The end of the world as we know it

Part 2

“Seriously?” I glanced at the gas gauge as I took the keys from Josh outside my apartment building. “Barely a quarter tank?”

“Oh, sorry. Here,” Josh said, fumbling with his wallet. “Let me give you some cash.” He pulled out a couple of twenties and held them out.

“It’s not about the money,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t care about the forty bucks.” Although I wasn’t exactly flush these days, come to think of it. I didn’t want to ask Dad for help, but I didn’t have time for tutoring anymore. Third year rotations were killing me. “I just keep the car above half a tank at all times. If you borrow it, and it goes below half a tank, fill it up, okay?”

“What’s the big deal? Can’t you stop for gas when you go out? You hardly drive anywhere anyway.”

“You’ve obviously never met my dad.”

Josh gave me a look. “And whose fault is that?”

I closed my eyes for a minute. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring that up. I wasn’t trying to rub it in.” Leave it to me to say all the wrong things, as usual. “I just meant, if you’d grown up with a dad like mine, you wouldn’t let your car get all the way to empty, either.”

“What do you care what he thinks? You don’t live with him anymore. And I thought you said all his prepper talk was crazy.” The look on his face said he thought that was putting it lightly.

I frowned. “It’s one thing for me to call him crazy. I don’t appreciate hearing it from someone else. And anyway, old habits die hard, okay? It’s just a little thing, but it could make a big difference, if…”

Josh ran a hand through his wavy, dark hair. “If what? If the world ends?” I didn’t need to look at his face this time; his sarcastic tone told me all I needed to know.

“Forget it,” I said. “Just fill up the car when you take it to go shopping tomorrow. You can leave the keys in my mailbox, I’ll be out when you get back.” I took the forty bucks from his hand and shoved them in my pocket, turning to leave.

“Wait. Naia, wait.” Josh put his hand on my shoulder and I turned around. “What about Friday? Are we still on?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll meet you at six.”

“As long as the world doesn’t end before then.” Josh was laughing, and I gave him a weak smile.

“Yup. As long as the world makes it until Friday night.”

***

“If you don’t want to meet his mom, just tell him so.” Julie stuck her fingers out and blew on them. “Are you sure silver was the right choice? I keep thinking metallic blue would’ve been better.”

I rolled my eyes and kept working on my French manicure. “I can’t back out now, I already said I’d go.”