left myself at home

chapter eight: cal&claire

I'M STRUCK BY claire's most recent words.

"what?" i ask, confused by her sudden kindness.

"i have a car, well i just got one as an early birthday gift. and no one needs to know i'm only 16." she answers, but not my exact question.

"yeah but," i pause.

"why would you want to give me a ride?" i'm so confused.

"i don't know it's convenient for you." she continues.

"okay fine you don't have to come—"

"no." i cut her off.

"i'll come." i smile.

my plans are back on. well they took a little bit of navigation to precede, but they're happening. which is what matters.

"do you need anything before we go?" she asks as we exit the bathroom.

"i'm good; i'm ready."

i can not believe this is happening.

we head out the front and make our way to the student parking lot.

her car's a bright red chevrolet, and she clicks her assortment of keys to unlock it.

i pause for a moment, deciding whether to go in the back seat or not. but i decide why not sit in the front, claire's obviously not a demon if she offered to drive me in the first place.

the car pulls out of the lot and makes it way onto the highway. we ride for a few minutes in silence before passing the exit to get into the city.

"hey you missed the exit into boston—are you sure you're going the right way?" i asked confused.

"yes i know exactly where we're going." she says, sure of herself and keeping her eyes on the road.

"are you taking a different route or..."

"arrival time says 10:32." claire says with a smile.

"excuse me?" i'm a little lost.

claire sighs, then switches lanes.

"you're coming with me; to charlestown." she recalls, smiling again.

i realize i'm not going to boston, rolling my eyes ag being stuck in a confined car with claire blooms for the next 2 hours.

"fuck my life." i whisper to myself, looking up at the ceiling.

"can we just—" this is inconvenient.

"can you just turn the car around." i ask, reaching my hand for her phone with the address in charlestown.

"no." she says, clasping her hand around my wrist and turning to look at me.

she quickly turns back to the road, leaving me stranded in the passengers seat.

"while then can we at least play some music?"
i propose, trying to make the most out of this very bad situation.

i see claire smirk again, then hear a "of course!" sarcastic, but confirming.

"there's a plug in the glove compartment, you can hook up your phone."

i open the middle compartment to find a charger and slip my phone in.

i tap to spotify, beginning a random playlist from my library.

the shining by the neighborhood begins, and it's a smooth and calming song. quite different from the current situation.