stevie hopkins
-  march 21, 2018 -

"SO," CHELSEA SLID INTO THE chair next to me. Tossing her textbook on the table, the thump echoed through the almost empty library. I say almost, as the few people who were there turned to look. She smiled with a pen hanging from her lips like an unlit cigarette, "any plans for spring break? Everyone from the club is going down to the coast, have you decided whether or not you're going?"

            I ran a hand through my hair and moved my attention away from my math and to Chelsea sprawled out in the chair in front of me, "Well," I put my pencil in the spine of the book, "I was planning on going home and seeing my family, but I can't really drive with this bum foot."

            "I'll take you," she spoke without a pause.

            "You want to spend your spring break driving me around? I thought everyone from the club was going to the coast. That would include you."

            She shrugged her shoulders with a smile, "Can't afford it. But, trust me, you'd be saving me from sitting around this quiet, little town all by my lonesome."

            I rolled my eyes. She was so dramatic, "You don't know where I live."

            "What? Is that classified information?"

            A laugh escaped me and a few heads turned to glare at our table, "Cottage Grove."

            She stopped for a moment and furrowed her brows, "Where?"

            "It's a quiet, little town," I laughed. "Actually, it makes Kensington feel like a big city."

            Chelsea laughed; her hands covered her face. A sly grin pulled at my lips, but I still ducked when I saw a group get up to leave. There was nothing like being the person that made her laugh like that, "Kensington is far from 'big city'. One day, I'll take you to Vegas... Or maybe New York. Those are big cities."

            I looked down at the homework to hide the smile forming on my lips. Most people who weren't from small towns never truly appreciated the beauty and simplicity of it all.

            "What do you guys do in Cottage Grove? You know, besides tip cows and climb water towers?"

            I looked up and caught her electric stare, "Not much. The internet is slow and gossip is fast. But, hey, what can you do?"

            She laughed, her hand slamming on the table. That was one of the things I liked about her; her laugh always involved her entire body. It was as if every muscle and atom laughed with her. Her laugh brightened the whole world around her. The colors were brighter and the air fresher somehow.

            It was as if for a split second I got to experience the world she lived in every single day. The one she made sound so beautiful when she spoke of it. The one she wrote poetry about. The one so full of life and meaning.

            "But, really," I smiled, shaking my head, "you really don't have to. Spring break starts tomorrow. We'd have to pack and everything."

            "I want to!" Her hand dropped on top of mine, "I'm more than curious about the place you were raised. Where we come from has so much to do with who we are as a person and you—you fascinate me."

            Sucking in a breath, I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, "Oh... Well, okay then. If you would really like to."

            "I do. I mean, let's just pack now. It should only take us, what? An hour or two?"

            I laughed, but when she didn't, I stopped, "You're serious? You want to leave today?"

            "Why not?" She smiled, "Today's basically the start of spring break and you're spending it in the library...studying."

            "I had class," I said almost defensively.

            "So did everyone else, but I don't see any of them here. Do you?" She laughed hard that time, "I mean, how long would it take us to get to Cottage Grove?"

            "About a day."

            "See!" She jumped from her seat, "It's perfect time then."

            "Yeah," I started to pack up my books, "okay."

            With every item I packed in my suitcase, something in me seemed to soar. I'd never in my life been a spontaneous person. That wasn't me. That was Noel and Damion and Christopher and Monica. Not me. Never me.

            Maybe this is why they did it. That little jolt that flies through their veins with every step and every touch. The sense that you could shoot lighting through your very fingertips if you so wished. It was exhilarating.

            I grabbed my phone more than once to send a text through a chat with my siblings in it, but every time I did, I ended up putting the phone back down. I reminded myself that I was being spontaneous. I was going to keep a hold of the lighting as long as possibly I could.

            Opening the door to the light knocking, I looked at Chelsea. The confident girl from the library was gone without a trace. She fidgeted from one leg to the other with an extremely small duffle bag on the ground by her feet. Trying to talk, she eventually waved me off.

            Laughing, I looked at her bag once again, "Is that all you're going to bring?"

            "I don't think I'll need anything else. I got all the essentials," she tapped the bag with her foot. She looked nervous. This was her idea and somehow, I ended up being the one who was over the moon with excitement.

            I shook my head, grabbed my bag and hauled it out the door. Slinging my arm around her shoulder, I twirled her around. She laughed and picked up her bag. We tossed them into the trunk and slid into the car with somewhat ease.

            "Do you care if I play music?" That was her first question when she started the car and I laughed. It wasn't which way do I drive or do we stop for the evening somewhere? It was simply if we could listen to music.

