Hey Hey HEy! Review!
"Who's ready for a road trip!?" Lauren said coming our way as if walking on a runway modeling a spring collection. Her peppy-ness annoyed me so much. I'd deal. It's a promise and no more breaking promises.
"Alright let's get in!" She said while opening the passenger seat door for Aiden who was already right behind me climbing into the backseat of the car. She frowned to herself but it lasted a second. She ran around the car and in literal terms, jumped in. She started the engine and backed out of the parking lot. In a couple of minutes, we were out of Willow Creek.
"It's really nice of you to do this for me." I said trying to sound polite and grateful. It was the right thing to do after all. (Oh, please.)
"It is no problem Olivia!" She exclaimed keeping her eyes on the now dark road.
I looked outside at the passing trees and at the many stars above. That wish to be a star came back. Suddenly I felt a weight on my shoulder and looked to see Aiden resting his head on my shoulder. He looked so peaceful when he slept. I was fighting with myself to either watch the stars, or Aiden. I thought to myself, now I had two forms of hope; two reasons to hang on; two reasons to keep trying. We had been in the car for about an hour and I figured the town had to be near. I nudged Aiden lightly when I saw the 'next stop' sign say 30 miles.
"What happened?" He said opening his eyes.
"Nothing." I said. "We're almost there."
"Wake up sleepyhead!" Lauren nearly shouted.
"I'm up, I'm up." Aiden yawned, patting his hair then smoothing his shirt. "Sorry." He said while looking at my shoulder than smiling a child-like smile.
"Hey! You know what this whole road trip reminds me of!" Lauren said while flipping her head from the direction of the moving vehicle to the backseat. " . . . Last year when we took that fieldtrip to see the Washington Mountains! Do you remember Aiden? I remember the whole thing! It was absolutely fascinating!"
"Oh great." Aiden said exasperatingly. "She is going to give us a play by play recap of the entire weekly trip."
"That doesn't sound too good." I said being still. I was trying to fight off two human scents in such small vicinity. I sat still, kept calm, and looked out the window, remembering my promise.
"Olivia?" Aiden said motioning me to come closer with his hand and whispered into my ear. "You don't have to breathe, do you?"
"No." I whispered back.
"Oh, just checking." He said inspecting the way I was placed. A blind person could have realized the tension radiating off of me. Lauren seemed not to notice, trapped in her story, which was still being narrated to us. She began again.
" . . . And then I said to my friend Natalie; Aiden you know Natalie, Natalie Rhoden; well, I was telling her what cute people were in our last rest spot . . . ." Lauren giggled a bit. "She totally agreed, like there was this cute one with blond hair, this strong, big one, and even some of the girls there looked like porcelain! You know, now that I think of it, they kind of look like you Olivia."
This last part caught my attention. "What?"
"That the people in this little town in Washington that we saw hiking, they looked like you."
Aiden looked at me with eyes filled with questions. I looked at Lauren with eyes of horror. "What do you mean . . . like me?"