Skills reluctantly opened one eye. He had been in that dangerous state between being totally awake and semi conscious from sleep for over an hour. He was exhausted. His day had begun around five that morning. After a full day at school, there had been a brief practice, then it was on to the long, two hour bus ride to a neighboring school for an away game. Due to Lucas' early foul trouble and subsequent dismissal in the mid third quarter, Whitey had been forced to play Skills every minute of the game. They had won and afterwards it was a brief shower and a quick comment to Ravens dot com. Normally the guy to ham it up in interviews, Skills had tried his best to keep it short, simple and sweet. But his good friend and broadcast commentator, Mouth McFadden had had other ideas. He had talked a mile a minute, firing off random questions one after the other. And on top of that, he had a big old goofy grin plastered to his face. Something was definitely going on with that kid but Skills decided he would investigate later. All he wanted was a good night's sleep.
Buses after the games, especially following a win, were particularly rowdy and that was to be expected with a bunch of 16 and 17 year old testosterone filled guys. Any chance of a nap was hopeless, that is unless you wanted to run the risk of getting a prank played on you. Skills loved his teammates like brothers but if one of them tried to shove a straw up his nose or spray Cheese Whiz on his bald head, he would not be accountable for the ass whippings that would follow. It looked like sleep would have to wait.
But his girl had come to the rescue. Bevin and a few other cheerleaders had opted to drive their own cars. The thought of riding back home in a nice, quiet, comfortable car, prank and interruption free, was almost too good to be true. Then he gave it some deeper thought. He was way into Bevin but the girl did have her moments when she wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. He'd had the weird feeling that something might go wrong. But Bevin, with her million dollar smile, and ten million dollar legs, had simply given him a kiss and told him everything would be alright. Like a good little boyfriend, he had believed her.
The first sign was the radio change. He had found a nice R&B hip hop station that had lulled him to sleep. Then when she thought he was out for the count, she changed it to some 90's pop station and he had been forced to try to tune out The Spice Girls and The New Kids On The Block. But as he had drifted in and out of slumber, his eyes had noticed the time. It kept getting later and later and he swore he had seen that same tattered billboard advertising homemade jam, more than once. He could only hope and pray that they weren't lost.
"Baby," Bevin cooed, nudging him softly. "Babe, wake up."
"What's going on?" he rubbed his tired eyes.
"Nothing much…except I'm sort of kind of not really but maybe just a teensy bit lost."
He let out a breath. So much for the rest of the night being stress free.
"Well, where do you think we are?"
"I have no clue but I think we're still in the state of North Carolina."
He supposed that could be the one bright spot.
"Well, where do you think you went wrong?"
Bevin thought for a few seconds.
"Um…sometime after we left the school."
He shook his head.
"Pull over, Ma. I'll drive."
She pulled over on the road's bumpy shoulder and they quickly switched sides.
"Aw, babe, I feel bad. What about your nap?"
"It's cool. I got it."
"Here," she smiled as she navigated the radio, turning it back to its original station.
She slipped her hand in his as they laughed and talked and enjoyed being together. Skills instinctively pulled Bevin closer so she could lie in his arms while he drove. She sighed with contentment, snuggling up to him and relaxing. As he kissed her forehead, the corner of his eye stole a brief glance at the gas meter. Skills nearly jumped through the window as he realized they were riding dangerously close to "E".
"Shorty, what the hell…"
Bevin made a face.
"That's not good, huh? Honey, oh, I'm sorry. How could I have been such a complete ditz? I totally forgot to get gas after we left the school."
"Damn," he muttered.
"Is it that bad?"
"Yeah, Bev, it is," he shook his head until a surprising glimmer of hope passed them by. "Wait! Hold on! I see something! Is that a sign for gas and food?"
Bevin grinned and nodded as they approached the turn and mouthed a small prayer of thanks to God. The fuel tanks could be seen from the road and they eagerly pulled in. But the jubilation would not last. Neither could believe their eyes. The damned gas station looked like it had been abandoned in the 70's.
"Uh oh, what are we gonna do now?" she asked, getting a little scared as the needle had surpassed empty and was treading dangerously in the red zone.
"Hold up, let me think..."
"Don't turn the ignition off!" she screamed. "I heard it totally uses more gas to crank it back up."
She yelled so loud poor Skills nearly ran off the road. He took a deep breath and she could tell he was biting his lip. It was supposed to be a peaceful, romantic road trip. However the fear of running out of gas in the middle of nowhere and being slaughtered and left to rot in the country, was totally killing the happy moment. Maneuvering back on the road, Skills drove a few more miles and came upon a truck stop. It was nothing more than a restroom area and a huge lot for parking. It was still in the middle of nowhere. Bevin breathed a huge sigh of relief as they pulled in. She saw a couple of rigs and it was pretty safe to say that truckers knew every nook and cranny of the areas they drove in.
