Roads and Romances | ✓

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

"Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world." -Gustave Flaubert

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     One word to describe dinner with my parents is awkward.

     All they do is ask me questions about my trip. I answer all of them politely and patiently, intentionally leaving Everett out of the story as a whole to not worry my parents.

     "So you just drove with no destination?" Myfather says, raising an eyebrow.

    Biting my lower lip, I nod slowly and push some corn around my plate. "Basically."

     Sighing, he leans back in his chair, putting his hands on the back of his head. "I'm just glad you got back safely."

     Standing from the table, I carry my plate and silverware to the sink and put them in. "I'm going to my room. Ireally need to catch up on my sleep from the trip."

     "Alright, dear," My mother replies."Goodnight."

     I jog upstairs, locking myself in my room once again,and pull my laptop out from under my bed. As soon as it starts up, Ilog into my e-mail, opening one from Everett.

     The email has a video attachment, and when I click onit, Everett's face appears on the screen. It appears to have been recorded in the hotel room, late at night.

     His voice is a hushed whisper as he begins. "Hello, my name is Everett, if you've already forgotten. I'm making this video so that you can remember me, because, hey, I am pretty hard to forget," He smirks on the video, and the shot switches to my sleeping body. "That's you, Leo. You're gorgeous, you know that? Your eyes, your ears, your nose, your lips, Lord, help me. You're a beautiful person. I love you. I think I've already told you, but oh well. I love you, but don't worry. We're just travel partners who happen to hold hands and kiss," His laughs rings through the speakers, and my heart flutters.

     I hear a few taps on my window, and then one loud smack on the glass. Pausing the video, I walk over and slide the window open, looking down. Everett himself stands on the grass, wearing a leather jacket, with a handful of rocks. "Hi, lovely."

     "What the heck?" I call down, sitting on the sill.

     "That one rock was bigger," He admits shyly, blushing.

     "No, what are you doing here?" I ask as I swing my legs. "You live, like, an hour away."

     "I know that," He chuckles lightly, shaking his head, "but I drove down here to see you."

     "How did you even know what city I live in?"

     He shrugs, like this whole thing is just no big deal."I looked up the area code, and drove down here and just asked around until I found it. I saw the truck in the front," He jerks his thumb towards the driveway, and I sigh.

     "You're crazy, you know that?" I say. "My parents would freak out if they found you out here."

     "Come live with me," He blurts out suddenly, instantly blushing.

     "What?"

     "No, not like with me, like, in a separate room in my dad's house. You have a full ride to the local college, yeah?"

     "Yeah, but-"

     "Yeah! So you can come live in our guest room or something. My dad already agreed to it, and everything's set up for you to-"

     "Everett, I can't just up and move in with you."

     His rambling stops abruptly, and he furrows his eyebrows in confusion. "What?"

     "I can't move in with you," I repeat, slower this time. "We barely know each other."

     "We spent a month together on the road-"

     "-and I had a great time," I finish for him sadly. "But I have to go to the best college I can get into. I have something going for me, Everett, and I can't throw that all away by going to just some average college."

     "What are you trying to tell me?"

     I sigh before answering the long-awaited question. "I got into a college in West Virginia, and I've already told them that I was attending there in the fall."

     "You're... West Virginia?" He stumbles, looking for the right words.

     "I'm sorry, but I have to do what's best for my future." I say, standing in my bedroom. "Goodbye, Everett."

"It's time to say goodbye, but I think goodbyes aresad and I'd much rather say hello. Hello to a new adventure."-Ernie Harwell