Everything Changes

Chapter 2: Slice Of Sass

              Andrew blares the horn as we pull into Emma's driveway, his patience nonexistent. I shrink back into my seat with a roll of my eyes and scroll through my Spotify playlist as we wait.

              It doesn't take long before Emma reveals herself. She threw a haphazard wave over her shoulder to whoever was inside her home, closed the front door hastily, already bounding towards the truck.

            As always, she's well put together; dressed in a pair of worn skinny jeans, a baby blue camisole that matched the color of her eyes and she wore her hair down, the blonde strands of her curled hair framing her face and dipping down past her shoulders.

           She reaches the truck, throws open the back door and clamors in without an ounce of grace. With a smile she presses herself against the back of my seat and snakes her arms around the sides, pulling me into a hug.

           "How's my favorite person in the whole world?" She grins. With a faint smile I heave an exaggerated sigh, "Oh, absolutely amazing."

          I feel a muted sting as she flicks me on the back of my head, her boisterous laugh enveloping the entirety of the truck as she settles back into her seat and buckling herself in.

          As we back out of the drive my eyes flicker downwards as movement between the driver and passenger seat catches my attention.

          I watch amused as Em's fingertips stretch towards my phone resting precariously on the middle console. Her faint grunts of exertion as she fought against her belt only brought further hilarity to the situation.

         Turning in my seat I raised an eyebrow in her direction, "What're you doing?" She snaps back into an upright position and gives an exasperated huff, "I don't like this song. I want to change—"

          "I refuse to listen to anything that is going to lower our IQ," I repositioned my phone in my lap, to Em's disappointment and gave a pointed look at Andrew. "Our driver is already struggling in that department.

          A twinkle of excitement ignites in Em's eyes as Andrew shakes his head in amusement.

      The rest of the trip was filled with playful arguments over which song should be played next. Em insisted on songs that would send Andrew's IQ back to the Stone Age while I chose anything that could potentially boost it.

      Meanwhile, Andrew teased that he would never have us in the same confined space again. Em and I laugh off the empty threat before ignoring him completely, much to his chagrin.

        On the inside, Old Towne's windows were dotted with a smattering of pamphlets. There were some detailing a deal and combo, both recent and others that had been there for months, which were looking more weathered than the others. Each piece was illuminated by the colorful lights dangling from the awning jutting from the building and the large, obnoxious OPEN sign flashing from its position in the window closest to the door.

       Emma led the way as Andrew and I meandered towards the entrance. She pulled open the door, the bell above it jingling in response and quickly waved me through before shuffling through afterwards, leaving the door to close behind her.

         I look back as Emma's laugh trailed behind me. Andrew was staring through the glass of the door, an eyebrow raised in response to her antics while mouthing a slow, sarcastic 'really' in her direction.

      He reopens the door, steps through and ruffles Emma's hair as he passes us. We trail behind him until we see a familiar face, Zack.

       "About time you got here, I'm starving." Zack greeted with a hearty laugh, his hand clapping against Andrew's shoulder as they'd reached one another.