research."
He side eyed her conspicuously. "Okay now I'm scared you're gonna kill me."
"Why would I do that? You're driving." She joked.
She tucked her legs underneath her on the seat.
"So why are you going to Georgia?"
"I live there."
"So why were you in New York?"
"I was passing through."
"From?"
He sent her an annoyed look. "Connecticut."
She opened her mouth again but Haymitch cut her off. "What's it to you?"
She held her hands up. "Sorry."
Effie left it at that and turned to face the window once again, letting her eyes close and the soft hum of the car's engine lull her to sleep.
She started awake when she heard tapping on the car window, her eyes flew open but she immediately recoiled at the glaring sunlight.
When she managed to open her eyes fully, she looked to her left to see Haymitch stood at the window, a cup of coffee in his hand.
"Rise and shine, sweetheart!" he smiled winningly, eyes covered by a pair of black aviators.
She opened her door, whacking him in the leg.
"Is that how you repay me for getting you coffee?" he asked, wincing and she took the cup from him, taking a sip. She spat it out.
"There's no sugar,"
He made a face. "And how was I supposed to know you wanted sugar? I'm not psychic."
She rolled her eyes and started towards the door of the small gas station where he must have purchased it from.
The bell above the door tinkled as she pushed open the door, the cool breeze from a fan hitting her as soon as she entered. She looked around for the coffee machine and found it in all its glory in the corner of the shop, leaking and covered in spilled milk.
She muttered something about hygiene under her breath, taking a sugar sachet between her thumb and forefinger, opening it and tipping it into her cup.
"Sugar's ten cents," a voice piped up from across the store.
Effie turned to see a girl probably the same age as herself behind the counter, short brown hair tied up in a ponytail of sorts. As she walked up to said counter, the girl didn't look up from her phone once.
She dug around in her short pockets for a moment and finally produced a ten cent piece.
The girl shoved it carelessly into the cash register.
"Would you like anything else? We have fantastic offers on sandwiches, salads and a wide range of confectionary. Also, this week only we have a meal deal. Take any sandwich, a bag of chips and a bottled drink for a dollar-fifty." She recited drearily.
Effie let her finish, finding the whole thing incredibly amusing. "No thank you," she looked at the girls name tag, "Johanna."
She couldn't help but laugh at the red name tag reading 'Hi! My name is Johanna, I am happy to help!' the latter part having been unsuccessfully scrubbed out with black felt tip.
Johanna looked up at the mention of her name. "Enjoy your sugar." She said flatly.
"I will thank you." Effie replied cheerily on the way out.
Haymitch was still leaning against the car bonnet, seeming to enjoy his shitty cup of coffee.
"I almost forgot, you owe me eighty cents." He said upon her returning, tapping his coffee cup.
She stopped in front of him. "What? I didn't ask for it!"
He shrugged. "You still owe me eighty cents."
"Fuck you," she replied tersely and watched as his eyebrows shot above his sunglasses.
"I think we should just round this up to a dollar, it would be much easier." He smirked.
"No way."
"A dollar-ten."
"You're unbelievable."
"A dollar-twenty. I can keep this up all day, sweetheart."
Effie stopped there, not wanting the price of her coffee to go up any more than it had to. "Fine," she said slamming down the required amount down on the car bonnet forcefully.
"Hey!" he said swiping up the money and stuffing it into his pocket. "Watch the paintwork."
She glanced down at the dusty car. "It's old anyway."
He chuckled. "It's not old. It's vintage. 1967 Buick Skylark."
His justification on the date and make of the car did nothing for her. It was still old.
"Do you know how much a paintjob for one of these costs?"
She shook her head.
"Two-thousand dollars. So if you want to carry on scratching my bonnet with your grimy city quarters, then go ahead."
Effie turned away, leaning against the car door, taking sips of the coffee that was still nowhere sweet enough.
When she had finished, she tossed the cup into a nearby trash can.
She watched as an old cargo train heaved along the train track running parallel with the road, the ground shaking as it passed.
"Where are we?" Effie asked.
"Just south of Richmond."
She nodded. "Have you slept?"
"Yeah, for about three hours or so."
"Is that safe?" she asked.
He shrugged. "I've driven for longer before. Why are you offering?"
"No," she said. "But if you wanted to get a motel or something."
He smirked. "Didn't know you were that eager, sweetheart."
She made a face. "Don't be so disgusting. I didn't mean it like that."
"It's okay if you did," he said going to the other side of the car, opening the door and hopping inside.
She did the same. "I really didn't."
"What, not even a little bit?" he fake pouted and took off his sunglasses, folding them over his grey t-shirt.
"No." she replied shortly.
"Well, I'm hurt, sweetheart."
"Why? Is that the first time your charms have fallen flat on their faces?"
"Hm," he put the keys in the ignition. "It certainly appears that way."
She smiled to herself determinedly, watching as the car sped away from the gas station.
She decided that she was going to resist him as much as possible. Maybe it would make him less arrogant. It would certainly drive him mad after a while. It was clear that he was the type of guy who had girls falling at his feet wherever he went.
Not me, thought Effie. I'm going to be the exception.
A/N: Okay, second chapter down! I did decide to carry this on as I have some pretty good ideas of where I want this to go. I am going to aim to update every week or so (though as the year gets on, it may be updated less). Big thank you to those who reviewed the first chapter! :) Please continue to do so, and favourite, follow etc.
Love you all, awesome hayffie nerds!