Chapter Song: Playing to Loose - Lemaitre

     Five hours later, we were almost entering Maryland.

Instead of Nicholas behind the wheel like he had originally planned once we reached Virginia, lord and behold, Preston Torez was sitting beside me in the driver's seat.

It was 5:30 PM and Nic and Kat were both sound asleep in the back.

I on the other hand, forced myself to stay awake. Knowing that Preston was in control of the car, my mind and body refused to allow any sign of sleepiness to show.

I had to be alert for all of us when it comes to Torez and his driving.

The pop songs that flowed out of the speakers was enough to distract me.

Preston was currently navigating the car down a byway, a car whizzing by every so often.

The maroon cotton blanket currently covering my body made me want to sink futher into the seat.

Cool air was coming out of the air vents, making it impossibly difficult to stay wide-eyed and awake.

Much to my dismay, the lack of sleep from the night before was slowly starting to catch up to me.

I mentally cursed myself for choosing now to want to shut down.

I neglected my sane self's thoughts, deciding snuggling into my blanket wouldn't be all that bad.

Little did I know that one action would make me shamefully doze off for an hour.

* * * *

     When my eyes fluttered open, I immediately leaned up, scoring the environment. The long winding roads I had fallen asleep on were nowhere in sight.

Instead, we were barrelling down a boulevard, the open country fields replaced with other speeding cars and sidewalks dotted with people along the roads and treelines.

Panic quickly set into the pit of my stomach.

"Where the hell are we?" I barked, snapping my death glare in Preston's directions.

One hand was lazily resting on the steering wheel while the other was resting outside of the window.

"Sh," he whispered, nodding towards the backseat where my best friend and boyfriend were still peacefully sleeping.

"Dude, where the hell are we?" I repeated, my voice one octave lower.

His eyes glanced over at mine for a split second. "Virginia Beach," he says nonchalantly, looking into his side mirror before sliding into another lane.

A moment later, he pulled the car into a half packed parking lot, a few people wandering around.

Without a word, I watch as he turns off the engine and goes to unbuckle his seatbelt.

"What are you doing?" I question wearily, uncertain if I wanted to know.

He slowly opened the driver's side door, about to step out when he stopped mid-movement.

He looked down at the hand I had slapped on his forearm.

I quickly pull away, pushing my cotton blanket to the floor in the process.

"What does it look like? We're making a quick stop," he said slowly, as if he was talking to a toddler.

Rolling my eyes, I mutter some unflattering words under my breath as he steps out of the car, looking back at his girlfriend.

"Well?" He says, tearing his eyes away from the brunette to look at me.

With my arms firmly crossed, I quirk an eyebrow. "Well?" I mock, irritation bubbling in the pit of my stomach.

Preston follows my previous actions and rolls his chocolate brown eyes. "Are you coming or what?"

"What about--" He didn't give me time to ask anymore questions as he slammed the car door shut.

Not having another option, I forcefully push open my door, allowing a gust of chilly wind to slap me in the face.

I slip out of the car before turning back around and grabbing my cotton blanket.

By the time I rounded the car to meet Preston, the blanket was wrapped around my shoulders, acting as a cape in a way.

"What a wuss," he states, eyeing the blanket disdainfully.

I decide to ignore his insult, instead deciding to take in the scenery.

We were standing in a parking lot that was right in front of yards of sand, an enormous body of water following it.

"A beach?"

He says nothing, only offers me a dumbfounded look.

A minutes later, he starts to trek down to the sand, his eyes trained on the seemingly never ending ocean.

Following suit, I pull the blanket tighter around me, rushing to keep up.

"Wait, wait." I immdeidly stop, a realizion hitting me like a ton of bricks.

"We're at a beach--in Virginia. Meaning we're on the coast."

Preston slowly turns around to face me, a small frown on his lips.

Clapping slowly, he says "Bravo, you know where--I don't know--only every beach is located. Well done, Dolly."

His sarcasm was getting to me, and the last thing I wanted to do was make the slowly fading bruise on his jaw even more evident. At least in front of other people.

"We're supposed to be going through Virginia, not towards its coast!" The indignation in my tone didn't go unnoticed by him.

"Relax, we're only about three hours behind schedule."

The fact that he took it upon himself to change the route we had all agreed on days ago made me even more livid.

"So you take it upon yourself to make this decision? In case you didn't know, there are three other people who should have had a say in this, you fucker!" I could feel my eyebrows scrunch together, my lips in a tight line.

Preston shoves his hands into the front pockets of his jeans before responding. "Dolly, come on, don't be so dramatic. We'll get to New York eventually."

I scoff lightly, turning my gaze to the people milling around.

"Besides, isn't going on a road trip supposed to be about sightseeing and visiting famous places and shit?"

He had a point. But still, this trip was not about 'sight seeing.' It was about getting to fucking New York, damn it!

"Whatever," I ended up muttering, done with this conversation.

Preston must have felt the same way because he started walking again.

We were soon dragging our feet through the sand in complete silence.

Why we even came here? Only Preston knew the answer to that.

I parted my lips, having gained the courage to ask.

But I didn't even have to.

"I use to come here during the summer. For six years, without fail."

There were tons of questions swirling in my head, but I settled on keeping them to myself.

"My grandparents used to live here. They use to drag me to this beach almost everyday. Even when all I wanted to do was sleep the day away to drown out my pain."

I didn't have to ask what he was talking about. All of Highland Academy--hell all of Darlo, Texas knew what had happened.

One day almost seven years ago, Preston's mother had passed away. She was a well-known lady. After all, she created one of the largest corporations in the country, only at age twenty-nine.

Everyone in town knew of her as the struggling single mother of an eleven year old delinquent. Until she somehow managed to become a multimillionaire in three years time.

Needless to say, everyone was shocked and heartbroken about the young lady who had died in a hit and run accident one eerie night, leaving her one and only son an orphan as far as anyone knew.

If there was one thing that made me pity this boy, it was that.

I was getting highly concerned as to why he was telling me--not his favorite person--any of this.

Before I could form a coherent sentence, he continue.

"They acted as if her death didn't hurt them. They hid their pain to be there for me. Even if I wanted to, I could never repay Willow and Burt Torez."

When I looked over at him, there was a sad smile playing on his lips.

Taking a deep breath, I slow to a stop right in front of him.

With the blanket still wrapped around my shoulders, I bite my lip and look up at him.

All signs of the cocky bastard Preston gone.

"Why are you telling me this?"

He didn't seem all that surprised at my words. Only offered a small grin.

"There was one thing that my grandparents had told me right before they died. I'll never be able to forget it."

I nod, surprisingly attentive to his words.

"Resentment or grudges do no harm to the person. They only eat at you until it's too late."