The Silent Photographer

Chapter Five

I was looking at Ashton with wide eyes. There was no way in hell that he was getting me to ride that metal deathtrap. I shook my head no again and he let out a sigh. "Isabelle, it's going to be fine. Look I know my truck doesn't look that great what with the peeling paint and that rusty bit over there. But she's in great shape." he said tapping the hood which dislodged something. We stared at each other for a moment before he popped the hood to make sure it wasn't anything important.

"So, um...it should be fine. ...I think." he mumbled closing the hood. I gave him a look and pointed at the passenger side door that was held closed with duct tape. "Oh, yeah you're going to have crawl through the driver's side to get over there. Try not to get caught on the gear shift." he said as he opened the door for me. I once again shook my head and I think he was getting frustrated with me at this point. "If you won't get in the truck, then how are we supposed to get to your house?" he asked trying to be patient with me.

I motioned to my legs and then made a walking motion with my fingers. He gave me a blank stare for a moment before he said,  "I'm not walking to your house when I have a perfectly fine truck right here.". I pulled my whiteboard out of my bag and wrote, 'Ashton, it is literally falling apart!'

"But, it will get us where we need to go without breaking down...probably."

'You are not helping.'

"Please just get in the truck. I promise you will be fine." he said practically pleading at this point. I gave him a hard stare for a few moments before finally giving in and climbing into the truck. Unfortunately, I didn't completely avoid the gear shift and it jammed into my ribs as I unceremoniously tumbled into the passenger seat. I clutched my side in pain as he jumped in. "So like...you good?" he asked and I sent him a death glare. "Yup, you're good." he mumbled as I buckled my seatbelt.

Once I was secure, he tried to start the truck and it stalled. He tried again, to the same result. I gave him a deadpan stare and he let out a nervous chuckle. "Sometimes it takes a couple tries to start." he said trying once more and the truck came to life. However, the second the truck started, his music was blasting which scared me and made me cover my ears. He fumbled with the volume and eventually turned it down. "Sorry about that, I occasionally listen to my music loud." he mumbled looking out his window.

I nodded in response and started fiddling with my seatbelt. He started reversing and kept glancing at me out of the corner of his eye, which made me break out in a cold sweat. His glances were making me nervous. "Oh look, a cheerleader fifty points." he said and I sent him alarmed look. We weren't actually going to run over someone right? Well, this was Ashton, I wouldn't put it past him, but I didn't want to be an accessory to vehicular manslaughter!

He saw the look I was giving him and he let out a huge sigh. "Stop worrying, it was a joke. No one is actually behind us. At least not at the moment anyway." he said putting the truck in drive. As we were leaving the school grounds, he caught sight of some guy and wrinkled his nose. "I would totally run that asshole over. Too bad I'm in a good mood today." he said exiting out of the parking lot. This was Ashton in a good mood?!

As we were driving, I started gripping the seatbelt. He glanced over at me again and saw my knuckles turning white from gripping the seatbelt so hard. I was terrified that the truck was going to explode or something, to be honest. It didn't sound normal which is why I assumed Ashton listened to his music so loud. It was to drown out the noise of his truck literally falling to pieces.

Anyway, as I was thinking of all of this, Ashton looked at me and said, "You can scream if you want. If you're that scared, feel free to just let it out.". After he said that, I sat there with a quizzical look on my face. I hadn't screamed in ages, and I wondered if I still could to be honest. I debated on whether I should try or not. I mean, he did say I could so he couldn't get mad about it. In the end, I decided to just let one out, and I did...kind of. It sounded more like a monotone ah with a question mark at the end. He turned back towards me with a questioning look on his face, to which I replied with turning to look out my window.