Somewhere In The Middle

Stranded With Gummy Bears

"This is completely your fault, Robin!" Abbee growled trudging on the side of the road at 12:30 AM. She hugged herself while occasionally glaring behind her at Robbie.

"What do you mean, my fault?! YOU'RE the one who wouldn't stop when I needed to pee! If we stopped then we could have filled up on gas and then this wouldn't been happening at all!"

"I didn't stop because we had already stopped four times before!" Abbee snapped back, "You were supposed to fill the tank the last time and you didn't! And why didn't you? Because you were too distracted buying five large bags of gummy bears!"

"Well...think of it this way. If I didn't buy all those bags of gummy bears then we'd be starving right now. So...you know, it could be worse." Robs shrugged popping a red gummy bear in his mouth as he walked.

"Oh wow—yeah, well think of it THIS way—if you had actually filled the car with gas like I had asked you to then we wouldn't have broken down in the middle of nowhere at night, and there would be no need for gummy bears to keep us alive!"

Abbee held her phone up in the air before groaning aggravated. There was still no wifi connection meaning they had no way to contact help—or receive any messages on if anyone's noticed their late arrival and were looking for them.

"If this wasn't actually scary—I'd make a joke about how the last time we were alone together we got stuck in a high school band room's closet...and now we're stuck trudging next to a rarely traveled road at night with spooky woods on either side of us." Robbie blabbed eating a yellow gummy bear then making a face at his least favorite flavor. "Man, I wish they'd just make gummy bears without the yellow ones...they really are the weakest flavor."

"Robin." Abbee snapped turning on her heel—her eyes blazing with annoyance and anger. "Do you not understand how dangerous of a situation we're in right now?! Because all you've been doing is talking my ear off about your candy! This situation is not like before when we were stuck in a closet—we're lost in a place we've never been before, far away from home—AT NIGHT BY THE WOODS! Anything could be out there! So I suggest you start taking this more seriously!"

Robbie watched her in silence not speaking until she turned and started walking again. He sighed and tucked his gummy bears away in his backpack.

"You know, I do understand how scary this is...I'm not stupid..." He mumbled knowing how everyone just assumes he acts the way he does because of his autism and not "understanding" why someone is feeling the way they're feeling. But contrary to what the people around him may think sometimes, he does get it and chooses to act a certain way to stay positive to help himself.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean it like that." Abbee sighed but kept marching. "I'm just freaked out is all."

"I am too." Robbie told her, "But if I can stop myself from going into a meltdown right now..I'm going to. And smiling and talking about my gummy bears helps me, and maybe it'll help you too. I know this is super bad and dangerous but..we can still smile and laugh..."

"Y-You're right. Again, I'm so sorry...after the day we've had...and the huge fight with our other friends...I just want to get back home..."

Robbie nodded remembering earlier in the day and the events that transpired. Long story short, Rayn got into a huge argument with Abbee over college related stuff, so the friend group's trip ended up getting cut short as a result. Caden got notified by Cady that his little brother Archie broke his arm as well.

Basically, Erik gave Caden and Rayn a ride home a few hours earlier. Rayn didn't want to ride with Abbee due to the fight. And feeling bad that Abbee would be riding alone home, Robbie offered to ride with her.