Mixtape For The End of the World

31. Gabe dramatically sings along to Africa...

31. Gabe dramatically sings along to Africa while driving past the Statue of Liberty.

Just before we left, I made a mixtape with all of my favorite songs on it. The mixtape was long enough to last us through the twelve and a half hour drive to Belleville, and hopefully, it would keep us awake and entertained long enough to get to Mikey's house. Brendon, Gabe, and I had packed our bags, and we had plotted out a route that didn't go anywhere near New York City. Most importantly, the mixtape didn't have Africa on it. There was no chance that Gabe would sing along to that song while driving past the Statue of Liberty - it was impossible. I was completely sure that there was no way that the vision could ever come true now.

I stuffed my bags into the trunk of the DeLorean and then said goodbye to Mom, Dad, Hillary, and Andrew. "Be safe, Pete, and make sure you call us as soon as you get there," Mom told me.

"I will," I said. "You're being paranoid."

"I just want you to be careful when you're driving all the way to New Jersey all by yourself," I said.

"I won't be by myself," I said. "I'll have Gabe and Brendon with me."

"I suppose you're right," Mom said. "Make sure to say hello to the Ways for me."

"Okay, Mom," I said. "See you in two weeks."

I put the last bag into the trunk, closed it, and got into the driver's seat. "Long live the car crash hearts!" I exclaimed, which nearly gave my mother a heart attack.

"Can Pete just stay in New Jersey forever?" Hillary asked.

"Shut up, Hillary!" I shouted.

"Be nice to your brother," Mom said. I waved to my family one last time as I pulled out of the driveway. I then turned on the road trip mixtape that I had just made and sang along as I drove to Gabe's house.

"This is some awesome music," Gabe said as he climbed into the passenger seat.

"I made it just for this road trip," I said.

"That's great," Gabe said. "Does it have Africa on it?"

"Of course not," I said. "I'm not trying to kill you."

"That's good to hear," Gabe said. "Come on. Let's go to Brendon's house. I want to meet your pen pal!"

I drove to Brendon's house, and after saying a very long and passionate goodbye to Ryan, he got into the backseat and complimented my mixtape. "Is there any iDKHOW on here?" he asked.

"I knew that you would ask that," I grumbled. "I put Choke on the mixtape, but only because I know that you're weirdly obsessed with that band."

"I'm not as obsessed as I used to be," Brendon admitted. "Dallon will always have a place in my house of memories, but I'm over him now. His music is great though."

All of a sudden, Bohemian Rhapsody came on, and Brendon screamed. He then started singing along dramatically, and Gabe and I soon joined in. Somehow, Brendon hit every single one of the high notes, and although neither Gabe nor I had that kind of range, we still had fun singing along and playing air guitar as I drove out of Shermer. Although I had made the road trip mixtape just to prevent Gabe's vision from happening, it was also helping me have fun with my friends on this ridiculously long drive.

The hours ticked by as the DeLorean hurtled down I-90 and Gabe, Brendon, and I screamed the lyrics to every song on my mixtape, played games, and occasionally stopped for gas or fast food. We played a game where we tried to find a license plate from every state, and by the time we crossed the border from Indiana into Ohio, we had actually found most of them. Sometimes, it was easy to forget just how much time had gone by.