            My first instinct was to say, hell yes. This car was far too quiet and I wasn't even sure what to say. If I should say anything at all. This was one of those things that I didn't think even the internet could help me with at that point. I was in a sink or swim situation. After all, we had a long way to go.

            I simply nodded my head, "Yeah," I had to clear my throat when it cracked, "okay. That sounds great actually."

            She sighed happily into her seat, "Awesome."

            Turning up the volume, she plugged her phone into a cord stringing all the way to her stereo system. When a solid beat was coming from the speakers, Chelsea turned to me, her hair twirling around her neck, "Okay. Where to?"

            "I figured we could drive to Rycker first. It's about halfway and then we could either just sleep in the car or try to find a hotel there. It's pretty small as well, but I know they have at least a couple. That's where Ethan and I usually stay when we go to see our parents. We stop on the way there, but drive the entire way back."

            "Sounds like at least some sort of plan."

            It was tough for the first little bit. I barely sang along to the music. It was really just mouthing the words. Chelsea took a little less time to get comfortable. She bobbed her head and yelled the songs she knew. She would look at me and just burst out laughing before turning back towards the road.

            We reached Rycker just as the sun was dipping behind one of the mountains in the distance. I could practically feel the snow on my skin that covered the tops of them. Chelsea pulled into one of the first Inns we came across. It wasn't the one Ethan and I normally stayed at, but then I smiled because we were being spontaneous.

            It was this... Cozy... Little place with pink doors and white window shutters. The paint of the building could have saved it... If they hadn't picked out the baby blue that they had. It was almost like a bad fever dream. I think I knew why Chelsea picked it. It was comical to actually look at.

            We grabbed our bags from the trunk and headed into the office. A small, mousy woman sat behind the desk. Reading glasses sat on her nose and she flipped mindlessly through a magazine even though she had a book resting open next to her. I glanced between her and Chelsea, but chose to say nothing instead.

            Chelsea walked straight up to the desk without a second thought, "Can we get a room for the evening."

            The woman didn't even look up from her magazine, "I rented out my last double room about two hours ago. The only thing left is a single.

            Her voice was almost exactly as I would have expected it to be. It sounded like what you'd think a grape would sound like if it could talk. She squeaked, but somehow still managed to drag out every single vowel she said.

            "Well, we'll just—"

            "We can take a single." Chelsea spoke up. My head snapped towards her. Share a bed? We could not share a bed. That couldn't happen. How was I supposed to sleep or even concentrate on sleeping with her next to me? I wouldn't get even a wink of shut eye.

            I shook my head, "That's okay. Chels. I'm sure other places will have a double."

            "Steve, we can share a bed. It's not that big of a deal." She smiled, "Can we take the single?"

            "Sure can." The woman handed us a paper to sign. It was simple stuff really. Just that we agree that the room is no smoking and that we'll be charged if we break anything. We sign the paperwork and the lady takes Chelsea's card information. I offered to pay cash, but Chelsea wouldn't even hear it.

            The woman handed us a key to our room and it was an actual key; not one of those keys that looked like a credit card. We left the office as quickly as we could. Did we make fun of the woman after? A little bit, but she didn't even look at us the entire time. We could have easily lied about who we were.

            After showers and dinner from a gas station, we settled into bed. She chose the left and therefore I took the right. Normally, I slept on the right side of the bed, but who was I to argue with her?

            She flipped back the covers and once she was in place pulled the sheets back over her. She wiggled down and rolled onto her side. Her back was facing me. Maybe this was going to be easier than I thought in the beginning.

            I crawled under the covers and scrunched my nose. The sheets were scratchy and the mattress was hard as a rock. Perhaps it wasn't going to be Chelsea that kept me up all night long. After I flipped off the light, I turned to my side and let our backs face each other.

            Then it was quiet. It was almost too quiet. Sure, it was supposed to be quiet so we could sleep, but something was just eating away at me.

            "Chels?" I spoke into the dark.

            She laughed and I could feel her moving, "Yes?"

            "I just wanted to say thank you."

            "For what?" She asked.

            "For taking me home and everything. My family is really important to me and... And I was really upset that I couldn't come up this week. I just wanted to let you know."

            "Well, you're welcome."

            "And my family... They're... They're a little much for most people. I just wanted to give you a heads up."

            She yawned, "Noted."

            She wiggled around on her side and her feet tangled up with mine. I stiffened, but didn't make any attempt to move. Sooner than I thought there was snoring coming from her side of the bed. I held back a laugh as well as I could. This trip was going to be an interesting one for sure.