Roads and Romances | ✓

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

"There's the whole word at your feet." -Mary Poppins

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     Everett's house is huge.

     We were almost out of the town before he yelled –causing me to violently slam on the brakes – and said that he had to get clothes, like the spoiled kid I assumed he was from the start.

     The house is bigger than any house I've ever seen in my life. It's white with tall columns in the front, and it has what seems like dozens of windows on the front alone. The flower boxes hold a pink flower that I didn't recognize, and a fancy, black SUV sits in the driveway.

     "What are you waiting for?" Everett's voice snaps me out of my state of shock, and I immediately close my mouth. Looking up, I see a grin on his face. "Come on, my room's upstairs."

     I silently climb out the driver's seat and follow him to the door. He shoves his key in the lock and turns, glancing back at me.

     "I figured you would have a maid or something open the door for-" I stop in the middle of my sentence, my mouth falling open once again. A huge staircase is on the left, leading to God knows what upstairs. The foyer alone is bigger than my parents' living room. A beautiful, round wooden table sits in the middle of the tile floor. A vase filled with more flowers rests on the table, accompanied by a stray duster.

     "No, she's off for today," He says with a serious tone before throwing his keys on the table beside the vase. "For a maid, she never picks up after herself."

     "Well, she's too busy picking up after you," I mutter.

     Everett glares playfully at me for a moment. "I heard that."

     "What ever do you mean?" I say innocently with a Southern Belle accent before my smile falls. "Get your stuff and come on. We're already off schedule."

     "Oh, you have a schedule," He laughs, jogging upstairs. "You can follow me once you stop gazing at my foyer."

     I blush, reluctantly going upstairs with him. "I didn't really peg you as the rich boy type when we met, you know." I say sarcastically, but he doesn't notice my change of voice.

     "Oh, really? That's a first," He smirks over his shoulder at me. He reaches for the doorknob on his left and pushes the door open, walking inside.

     His room is completely different than any other part of his house at all. The bed is twin-sized with plain black pillows and comforter. A simple black dresser is shoved in the corner. A black desk is beside his bed, and a laptop is on top.

     "Wow," I exhale, biting my lip to hide a grin. "It's..."

     "Don't even finish that sentence," Everett chuckles, throwing some clothes, toiletries and more into a duffel bag. "I know, my room looks like it belongs to a rebellious, goth middle-schooler. But this was actually my first attempt to get my dad's attention. It didn't work, in case you were wondering."

     I sit on the edge of his bed, internally freaking out over the amount of time I've lost since meeting Everett. If we stay here much longer, my parents have such a better chance at finding me,and I will never let that happen.

     "So, uh, can you hurry? I need to get back on the road soon," I ask impatiently, glancing at my feet.

     "Why are you in such a rush, anyway?" He raises an eyebrow while zipping his bag. "Do you have someone to meet or what?"

     "No, no. Nothing like that. I just have a very strict schedule, and I don't want to mess it up anymore than it already is." I nervously rub my palms together, my eyes darting back and forth. They land on a picture frame on his desk. The photo inside is of a younger version of Everett hugging a skinny teenage girl with blonde hair. I almost question him about it, but my mind tells me that doing so will just take up more time.

     "I'm going to start the car. Just meet me there when you're finished packing, and, uh... just hurry," I rise from the bed and run back down the stairs.

     Once I'm out of the house, I rest my hands on my knees and exhale deeply. As soon as my anxiety about the time calms down, I climb into the driver's side of the truck just as Everett locks the front door of his house. He runs to the truck, tossing his duffel in the bed, and gets into the passenger seat.

     I turn the car around in his yard and quickly drive off the lot. "Whoa, there, speedster. Are we in a race?" He laughs, running a hand through his dark hair.

     "You could call it that." I mutter as I merge onto the highway.

     Once the traffic calms down, which takes about half an hour, I turn the volume of the radio down a bit and glance at Everett. "So, can I ask you a question?"

     He turns in his chair to face me, a huge grin forming on his lips. "Shoot."

     "I saw a picture on your desk," I begin hesitantly, "and I was wondering who the girl was."

     His jaw tightens and his smile falls quicker than it was formed. "Why do you want to know?"

     "No reason, really," I tell him, shrugging,"I was just wondering."

     "Don't ask about it again," He says sternly, facing the front. "Mind your own business, god."

     Anger boils in my chest, and I immediately pull over on the side of the road. "Get out of my truck."

     His eyes widen as he looks at me. "What?"

     "Get out of my truck, Everett. Now," I refuse to meet his eyes, instead focusing on the cars passing me.

     He mumbles something under his breath, exiting the car and slamming the door. I watch in the rear view mirror as he grabs his duffel bag. I put the truck in drive and speed away instantly.

     I only get a few miles out until I start to feel guilty for leaving him. It wasn't my business anyway, and it wasn't my place to ask. I shouldn't have just dropped him on the side of the road...

     I groan loudly, turning around, and start to search for him.

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     Hi again!

     As you can see from the title change, I am probably entering this into the Wattys, even if I have no chance of winning whatsoever - which I don't. Still, it's fun to see what it's like and experience whatever emotions and other things that the Wattys will bring. 

     Once again, please comment if you see any mistakes, such as spelling, past/present tense, or grammar, and I will fix them as soon as I can. I don't know if asking makes me sound like a lazy writer, but I do read over my chapters twice and fix what I find, but a lot of times I will miss things along the way. It will be a big help to me if you could take the time to mention any errors throughout the chapter, and I would really appreciate it.

     I again apologize for how short my chapters are, but it is due to pre-planning, because I had every major point organized and on a PowerPoint, so I just wrote what I saw on the plan. So, please forgive me, because personally, I know how short chapters suck. Again, so sorry!

     Dedicated to AshleyMOaks because of the covers she made me. Thank you lots!

     Happy Reading!

     -Mack