"Saved by the bell. Skills, go ask that guy over there where the nearest working gas station is?"
Skills shot her a bewildered look.
"You mean the dude with the long hair and beard down to his gut? The one with all the tattoos?"
"Yeah, him," she nodded for emphasis.
"I ain't asking him shit."
"Why not?"
"Why not? Damn, girl. Don't you watch TV? Movies? Look at that dude. Our asses are in the middle of nowhere with about a drop of gas left in your tank. I think I know how this one turns out and you know the black dude always dies first. Hell no, Ma," he locked the doors.
"Skills!" she put her hands on her hips. "You're being a big baby."
"Call it what you want, Shorty. Hell, if you're so brave, why don't you go ask him?"
She looked horrified at the very thought.
"No way! It's dark and I'm scared. What if he's a serial killer?"
"Exactly."
"What kind of guy sends his girlfriend out into a scary situation like that?" she pouted.
He cursed himself, his manhood, and everything else that compelled him to unlock the door.
"One smarter than me," he mumbled, rolling his eyes as he got out of the car.
Skills carefully approached the driver who rolled up his own window and locked the door. It was unbelievable! The scary looking biker guy looked to be frightened to death of Skills. Shaking his head, he returned to the car. They were running on fumes by that point so he shut the engine off and just sat.
"We could call Triple A," Bevin meekly suggested after a few silent minutes.
"Do you have Triple A?" he asked.
She looked at him like he was crazy.
"No."
Skills tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. As dumb as it sounded, anything was worth a try.
"I'm calling Triple A," he announced. "Hell, maybe they'll let us subscribe over the phone."
"Maybe…" she hoped, fingers crossed.
He called the 24 hour 1-800 line and waited.
"Uh, yeah. How you doin'? My name is Antwon Taylor. I don't know if you can help, but I hope so 'cause this is one messed up situation. See, my girl and I were driving back home and we got lost and now we're out here with nothing but dirt roads and cows and now the car is out of gas. Yeah...No...Well...Excuse me...Ma'am, please...You don't...Okay, that's fine but if you would just help us out here...We're just sitting on the side of the road and it's late as hell and we're just trying to get home...I understand that...No, Yes...Yeah...Uh-huh...Okay...Look lady, hell no, I don't have time to take a ten minute customer service survey...Yeah...No...Lady, come on...What...This is an emergency...Nope...Jesus...Yeh...Ma'am... ... ... Look I don't have time for this shit! What don't you understand, we are out of gas in the middle of nowhere in the fucking country! There are no exits, no houses, no other cars, nothing! We don't have Triple A but we are willing to get Triple A. We need assistance, the assistance you're supposed to be giving us and instead, you want to play twenty fucking questions…I know I'm not a member, but damn, baby girl, I could be…Hello? Hello? Hello? Yo, Bev, that bitch hung up on me."
With that, he hung up to the sound of his girlfriend's horrified gasp.
"Skills Taylor!"
"What?"
"I cannot believe you! Nice going! The only person on the planet who can remotely help us and you curse them out and cause them to hang up on us. Real smart."
"Real smart?" he turned to face her. "Oh and I guess it was just brilliant when you left civilization without getting gas!"
She had never heard his voice rise like that, not since that night at Tric when he had bravely defended her honor against Evan Williams. Her bottom lip began to quiver and a tear slid down her cheek.
"You, you, you, you, you y…yelled at me," she managed to whimper.
Skills whipped his head around.
"Girl, I know you are not crying."
"But this is our first fight," she sniffled.
Tired and pissed off, Skills laid his head onto the steering wheel and horn that honked loudly, even though no one was around to hear them.
"I'm gonna try to call Lucas. The bus should have been back in Tree Hill by now. Maybe if we figure out where we are, he and Peyton can come get us."
It was a feasible solution but Bevin's feelings were genuinely hurt. He had yelled at her, after all. They were both tired, frustrated, and worried. In dramatic fashion, she opened the car door and got out.
"Whatever," she scoffed.
"Bevin, what the hell..."
"Just leave me alone."
She folded her arms and sulked, hot tears sliding down her make up stained face. She took a seat on the worn pavement and picked a tattered old flower from the ground, playing with the near dead leaves before plucking them. A few minutes later, Skills emerged from the car.
"I got in touch with Luke. Believe it or not, I started describing this place to him and he actually knew what the hell I was talking about. Turns out Keith took him to that truck stop one time. He and Skinny Girl are on the way."
"Fine."
"Fine? You should be happy."
"I'm not speaking to you right now, Skills Taylor."
"Oh don't you go using the first and last name and getting an attitude with me. This is not my fault."
"And it's mine?"
"Did I say that? No, don't think I did. Just drop it, okay?"
