Take Me Home | ✔

Chapter Six

dedicated to LexiMeetsWorld for always making me smile//get excited for comments on every chapter xx

p.s. this chapter is being written in past tense - i'm currrently editing the book to be that way. :3 

- x -

[ six ] - welcome to winston-salem, north carolina 

               ↠  friday - precisely a week before graduation   

"So how do you want to do this?" he asked from the driver's seat, pulling his sunglasses on as he steered the car in the direction of the morning sun. "Just go with what the GPS is telling us? Or do you have any other preferences?" 

"Preferences? Like what?" 

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Like, do you have a certain state you want to pass through?" 

"I've only ever been to one, and that's the state we're in right now," I told him, keeping my hands on my lap and sitting up straight. "But I don't mind. We can just go through what the GPS is saying." 

Suddenly, the GPS started to speak. 

"Elliot, turn to the interstate on your next left," a female British voice said. 

I raised an eyebrow at the device and turned to Elliot, who was masking the protruding blush on his face. "It knows your name?" 

"My friend programmed it," he said to me, trying to hide his grin. "Thank you, Angeline," he added then, as he tapped the 'mute' button on the gray little box quickly.

I almost laughed when I found out that it itself had a name. But I didn't want to embarrass him any longer. Instead, I stared out at the window and found the number of beach shops receding, the diners fading away, and the seagulls disappearing from sight. We turned on a bend and before we knew it, we were on a highway. 

It was then that I realized how terribly dull the next few days would be. Just driving on an endless road for four days with pretty much the same scenery and suffocating inside his car. The idea of it made me cringe. But I hoped there would be at least some fun in this trip - even if it wasn't a trip. More like an emergency. 

"We should probably stock up on supplies," his voice found it's way to slice through my thoughts. "You know, if you don't want to wear the same clothes and starve for four days." 

"Oh, um, I don't have any money," I said, suddenly starting to feel like a poor charity case. Which I probably was. "It was all left in the suitcase that got lost at the hotel." 

"It's fine, remember? I have my father's credit card," he explained. 

"About that -- I really don't want you spending money on me," I started to protest. "It's enough that you're driving me across the country but that's where I draw the line." 

"You don't have to be so modest, y'know," he told me gently, laughing afterwards at my shocked expression. "You're lucky to have me. Otherwise you'd still be back at the hotel. And anyways, I wanted to do this." 

He was right, of course. His statement made me grin and shut up but soon, I was already succumbing to a nap, my head lying on the shoulder rest, and my eyelids fluttering to a close. 

* * *

My eyes suddenly opened and a burst of pain shot from my arm. 

"Ow!" I cried. The blur and fuzziness of my nap disappeared and I was staring into the eyes of Elliot, who was now leaning over me with a worried expression.