Sorry for the delay. I am trying a new style of organizing my writing with this story so it's caused a bit of a delay in posting an update. I hope I don't keep you waiting long the next time around.
Also, I usually have an inspiration piece playing in the background as I write. If it's anything interesting I think I'll share it with you all from time to time. This chapter led me to listen to Sting's live 2012 performance in Berlin. Go to YouTube, type in "Sting Live Berlin" if you're interested (the rendition of "Desert Rose" is spectacular).
Happy reading and thanks for the follows and feedback - it's very gratifying.
DAY TWO - RENO TO SALT LAKE CITY
Emily knew this trip with Paige would be hard. She figured a two-year gap in communication would leave her fighting to balance their 19-year-old selves with who they are now – and boy, she couldn't have been more right. For the first two days of their trip heir interactions resemble a ping pong match; at times bitchy, other times flirty, but with no pattern or predictable cycle. Emily was just downright confused and she really couldn't figure out how to make that go away.
Glancing to her right she sees Paige is transfixed by an app on her phone. They'd been on the road for about an hour and for some reason Paige didn't argue too heartily when Emily insisted on driving – which was a nice change.
It felt good to be on the road. Emily didn't drive much in college; instead she relied on rides from her roommates or city buses to get where she needed to go. Driving now reminded her she really enjoyed the freedom and control of being behind the wheel and she really wanted to get into it….
But dear God – this route was SO BORING. The radio stations sucked. Traffic was non-existent. And Paige? Well, she was proving to be a really sucky passenger with her nose buried so far into her phone Emily swore it would eventually need to be surgically removed.
Sighing, she just couldn't keep the monotony to herself any longer. "This is the most boring drive in the history of mankind!" Paige appears startled by Emily's complaint but her eyes snap back to her phone a few seconds later.
"Could you freakin' help me out here, McCullers?" Emily says in frustration, running her free hand through her hair to keep from taking a swing at Paige.
"You wanted to drive. I am just letting you do what you wanted to do. Man, I just can't win with you," says Paige. She shakes her head and steals a glance at Emily who seemingly gets even angrier than she was moments ago. She is so easy, Paige thinks.
Emily's eyes narrow because Paige seems all too willing to play the victim. "You knew this would be boring as hell, didn't you?"
"Uh-huh."
"So this is some kind of a joke?"
"Not a joke, just a…teachable moment."
Emily eyes Paige with suspicion and disappointment. "You were never this sarcastic before. What happened to you?"
"I've always been this sarcastic – you just weren't paying attention."
Emily looks back to the road and Paige turns her attention back to her phone. Uncomfortable silence is the rule once again.
The mile markers clip by but time seems at a standstill. Neither of the girls is accustomed to lonely drives like this so eventually Emily worms Paige into small talk, comparing notes about their class loads in college, the latest celebrity gossip and what movies they'd seen - innocuous stuff, all designed to pass the time but just skim the surface. Emily is desperate to engage in deeper, more meaningful discussions but Paige is having none of it.
Knowing they couldn't make the entire trip to Salt Lake City on one tank of gas Emily pulls off in Elko, Nevada, to fill up and stretch. She pumps the gas and glances at Paige in the passenger side mirror, seeing she's still concentrating on her phone. Fed up and knowing two can play that game Emily slaps her hand hard against the side of the truck. Paige jumps so high she hits her head on the cab roof drawing a smirk and low laugh from Emily. Paige jerks the door open and marches back toward Emily who pretends to be innocently watching the numbers flip on the gas pump.
"What the hell was that? You trying to give me a stroke?"
"No, it's just a wakeup call. A teachable moment, if you will."
Frustration is tattooed all over her face but Paige breathes deeply and regains her composure almost immediately. She rubs the bridge of her nose where her glasses usually rest when she wears them and sighs, then heads inside the gas station presumably to cool off away from Emily's all-seeing eyes.
