Supernova Souls - Ryan Upchurch

-14-

Delilah sat slumped over in the drivers seat of her old Ford with her chin in her hand, the cool metal of her grandma's diamond ring on her middle finger pressing against her warm face oddly soothing. The truck was quiet and hot, the complete opposite of what she wanted right now—cool air flowing through the half broken vents and the loud sound of her exhaust—The only noise inside the cab was from her annoying younger brother's Offroad Outlaws truck zooming over the sand on his phone, and the pissed "awh, shit!"'s he'd let out after flipping his truck on its roof.

She let her foot slip out of the cab with an annoyed huff. "Will you shut the hell up over there?" Delilah mumbled. Her tired eyes searched the bare road for any sign of one specific white Chevy, yet finding none.

Although, she could hear Stitches.. Just not see Stitches.

"No, actually, I won't." The young boy said with a smirk she could almost hear in his amused tone.

"Well, you need to." She rolled her eyes even though he couldn't see. "Shut the fuck up."

"Tell that to Max then." He retorted, glaring down at the silver 2nd gen Ram on his small phone screen. "He's the one that's makin' noise."

"Stop actin' like you're six, you're sixteen."

"Sixteen and a half, thank you very much."

Delilah scoffed and shifted in her seat so she could see Zach properly. Once her eyes had landed on the young brunette, and his landed on her, she shot him the deadliest glare she had mastered from her father. He shrugged, a smirk on his annoying, freckled face. His eyes trailed to something behind her out the open door and his eyebrows raised in what she could only assume was curiosity.

"What?"

"Hey, look, your boyfriend's here." Zach pointed at something behind her as the ground-rumbling sound of a big truck slowly came closer.. accompanied by the sound of a thick-treaded tire running over a curb.

Hey, at least it wasn't me this time. Delilah snickered, turning back around just in time to be met by the white paint of Ryan's pride and joy shimmering in the hot Tennessee sun as he threw it into park.

He rolled the passenger side window down and gave the girl in the drivers seat of her Excursion a sweet smile.

"Hey." Delilah smiled back, stepping out of her truck. She turned and looked at her brother, silently commanding him to follow her as she closed the door, locking it with her key.

"What happened to the Excursion?" Ryan asked as Delilah climbed into Stitches with her purse strewn over her shoulder, looking a little like a mess—but to him, a cute one.

She shrugged as she got sat down, leaving her door open so Zach could get into the back of the extended cab. "Gave up the ghost I guess, sumbitch just wouldn't start for me." She said as she buckled her seatbelt, ears finally tuning into what was happening on the radio. "Two young girls found dead at the bottom of Cheatham lake, authorities say there are currently a lot of unanswered questions."

"Naw, Fords just suck." Zach said, dragging the girl in the front seat out of her thoughts drilled into her head from the suspicious radio station. Delilah could tell he was holding in a laugh as he got settled in his seat with his phone still in hand, with his game paused.

"They do not!" She said, shooting him a death glare from what she could see of him in the rear view mirror that was curved towards Ryan. "Yeah they do, don't lie to yourself."

"Do not." Ryan butted in with a quick glance at the boy in the backseat through the rear view mirror. He used his left hand to roll up the passenger window, and his right to shift the truck into reverse.

"Yeah they do." Zach stared down at his phone as the radio station resumed the music, and the annoying sounds of his truck on his phone mixed with the music. Although, since he was in someone other than his sister's truck, he turned his volume down to almost nothing just to be nice.

Willie Nelson played soundly on the radio, the sound no longer blasting throughout the speakers in the doors but he had instead lowered the volume to a lower, more soothing volume instead of the usual half headache inducing volumes in his truck.

Delilah allowed herself to let the old country soothe her on edge nerves as she watched the scenery pass by, the music drowned out her thoughts for the time being.

Her elbow rested on the door, chin on her open palm while she leaned back into the comfy seats with a sigh. How was his truck more comfortable than hers, but also older? It didn't make sense in her head. Newer trucks have more features, so why wasn't her slightly newer one better? It's a Chevy, duh, they're better than Fords. The voice of her grandpa rung in her ears, causing a little chuckle to fall from her lips that the music hid.

"On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again.." Ryan's raspy singing voice mixed with the sound of On The Road Again playing on the radio and Delilah pressed her lips together in a small smile while her head fell back against the soft headrest. She closed her eyes to keep the bright sun out of them, yet she could still see the brightness that tried to keep her eyes from peace. She squeezed them tighter in hopes to keep the light at bay.

"The life I love is buildin' shitty trucks with my friends!" Zach sung at the top of his lungs in the backseat like a banshee on crack, laughing as he looked out the windshield with a shit eating grin on his face.

"Idiot." Delilah bit her lip as she suppressed a giggle at the young boy's antics, shaking her head at his reflection in the dark windshield.