Road Trip With the Enemy

Chapter Twenty

We don't talk much for a couple of days until we hit Arizona. I play with the string on my shorts, staring out the window. "Wanna stop tonight?" Ashtrid asks.

I look at him. "It doesn't matter. I can sleep in the back if we don't. We have a couple of hours to decide."

"You haven't talked much in a couple of days," he says.

I shrug then look at the string on my shorts. "There hasn't been much to talk about."

"Okay," he says. The car ride goes back to silent. Ashtrid sighs, "Are you okay?"

I nod. "Yep, all rainbows and unicorns."

Ashtrid laughs, "Do what?"

"Nothing. Can we just stop and eat?" I ask.

He looks at me incredulously. "You just ate three hours ago," he tells me.

I shrug. "So?"

Ashtrid sighs, "Fine. Where do you wanna go?"

"McDonald's?" I suggest.

"Okay," Ashtrid replies. A few minutes later we pull up in the drive thru of the nearest McDonald's. I give Ashtrid my order then he tells the lady before ordering his own food.

When we get our food, the first thing I do is dip my fries in my chocolate milkshake. Ashtrid pulls into a parking space and turns the car off. "That looks nasty," he says.

I shake my head. "It's delicious," I tell him. "And don't tell me I'm fat again."

Ashtrid holds his hands up in surrender. "I'm not," he says.

"You better not, or I will make sure no one will find your body," I warn.

He raises an eyebrow. "Okay," he says.

We are silent for a few moments before I ask, "What's going to happen when this road trip ends?"

"What do you mean?" he replies.

"This is the first time we've been near each other for more than ten minutes in the past few years," I say. "Will it go back to that?"

Ashtrid shrugs. "I don't know. I mean we will be on different sides of the country. Why?"

"Just wondering," I say, feeling a pain in my heart. I can't-shouldn't- fall in love with him, I remind myself.

"Well, I wouldn't worry too much about it," Ashtrid tells me. "Anything could happen."

I nod. "Yeah," I say.

"Do you want to be friends?" Ashtrid asks.

I look at him. "Do you want to be friends?" I ask.

"I asked you first," he says.

I shrug. "I mean I guess," I say. Friends is better than nothing, I think.

Ashtrid gives me a smile. "Then, I guess we can be friends."