I stand still, until the tires behind me come to a holt. I await Tate's wining, lost puppy voice. 'get in then,' a cold tone. I turn to see his clearly annoyed face peering over his car window. I walk over in petty silence, making no eye contact what so ever. 'the least you could say is thanks', he remarks. The nerve. 'for what? Dragging me out here to "catch up" and then proceeding to call me a bitch before refusing to take me home until i resorted to walking?' i look him dead in the face, 'yeah thanks a lot, Tate, thanks a lot' i roll my eyes. He clearly gets a rise out of pissing people off. He doesn't say anything in response, instead, he just starts up the car and begins to drive.
we've been driving for about 1 and 1/2 hours and there is still no sign of shops. 'what will our parents think of they found out that we skipped school to come out here together?' i said, in a tired daze. He waited a moment. 'i guess we will find out, when we are home'. He holds his cold tone.
'you don't have to be so miserable when talking to me, Tate,' i look over at his unimpressed expression, 'You're the douche who made all of this happen'. He says silent. I roll my eyes and look elsewhere.
We are passing through a forest, filled with tall trees, dark as far as the eye can see, and no human life in sight. I notice that the sky is beginning to darken, and i feel a cold drop of rain fall onto my face. 'it's raining'. Tate looks to the sky, before pressing a button to put the roof up. It doesn't work. The rain continues to invade the interior of Tate's car, leaving droplets dripping of the leather seats. The car begins to lose its pace. The headlights turn off. We come to a sudden stop.
A brief moment of silence washes over us as we come to the realisation that the car is out of gas. 'Oh no.. oh no no no no no..' Tate says, grabbing his head, in frustration. I don't buy it. We can't be stranded. Not here, not now. Not with him. 'Stop messing with me' i finally say. He turns to me, with sharp eyes, the almost lethal rain pelting down at an inhumane speed,
'I wouldn't stop in the middle of nowhere, and get soaked, just to play a trick on you, Candice,' his eyes are filled with resentment, 'the world doesn't revolve around you'.
The now heavy rain is beating down onto us, leaving his hair soaked and messy, and mine frizzed and dripping. He jumps out of the car and slams the door shut. 'This piece of shit!' he shouts before booting the side of the car as a result of his anger. Talk about anger issues. This was his fault. He shouldn't have spontaneously taken a trip to some random mountain out of town. He has only himself to blame.
I take out my phone, in attempt to call someone, anyone. No service. I can barely see my phone screen under the hundreds of rain droplets falling out of the sky at an alarming pace.
'What are we going to do?' I shout over the heavy rain. Tate is stood in the darkness, his jacket over his head, as if he's colder than a girl in a cropped top.. such a dick. He finally moves over to the car and tries forcing the convertibles roof down. 'come on you piece of junk..' he mutters to himself. I walk over to the other side and begin forcing it down myself.
Eventually, the roof comes down, and me and Tate hurry inside. 'Thanks..' he murmurs. We are both sat in the back of the car, soaked, and quivering. It's about 2:50PM. 'The nearest gas station is about 40 minutes away..' he sounds distressed,
'we have no service..and it's not like i can push this entire car for 40 minutes straight'.
This is a literal disaster. We are stranded in a pitch black forest, with no one to call and nowhere to go, not to mention the fact that i'm with the most useless person ever in this situation. I just want to be at home.
We sit in silence for about 20 minutes. Tate is in deep thinking, and i'm sat worrying. What will my mum say? This is not going to end well. I finally break the silence, 'We have to be home before 4PM, remember, we are supposed to be having tea together'. He doesn't acknowledge my words. Instead, just holds a blank expression.
He jolts up suddenly. 'the boot'. he sounds like he's been enlightened. 'what?' i say, confusion guiding my words. 'We have gas! In the boot' He scuttles up from his seat and heads out the car door. I hear the boot of the car open up, and Tate fills his convertible up with gasoline. Had he known this entire time?
The rain is still hammering down, creating splatters on the ground. The sky is still dark grey. Our surroundings still darkened by the shadows of the forest, and the lack of sunlight from the sky.
He climbs back into the car, and begins to start it up. He turns the key swiftly and urgently over and over, each time the car makes a loud revving noise, trying to power up. We begin to lose hope.. until. The headlights switch on.
The radio is playing, and a sophisticated lady is speaking. 'A red warning storm has been put into place for multiple states,' Me and Tate listen, intrigued, ' If you are in one of these following states, please take cover, inside, and avoid leaving the house at all costs'. The radio turns to static, and me and Tate sit in silence. Horror. 'Shit..' he mumbles, 'shit, shit, shit..'.
Tate pulls back his gear stick, before speeding down the dimly lit, and rain covered road. I just want to be at home, with my mum.. not with some guy who doesn't even care about anyone but himself. I can feel my eyes growing heavy. This day has been a tiring one. I allow myself to relax, since we are safe, and on our way home. I feel my body losing all movement, and my consciousness slowly drifting away. I fall to sleep.
I feel sudden small taps of cold on my face. 'Candice, Candice wake up, we're here'.
