"You must hurry!" A voice called past rainbow sugar bridge, "The Gumdrop King is just up ahead!"

I darted onto the bridge quickly, slipping over the small grains of sugar that littered the overpass. Before I knew it, I was in front of a gigantic gummy tower. I paused, clenched my fist, and stared up at it.

Everything I've been through, the struggles, the hardships, the pain… It's all lead up to this momen-

Brriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnngggggg!

I jumped from my desk, awakened by the sudden noise- and hit my knee on the corner. The piercing sound echoed throughout the room, signaling the end of class. A few people giggled at my rude awakening, but luckily, not a ton of people noticed, courtesy to the loud-ass bell making people wince.

As quickly as I could, I grabbed my things and flung them in my backpack. I hoisted the hulking thing over my shoulder and started out of the room-before anyone could notice me. Sadly, I didn't have my driver's license yet to be able to speed my way home. Even if I did, it'd be a bit useless, since I didn't have a car either. I'd have to take the tortuous, disgusting prison bus again- like every single day.

There wasn't much I could do about that though. My house was too far away to just walk. I was bolting through the crowd and towards my bus, when someone called my name over the buzz of students.

"(y/n)!"

I stopped at the sound of my name, which was something I never did. It was usually one of my classmates, coming to taunt me. But I recognized the voice and turned to its source.

"Dave!" I smiled, seeing his tall physique only a few feet away, in the parking lot near the bus pickup area. He gestured me over to where he was standing. I hesitated, not knowing if I should risk missing my only ride home, or chat with Dave- the only person that seemed to enjoy my existence. Making up my mind, I crossed the road over to Dave. He was standing next to a red pick up truck, all beat up and worn out.

I was breathless from ducking and dodging the mass of students riding the bus. "Hey, I gotta catch the bus, what's up?" I asked hurriedly.

Dave blinked before stating, "Busses are lame, (y/n)."

I shrugged. "Yeah, but sadly, I have no other way home."

He smirked. "You do now."

I quirked a brow, "What?"

Dave patted the truck that was next to him, "Hop in."

"Uh, Dave, we've just met. I can't just go into the cars of people I've just met."

"Would you rather take the bus?"

I pondered for a moment.

Dave or bus? Dave or bus?

The bus has people on it. And people are bad.

Dave is Dave.

Do I trust him enough to give him my address?

...

...

Yes, yes I do.

"Alright let's go," I surrendered.

"Sweet."

Dave proceeded to open the door for me before hopping into the drivers seat.

"Address?"

"Wha- Oh! Yeah, it's 5176 Scarlet Lane."

He typed the address into his smartphone and started up the engine. The car trembled for a bit, before lurching into drive. The ride went smoothly, but the awkwardness between us could be cut with a knife.

"Soooo, how was your day?" I asked, hoping to make some, well, any sort of conversation.

"Eh, pretty shitty, but you know, I don't have to drive home to the sound of my own breathing for once," he chuckled.

"Pff, yeah."

"What about you?"

"Probably just as shitty, but I don't have to take the bus and making friends is pretty cool."

"Fuck yeah." He turned out of the parking lot, and onto the interstate. We had small chat, well, not really. We started from ranting about the assholes in school, to fangirling/fanboying about (f/b), to arguing about ships, and so on and so forth.

Finally, we pulled up at the familiar two story house on the end of Scarlet Lane.

"Alright, 5176," Dave sighed. It was obvious he was upset about being alone once again. I didn't want to leave either, but I had to go home.

An automated voice started up, "You have reached your-"

"Nope." He muted Siri for a short moment.

"Thanks for the ride home, Dave," I smiled, stepping out of the car and onto the gravel driveway. It was nearly sunset by now, and the warm oranges of the sun's rays illuminated my house. For some reason, my home seemed less inviting than the idea of staying with Dave.

"Anytime."

"See you tomorrow?"

Dave gave me a short nod, "Of course. What better way to spend the day than with a bunch of cheap whores and dumbfounded jocks?"

I laughed, "Haha! Right. I'll see you tomorrow, Dave."

"Later, (y/n)."

I shut the car door and gave him a short wave before walking inside. I looked behind myself briefly, to check if by any chance he was still there. Yet, he wasn't. I sighed. The minute I closed the door, I relaxed my body and melted against the wooden surface.

"(y/n)? Is that you?" A voice rang from the kitchen.

"Yeah, Mom," I replied, finding the source of the voice making dinner.

"You're home earlier than usual," she noticed.

"I got a ride from someone," I said nonchalantly.

"What? Who?" she asked curiously.

"Oh, I met this guy named Dave and he helped me out with some stuff and drove me home."

"You went home with a stranger?" She arched an eyebrow in question.

"Dave isn't a stranger."

"Hm," she contemplated, "I want to meet him. Maybe you could invite him for dinner."

"Oh god, do I have to?" I complained.

"Yes! No daughter of mine is driving home with someone I don't know!"

"Uggggggggghhhhhhh, fine," I groaned before turning a heel and heading to my room.

My room was pitch black before I flicked on the lights. The bed was still a mess, matching the rest of my room. The floor was littered with clothing and junk I probably didn't need, and my desk was covered with old cans of soda. My laptop had clearly been going off for a quite a while now, so I sat down at my desk and opened the cause of the noise.

turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering chumHandle [CH] at 4:38 PM

TG: yo

TG: (y/n)

TG: hey

TG: god i better have gotten the right chumhandle damnit

CH: Oh, hey!

CH: Sorry, I was talking to my mom.

TG: its cool

TG: sup

CH: Not much. What about you?

TG: not a lot

TG: just throwing down some sick beats

CH: Sounds cool p cool! :P

CH: So, off topic, but my mom wants you to come over for dinner?

TG: what

CH: She doesn't want me driving home with a "stranger" so she demanded that I invite you to dinner or something.

CH: And by demanded, I mean kindly requested

TG: alright then. when

CH: Are you busy Friday?

TG: nope

TG: its freedom friday up over here

CH: Haha, alright then. I'll see you then. Sorry about bringing it up randomly.

TG: nah its cool

TG: shit okay i gtg

CH: Okay, I'll talk to you later!

TG: later

turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering chumHandle [CH]

I sighed and closed my laptop. I ran my hand through my [insert hair color] locks.

Friday.

Dave's coming Friday.

...

I gotta clean my room.