High Bridge | BXB

Chapter Thirty Seven

Kendall

"You sure you don't want me to help you drive?"

"I'm good, I don't want you driving."

We had been driving for six hours straight with no stops and it had began to rain hard. Nehemiah wasn't running off of that much sleep and if he happened to get drowsy behind this wheel on these slippery roads we probably wouldn't make it home.

If he wasn't going to let me drive he at least needed to rest.

"Can we stop by a gas station?" I asked.

"You gotta use the bathroom?"

I shook my head, "I want some snacks. I'm starting to get hungry."

"Let's stop at a restaurant or something then. I'm sure there's something coming up."

"But I'm not that hungry. I just want like some chips or something."

"But it's been a couple of hours since we ate. We could have a hot meal."

"I don't really want to be around extra people. I'd feel better just grabbing some quick snacks and move along."

Frustratedly he let out a sigh before he turned his head to look at me momentarily.

I thought he was going to stand on business like it always does, but he ended up agreeing.

His frustration didn't come from anything other than my lack of wanting to stop somewhere and eat a hearty meal.

He hated it when I fueled my body with junk food instead of real food.

I remember for a couple of weeks our junior year I was having a hard time making sure I was eating properly. I got busy with other things and like most people finding time to eat became hard and I didn't really care enough to eat well.

Like I said Nehemiah hated it and soon got tired of me eating all the processed food that had been going into my stomach.

Instead, he started forcing me to eat dinner with him every day. Whether he brought it to me before I ran off to do my activities after school or he was waiting for me in my room for me to return home, he made sure I ate.

It may not seem like much, but it meant a lot to me.

The drive to the nearest gas station was another ten minutes before he pulled over. Nehemiah handed me an umbrella from the back seat while he pulled the hood of his hoodie over his head.

When we entered the store the first thing I noticed was that it lacked customers. Me, Nehemiah, and the store owner were the only ones who occupied the store and the owner didn't seem too fond of us or the fact that we were bringing in the rainwater inside.

It's not like we can control the weather.

"Let's get our stuff and go." Miah whispered to me while he pretended to be oblivious to the store owner's mood.

I tried to give him a warm and apologetic smile for the mess but he still stared at me blankly.

Nehemiah held me by his side tightly as we walked down the aisle together. From my peripheral, I could see him look back at the front of the store a couple of times to make sure Mr. Grumpy pants at the front wasn't planning on doing something sketchy.

We went to the back of the store first where all the coolers were. Shockingly there were a lot of drink selections to choose from, but I already knew what I wanted.

I opened the cooler and retrieved my soda only to feel that it was only room temperature so it wouldn't even be that good.

I hated warm drinks, especially soda.