Part Eight

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"Zayn, look!" Scott yells behind me. I turn around to glare at him.

Scott is pointing into the distance. I squint, trying to make out what he's indicating.

When I see the truck coming down the road, a grin spreads across my face. I can't contain my excitement and start waving my arms wildly.

"You weren't this excited for me," Scott deadpans, rolling his eyes. "Glad to know where your loyalties lie."

"Can you cut it out, please?" I snap. "This isn't the time to argue about my feelings. Help is arriving."

A thought suddenly hits me. Could this actually be help? We're in the middle of nowhere. What if this person is dangerous?

"But wait..." I voice my concern. "What if this guy is a robber or worse, a kidnapper? I'm not ready to be shipped away or killed."

"Oh no," Scott says, shaking his head. "You can't back out now. This might be our only chance! Do you see any other vehicles or human figures around here?" He dramatically spreads his arms wide and turns in a circle.

I hate when he's right. When I don't respond, he says proudly, "yeah, I thought so."

The grey truck pulls up and stops for us. We quickly run to the other side to approach the driver safely.

A man with a long, thick beard and a baseball cap smiles at us. Scott grins back. "Hi, we're lost," he greets. "Are you on your way to California, perhaps? Or do you maybe have a cellphone we could borrow?"

He grins, revealing a missing front tooth. I grimace at that. Yikes. "¿Hacia dónde se dirigen?"

Scott's grin falls from his face, and he immediately looks at me with panic in his voice. "Do you speak Spanish?" he asks urgently. "Please tell me you do!"

"I took it back in ninth grade," I admit with a shrug. "But I can't quite catch what he's saying."

Spanish class had never been my forte. I struggled through it multiple times, barely passing. Glancing down the road, I scratch the back of my head nervously.

"Well?" Scott presses, his brown eyes fixed on me impatiently.

"What do you mean?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion.

He snorts loudly and jabs a finger toward the man in the truck. "What is he saying?" Scott demands. "Ask him if he's heading to California."

I take a deep breath, struggling to recall my rusty language skills. "Um, California?" I tentatively ask the man, hoping to convey our destination.

The man chuckles, shaking his head. "No, no California. Voy a la ciudad cercana. ¿Quieren venir?"

I grasp onto a few recognizable words and nod slowly. "He's going to the nearest town," I translate, feeling a hint of accomplishment. "He's asking if we want to come."

Scott visibly relaxes. "Yes, I want to come for you, Zayn." I glare at him, he clears his throat. "Yes, we want to come," he affirms eagerly, nodding his head emphatically.

I turn back to the man. "Sí, queremos venir," I reply, hoping I haven't butchered the pronunciation too badly.

He nods and gestures for us to climb in. "Suban."

"I don't know," I say, running my fingers through my hair. "How do I..." Trying to form a sentence in my head, I turn my attention to the man. "¿A dónde vas?"

He looks ahead and points down the road. "A la frontera de México, cerca de San Diego."

Scott's eyes grow wide, and he grins upon hearing "San Diego." "Sí, take us," he says eagerly.

I shake my head at him. "Scott, I don't think that's what he—"

He completely ignores me, grabs my wrist, and rushes around the back of the truck to get into the back seat. It's surprisingly high and uncomfortable.

The man still has a grin on his face as he throws his hand in the air. "¡Vámonos!"

Scott does the same, smiling. "¡Vámonos!"

And here I am, stuck sitting at the back of the truck, feeling awkward. The man takes a sip of his drink, and I can't help but think we might die here. He's drinking while driving.

"Do you think he understood what you were asking?" Scott asks, uncertainty written all over his face.

"You see why your impulsive decisions drive me crazy?" I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. "We're sitting on a truck, driving who knows where, all because you heard 'San Diego,' aren't we?" I add, rolling my eyes. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Just as I say this, a bird flies into the window, and I let out an ear-piercing scream. Scott chuckles, and the man jerks next to me, glancing at me. "No te preocupes, era solo un pájaro," he reassures me.

"Oh," I nod, not understanding his words.

Scott scoffs and leans back against the seat. "This is a great road trip," he says sarcastically. "Already hitching a ride with a Spanish-speaking dude! Who knows, maybe he's saying he'll take us to the border!"

"We're as good as dead," I repeat my earlier statement, looking at Scott. "We'll be fine, you said. Don't worry about it, you said," I quote back to him what he said in the car. "Fun, isn't it?"

"Okay, you can shut it now," he mumbles, closing his eyes. "I'm gonna take a nap. Enjoy practicing your Spanish."

I roll my eyes. My life just got more chaotic. But of course, it did.

Perfect.

As we hit a particularly rough patch of road, I cling to the side of the truck for dear life. "I didn't sign up for off-roading!"

Scott laughs uproariously. "Come on, Zayn, where's your sense of adventure?"

"Buried under the fear of falling off this truck!" I shout back, my voice barely audible over the engine.

Hours pass in this chaotic manner. We share snacks scavenged from the depths of Scott's backpack, narrowly avoid low-hanging branches, and make futile attempts at navigating using a crumpled map Scott found in the glove compartment.

"Just admit it," Scott says with a mischievous grin. "This is the best road trip ever."

I have to admit, as absurd as it is, there's something oddly thrilling about being at the mercy of a truck and a friend's impulsive sense of adventure. Maybe, just maybe, this will make for a great story someday—if we survive it.

"Fine," I concede with a reluctant smile. "But next time, I'm picking the mode of transportation."

Scott chuckles. "Deal. Now, let's see where this truck takes us!"

And so, we continue our unpredictable journey, laughing at the absurdity of it all, and wondering what other unexpected twists this road trip has in store for us.

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A/N:

I don't speak Spanish, so sorry if I miss interpreted what I said. I used Google translate.