"Fine."
Little did Bevin know, whenever someone answered Skills with excessive "fines", it really pissed him off. Not that she would have stopped anyway. She wanted to annoy him just like he had annoyed her. And it was working. He wanted the last word and he wanted it bad.
"Okay, fine. Although if I had been driving when we left the game, I would have filled up in town before we headed home."
"Really? Well next time you can drive since you are such a perfect driver. And since you're insinuating that I'm stupid or irresponsible or something, how about you drive every time from now on? That's right. Forget that it's my car. Skills Taylor is the Man so he gets to drive everywhere."
"It's all good, Ma. And I can bet you this, if I'm driving, we'll never again be sitting on the side of the road stuck between a rock and no place!"
Bevin's mouth fell wide open as she stood and angrily kicked at the dirt.
"That is just mean! Mean and rude! You're mean and rude!"
"Why are you screaming? We are in the middle of nowhere! No one can here you but me, Bevin, trust me. And I'm standing right here!"
"I was not yelling, you're the one yelling! Don't you raise your voice at me!"
"Negative. You're the one ranting and raving like a crazy person. See? That's why I don't do relationships. I knew something like this would happen one day. Women always got to blame the dude and act a fool. That's why I didn't want to fall in love in the first place."
"For your information…" Bevin stopped mid sentence. Her heart skipped a beat. In the middle of their first fight, he had uttered magic words, words she had longed to hear but hadn't expected to. "Wait a second. Skills…you, did you just say, did you just mean that you fell in love with me?"
He frowned, still trying to cling on to that street image. But no matter how hard he was or tried to be, the truth couldn't be avoided any longer. The cat was out of the bag. He was in love with Bevin Maskey.
"I might have been implying something like that," he pouted.
Fresh tears sprang to her eyes and she couldn't contain her smile.
"Oh my God…you, you love me."
He took a deep breath.
"Yeah, I guess I do," he said quietly. "I know you probably didn't want to hear it like that and I know I didn't plan on it coming out like that but that's what's up and it's just the way it is so…"
Bevin didn't wait for another word. She grabbed his face and kissed him roughly. Her tiny hands struggled to feel the rock solid abs and chest underneath his clothes. When he wasn't responding fast enough, she pushed him down on the hood of the car.
"You are so sexy when you're pissed off and being mean."
Before he knew it, she had practically ripped all his clothes off.
"What are you doin'?"
"And you're even sexier when you get all sweet and shy on me," she grinned as she stripped off her own clothes."I want you."
And there it was. Two horny teenagers madly in love getting it on in the middle of nowhere on a lonely, country road after the first fight and the first confession of love. At times it was sweet, at times it was passionate but neither could contain their growing want for the other. They moaned and groaned, breathlessly grunting at times like two wild animals before releasing simultaneously. Afterwards, they could only stare at each other and laugh.
"What was that?" he tried to get his breath back.
Bevin licked her lips.
"That was hot."
He had to agree there. All he had wanted was to go to sleep. That was definitely better than sleep.
"Yeah but damn. Where did it all come from?"
She shrugged.
"We both wanted it. It was a long time coming."
"True but I thought we were gonna wait. I mean, I wanted it to be special."
"Look around," she said. "This is special. It's definitely different."
"I know but…"
"I get what you're saying, Skills. So it wasn't in bed with candles and flowers and all that. Big deal. I didn't need all that for our first time together to be special. And as far as I'm concerned, there will be plenty more chances for all that. I think we both wanted it to be right. Tonight, as wild and crazy as it seems, it just felt right."
He looked up at the stars and the moon, still trying to wrap his head around what had just happened.
"Yeah," he agreed. "I guess it did."
Afterglow was short lived.
"Babe, pull your pants up!" Bevin loudly whispered. "I think I see headlights coming this way."
"Great," he said sarcastically, fumbling to get dressed. "We've been stuck out here damned near an hour with no other cars and no help. The minute we want to get freaky, here comes the headlights."
The vehicle became more familiar as it approached. The 1963 Mercury Comet and its passengers, Lucas Scott and his driver girlfriend, Peyton Sawyer, had showed up to save the day. They took one knowing look at their friends and laughed.
"What?" Bevin asked.
"Yeah," Skills added. "What?"
"Nothing," Peyton shook her head and grinned. "Just waiting for you to get to the part about why your shirt is on backwards, Bev."
The guilty parties hung their heads, hiding their own sly smiles.
"Freaks," Lucas chuckled.
Within a half hour, Bevin's car was gassed up and back on the road. With Skills at the wheel, she crawled back over the gear shift to sleep in her boyfriend's arms.
"You good?" he asked, looking down.
"Oh I'm more than good," she sighed, already half way to sleep.
He kissed her forehead.
"I love you, Ma."
"I love you, too."