1.2 | Highway of Lights ✓

06 | passenger

06
p a s s e n g e r

FINALLY, NOAH TURNS back to me. "Sorry?"

Soon after, the brunette girl notices us and raises her eyebrows. Pulling the guy next to her, she walks toward us with a grin.

"Do you know them—"

"Noah?" she asks before I can finish my sentence. "Oh my God, Noah, it's really you!"

Noah feigns a cough, then proceeds to let out a laugh. "Oh, hey, Lana."

"I can't believe I can see you here! That's... that's nuts!" she exclaims. "Oh right! This is my fiance, Joe." She places an arm on Joe's shoulder.

"Hey, I'm Noah." Noah reaches out his hand and shakes Joe's, just like how he shook mine in the airport.

Noah stands back and eyes between the couple. "So, um, you guys are getting married?"

"Yes we are! I'm sorry that I didn't tell you! I don't have your contact anymore," she says, sighing.

"Oh it's okay, it's okay," Noah replies, eyeing me for the first time since their conversation has started. "Well, good luck to both of you, it's good that you know—" he pauses, gesturing with his hands "—you have settled down."

"Aw, same for you Noah!" she chirps.

Noah fidgets—the movement so small but I don't fail to notice—and smiles again. "Lana, I—" he pauses, chancing a glance at me.

"Oh well, am I interrupting you?" Lana looks up at Joe. "I guess we have to go then! We can't wait to explore the canyon too," she coos, beaming at her fiance.

With a few more exchanges, Lana waves goodbye at Noah and walks away.

She has never acknowledged my existence.

"Hey, let's go," Noah says as he grabs my elbow.

I jog to catch up with his long stride. Clearing my throat, I ask, "Who's that?"

"Lana," he simply answers.

The indifference in his attitude startles me. Curiosity kills the cat, they say, and Noah is just another passenger. But for the very first time in my life, I wonder if he'll be something more than that.

So, I ask again, "How did you know her?"

Noah spins toward me, and my stomach sinks when I see a trace of annoyance in his voice. "She's just a person I know."

I fall silent. Touching his black watch that is now slipped on my wrist, a sense of heat starts welling up inside me. I'm jealous, possessive, not over Lana, but the fact that there are so many more people in Noah's life before me. The fact that Noah has other passengers in his life before me, because today it has felt like our journey belongs solely to us. And it's ashamed of me to think that.

Noah softens. "She's my ex."

I should have known it, but the sense of heat inside me doesn't bother to leave.

"It was way back then, and I haven't been in touch with her for like... six years?" He shakes his head and laughs, this time a wholehearted one.

"Sorry." I sigh. "I shouldn't have asked that."

Noah doesn't speak, and for half a second, something happens to his face. With just the slightest of movements, the jaunty mask he has been wearing slips. And I understand what the face under that mask means. It's uncertainty, it's tiredness.

He grabs my elbow again. "Hey, c'mon, we still have a lot to see."

Just like that, he continues walking again, and I realize that I don't actually know Noah. I'm yet another passenger in his life.

»»————-　➴　————-««

We don't speak for another ten minutes—we just keep walking on the trail, the bottom of my sneakers rubbing against the rough rocks. I'll be lying if I say that walking behind Noah and having zero conversation with him isn't a little bit awkward.

We continue making our way to the unknown destination. I grip onto the straps of my backpack, trying to somewhat gather myself together to break the ice again. "How long do we still have to walk, Noah?"

He turns his gaze toward me. "How long have we been walking?"

I stick my arm out for him to see the watch. "Don't tell me the time, I hate being trapped by it."

He takes my arm, checks the time, and lets out a small laugh. "That's pretty interesting, but time keeps track of our lives," he says as he lets go of my arm.

"Just live in the moment," I say, staring out at the gorgeous landscape. "Life's too short to waste seconds just to check the time."

He seems to mull over my words as he doesn't reply. Finally, he says, "That kind of makes sense."

I purse my lips, thinking about what to say next. "Why did you really give me your watch?" I ask.

"I don't know." He shrugs. "Maybe I'm tired of being trapped by time too."

"So you gave me your time?" I stare up at him.

His eyes glint with the sunlight. Tilting his head, he smiles. "You could say that."

We meet a flight of stairs with rough edges, it soars into the sky and leads people up to the top.

"Let's go up." Noah nudges me.

There is no handlebar at either side of the stairs. I look around, trying to see if there are any tourists around us, just to find that we're alone in this area. "Are you sure this is safe?" I ask.

"We never know until we try," he simply says.

The fear of heading to an unknown destination, it's here again. What if the stairs are endless? What if there is no destination?

"I— I don't know." I push out my breath.

Noah inspects me for a while. He lets out a sigh, but a smile replaces it shortly afterward. "It's okay if you don't want to."

I don't reply, because what if there's actually something up there?

"I'll be there for you in case anything happens, just saying," he finishes, kicking the stones on the trail.

My heart starts its aggressive flips again. I snap my head toward Noah, noticing the dutifulness in his expression.

"Make sure that I won't die then." I laugh at my own statement, my arm already stretched out. "Or I'll—"

He takes my hand and starts walking up the stairs. "I won't let you haunt me," he finishes my sentence with a chuckle.