The Bane Of My Existence ~ Analogical

Road Trip

Logan's POV:

"It'll be fun!" These three words, in my experience, meant it will be quite the opposite. I raised a questioning eyebrow at my friends, Patton and Roman, then sighed in defeat.
"Who else will be coming," I asked, earning a grin from Roman.
"You know Virgil, right?" Oh, of course, that bundle of joy. I've never gotten to know him, but he's unnecessarily snarky and frankly gets on my nerves. Figuratively, of course. "Don't you just look overjoyed, Logan." Roman laughed at my displeased expression.

Over the next week, I went over checklists of what I would need for this absurd "road trip". I made sure I didn't forget anything, after all, what would I do if I was stranded with these lunatics without something essential? I couldn't imagine them being particularly equipped. I sighed in defeat; this was going to be tough.

~

The day came around way too quickly, and before I knew it, I got the phone call.
"Salutations, Patton." I put the phone to my ear and spoke to the receiver. "Is it time?" I heard a rather over-excited squeal from the other end of the line.
"Hiya!" I drummed my fingers on my desk nervously as my friend started to ensure I had every detail correct. Which, of course, I did. Why was I nervous? Was it the inconsistency of my routine I'd be having for the next few weeks? Was it the unfamiliarity of the locations I was to face? Was it... Virgil? "Does all that sound okay to you, Logan?" I snapped out of my momentarily spiralling thoughts to respond with a light spark of false enthusiasm.
"Satisfactory, my dear friend."

"I'll pick you up in 10!" I tried not to hyperventilate as I thought about the possibilities of the upcoming road trip.
"All right," I confirmed before quickly hanging up.

I rested my phone on the window ledge before heading over to my front room to grab my coat. After slipping into my long black coat I turned up the collar. What? It was a habit! And besides, it wasn't to look edgy, it was to keep my neck warm. Purely practical reasons. I swung my green satchel over my left shoulder, being sure to check that it hadn't caught the collar under the strap. I then checked the zipper on my roller-case and tugged it so that it was fully closed. Just before locking up the house, I endured a moment of dread as I patted my pocket only to find it empty. Once I had made sure to grab my phone from where I'd carelessly left it on the windowsill (phew), I headed out towards Patton's motor vehicle.

As I neared the car, I saw that Patton was in the driver's seat, our good friend Roman had called "shotgun" (of course) and I was to be sat in the passenger seat. I opened the back door and noticed another man on the backseat behind Patton. He was smaller than I'd remembered, and hunched into the back corner of his seat. He was practically engulfed by his black hoodie, which also covered a pair of large, black headphones that were over his ears. His distracted eyes averted all contact and were vaguely directed towards whatever was outside his window. Oh, and was that eyeliner?

"Logan!"
"Earth to nerd, are you receiving?" Patton had turned in his seat to face me, and Roman had clambered out of his to usher me into the backseat. I rolled my eyes but took the offer gratefully as he took my case and stacked it in the boot along with their belongings and other clutter. Once we were all seated, Patton started the engine back up. The car pulled out onto the road and we drove in silence for a few minutes. I hoped dearly that it wouldn't continue that way.

"So," the driver chirped. "How is everybody?" Another beat of silence passed.
"I, for one, am doing quite wonderfully," Roman enthused. "I have a life to appreciate! A fabulous group of friends, a wonderful girlfriend..." At the mention of a girlfriend, Patton's eyes turned to him, confused. "She really is amazing. Kind, beautiful, talented..." He stopped as our friend's gaze turned from confused to mildy concerned. "Of course-" Roman continued, "it's not all perfect. We fight sometimes, y'know?" He twisted his body around a little and peered over his left shoulder at Virgil and I, as Patton refocused on the road. Virgil was still sitting silently, staring at a phone screen, connected via headphones. I sat patiently, satchel perched on my lap, flask clutched in my right hand.

"Girls, eh?" Roman tutted and laughed. At that moment, the car braked at a red light, the silence seemed to become even more silent, and the three of us looked from Roman, to each other, and back to Roman. Even Virgil looked up from his screen to pretend to relate to his situation. He clearly hadn't met too many girls in his life. Not that I would be surprised, because he'd barely said a word to us since we set off. He didn't particularly seem like a social butterfly, exactly.

I then spotted Patton looking into the rear-view mirror, raising his eyebrows suggestively and me before gesturing to Virgil. I felt my cheeks heat up as I realised how long I must've been absent-mindedly staring at the other man. As the lights went green and the car started up again, I raised my warm flask to my lips and took a hefty swig of the contents, washing the embarrassment down with it. Enough of that feelings nonsense.

And with that, our road trip had begun.