Emily on the other hand feels like a thousand pound weight has been lifted from her shoulders. The last stretch of road with little to do but think has actually helped her come to a few conclusions. She suspects the last couple years were unnecessarily difficult because neither of them made the effort to communicate with each other. Maybe they'd still be together, maybe they'd just be friends – or, Emily hates to think, maybe they'd be as distant as they are now. Still, they should have tried to get closure at some point. The lack of an ending is what she suspects is driving this tension so Emily is tweaking every nerve she can just to get to Paige because the more she frustrates her the more likely (at some point) Paige will acknowledge their real problem: they can't NOT be in each other's lives.
The gas pump clicks signaling the tank is full and Emily removes the nozzle and pulls the receipt from the pump. A bell rings on the door of the convenience store as Paige exits wrestling with a package of Twizzlers and she's losing the battle to tear it open. Paige's frustrated look causes Emily to smile, feeling good that she's decided once and for all she wants Paige in her life again; somehow, someway.
Now to just make her see it, too.
About an hour outside Salt Lake City lie the Bonneville Salt Flats. This area is home to literally miles and miles of flat, salt-covered earth formed when the salt-water Lake Bonneville dried up thousands of years ago. This ecological change left 30,000 acres of barren, deserted land that due to high salt content and desert-like moisture cannot sustain trees, grass or other plants in its ecosystem.
This stark area does not go to waste or function simply as a natural curiosity to travelers. Instead, motorheads of all stripes see the miles-long stretches of flat earth as a great opportunity to drive the crap out of cars, motorcycles and really anything with an engine. For the last 75 years land speed records have been set and broken on this stretch of earth. It's a hot-rodder's paradise.
So, of course, Nick McCullers wanted pictures and a t-shirt.
The girls stop in the neighboring town of Wendover, Utah for more information before they visit the Flats. Paige picks up a t-shirt for her dad, a gold shirt advertising the "Salt Flats Racing Association" in blue and yellow lettering. Looking through her dad's itinerary she noticed he asked for a lot of t-shirts which she found confusing because he was an Izod or Polo type of guy. Still, it was a small thing to ask of her so she planned on going along with it.
They heard in Wendover the best view of the Salt Flats is from a rest stop about 10 miles down the interstate. When they reach the area Emily brings the truck to a halt and the girls just stare out the truck's windshield. The land looks like it's covered with a dusting of snow, the white salt glistening in the sunlight causing a mirage effect close to the earth's surface. Distant hills host a sparse collection of bushes and trees but a majority of the land surrounding them is a white ocean of stark and desolate terrain as far as the eye can see.
"It kinda takes your breath away," Emily says.
Paige nods. "Can you imagine getting lost out there or coming across it in a wagon train? Thank you Jesus for air conditioning and radial tires."
Emily laughs and throws her door open to get a closer look. Paige quickly follows and they walk side-by-side past the rest station. Emily slips on sunglasses because the light reflecting off the salt lands is too bright then kneels down and pinches a small amount of the salt, bringing it to her lips for a taste.
"That's disgusting," Paige says. "You know how many people have probably walked on that, a dog might have even peed on it."
"You are a spoil sport," Emily replies. "Just live in the moment for a change, huh? Relax. You are in one of the most remote areas in the country – breathe the air, listen to the wind."
Paige eyes Emily with equal parts skepticism and humor. "You've been watching 'Pocahontas' again, haven't you?"
"You can take the girl away from Disney but you can't take Disney away from the girl," Emily says with a smile.
Behind her sunglasses Emily takes Paige in as she tries to relax. And after a few minutes it looks like she finally lets go as she throws her head back and allows the breeze to muss her hair. She laughs trying to pull loose strands behind her ears and glances down at Emily unguarded and open.
For the first time on the trip Emily sees the girl she loved in the shining brown eyes and bashful smile Paige tries to hide as she dips her head. Emily's heart is racing as her head floods with memories and wishes from the past. It seems so long ago yet here it is, another shot. It dawns on her just how many chances she's had with Paige but with that she also realizes this trip marks the last one she'll probably get.
She smiles back at Paige as she rises and dusts her hands on her jeans. "Ready to go?" she asks and when Paige nods they walk slowly back to the rest area.
Just try and shut me out, McCullers, Emily thinks. Cuz I'm gonna keep coming back for more.