COMPLEMENTARY [GxG]

Chapter 10 | Ghosts on Mars

I'm in Eris' car again. I gaze at the dull, same-scenery-I've-seen-for-the-last-four-years whooshing past us, intent on not saying a single thing.

"You hungry?" she asks. "We can get something before the drive."

"I'm vegetarian," I say.

"I know," she says. "We can stop at a vegan place."

"I don't have any cash on me."

"I'll pay. Don't worry."

"Fine." 

With the groceries running low, I can't turn down free food. So Eris and I stop at a restaurant, the silence between us thick as we wait for our food to come.

She's fidgeting with that silver necklace, twirling the chain around her fingers. The more we wait, the more I notice these little details about her—a small mole on her upper cheek, the faint, bleached highlights throughout her black hair, her short and bitten nails. It's like I'll never run out of things to notice, so I stop. I pull the most Gen-Z thing imaginable and start scrolling on my phone. I started an art account a while back, promoting my paintings, and I've accumulated a decent following of five thousand. It's not much, but in this day and age it's all about the digital world, and most of my sales come through here—when I can sift out the genuine proposals from the scams. So I distract myself for a while, replying to comments and engaging with posts on my feed, until I'm thrown off by the uncanny feeling of Eris staring at me.

I look up at her. "What?"

"Good thing you wore that dress today," she says, and for a second I swear she looks down at my chest. "You'll fit right in at the art show."

My yellow dress with little pink roses on it. It's the polar opposite of her attire—black skinny jeans, thick boots, and a black leather jacket. She actually looks more put together than usual.

Before I can answer, the waitress comes with the food. Eris got french fries while I ordered a bowl with tofu, chickpeas, brown rice, and vegetables. I watch Eris dip her fries in an absurd amount of ketchup while I eat my much healthier meal. I fail to understand how she stays so skinny. It's as if no matter how healthy or how little I eat, my hips and thighs are always finding ways to put on weight. 

After we finish, it's back to the road. I'll be really uncomfortable if this turns into an overnight thing. I imagine Eris and I stopping at some hotel for the night, a room with only one double bed, her body next to mine in the dark.

"We'll be back later tonight?" I ask.

"Probably late," she says. "But yeah."

I breathe a sigh of relief. "Good. At least it's Friday, so we don't need to worry about getting up early tomorrow."

After a thirty-minute long silence, she asks me, "So, what's Canada like?"

"It depends on what part you're talking about," I say. "I've lived in Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg. But I'm planning on going to Toronto for university. Technically, I'm not legal in this country."

Eris lets out an obnoxious laugh. "No green card?"

"My uncle has it, but my dad, Fitz, and I have risked getting deported for the last four years."

"Damn, bro, I'm the Mexican one and yet you're the illegal here."

I roll my eyes, but against my will, my mouth quirks at her bad joke.

"You moved around a lot because your mom was in the military, yeah?" she asks. 

I tense in my seat. "Used to be."