Key To My Heart [Chase Davenport]

Chapter Two

Popping my earbuds in, I scroll through my phone. Mom is playing her type of music, and I am not really a fan of it. Actually, I hardly ever listen to music in general. My favorite things to listen to are podcasts, which is what I am looking for right now. Clicking on my downloads, I scroll through the whole list until I find it. A smile appears on my face as I lean back in the soft passenger seat, stretching my legs out as far as I could get them to go. 

The soft, soothing voice of the narrator is like music to my ears. This particular podcast is one of my favorites, and this is the second time listening to it. Even if I did know what was going to happen, I don't mind. It's really interactive and leaves me feeling happy after listening to it. 

I turn to face the window, watching as the trees and other cars fly by. Green is the main color I see, but there were flashes of red and blue and black and white. It's like a rainbow, this area of California is. Soft sunlight filters through the sunroof of our car. With a sigh, I smile to myself. This is going to be a great day.

And then something terrible happens. For some odd reason, my podcast stops playing. Looking back down my phone, my smile fades from my face. Something is wrong, but my phone lights up and works perfectly. The podcast is still playing even though I cannot hear it in my earbuds. I pull the headphone jack out of my phone before reconnecting it. I press play on the podcast but I still can't hear anything. 

"Is everything okay?" Mom asks, turning her music down. I look up at her, the frown still on my face. "Did your headphones break?"

"How'd you know that?"

She peeks at me out of the corner of her eyes and then focuses her gaze on the road. I can hear Rabbit in the backseat chattering softly, but I don't pay any attention to him. "I may have dropped them in the sink a week ago."

My mouth falls open and she shoots me a sad smile. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to buy you a new pair but then I got busy!" she says, shrugging. "I figured you had another pair, so I wasn't in a hurry."

"I don't have another pair." Dejectedly throwing the earbuds back into my purse, I flop back against my seat. I stare out the window yet again, but this time, I'm not so hopeful about the day. I notice a couple of dark clouds hanging around in the sky, proving my mood. A new song plays through the speakers, and from the first chord, I knew it was going to be a country song. My mom loves country music, but I cannot stand it. 

The music gets louder and my mom starts singing along to the song, nodding her head to the beat. I stare at her, knowing that she's doing that just to spite me. She knows how much I dislike this type of music, so she just wants me to suffer. "Do you hate me?" I ask, making Mom look at me. "You know I hate this music."

"I do not hate you." She laughs, shaking her head. Her blonde ponytail swishes back and forth across her back before settling on her shoulder. "I just need you to see how good country music is."

"It will never be good."

"That's what I say about classical music," Mom comments, making me gasp. How dare she make fun of my music? "You know I love when you play it on the piano, but I can't hardly listen to it whenever you play it."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I look away from Mom, closing my eyes. "I can't even look at you right now."

"Emmie!" she says, giggling. The light filters in through my eyelids, and the car slows down slightly. A smile works it way onto my face and I open my eyes, dropping my arms from my chest. "I knew you couldn't stay mad at me for long."

"Whatever." 

Rabbit chatters behind us, so I turn around slightly to look at him. He is staring straight at me, his brown eyes wide and agitated. I frown and reach out, sticking my fingers through the holes of the cage. "What's the matter, Rabbit?" He chatters again and then hops around the little cage, stopping at the far corner. He buries his head in the hay in the dark corner, making me laugh. "I don't think he's happy, Mom."