ALL WE DO IS DRIVE

Your Laugh Echoes Down the Highway

The first time Edith Tozier talks to her dads about Stanley Barber, it's during dinner where they were feasting on pizza.

      Every Thursday night was pizza night.

      It was like tradition, almost. Especially since Eddie joined into their little family and wanted them to eat healthier.

      Despite how much Edith did despised salads and slipped out in the middle of the night with a flashlight to eat ice cream, she adored their family time.

      Her short legs were swinging slightly under the table, her mouth watering at the sight of the pepperoni pizza before her.

       She wasn't kidding when she said that she would kill for food.

      The small girl had just taken a huge bite of her slice of pizza when her daddy randomly spoke. "So, what's their name?"

      She paused, chewing before swallowing the bite in her mouth because she knew Eddie would bitch at her for talking with food in her mouth. "What's whose name?"

      "The one that you keep hanging out with and coming home genuinely happy everyday after school. The one that actually brings you out of the house on the weekends, which I didn't even realize was possible."

      She sighed. "Stanley. Stanley Barber, he lives a few houses down. If he lived farther then that, I wouldn't even be leaving my house."

      "Another Stanley, huh?" Her dad raised an eyebrow as she just casually shrug his shoulders. "What's this 'Stanley Barber' like?"

      "He's weird." She didn't hesitate to respond. "But he's...nice. Loyal. If I killed someone and needed him to hide the body, I'm about ninety-nine point nine percent sure he'll do it. He's odd and quirky but funny. He can make me laugh even when I don't want to."

      "You seem very close with him." Her dad said, a knowing smirk on his face that had the teenage girl speaking quickly.

      "Yeah, we're just friends. He doesn't make me wanna rip off my own hair and his calm crazy evens out my psycho crazy. Just friends."

      "Uh huh. Sure." This time it was Eddie who spoke up, the same smirk on her face and it made her want to puke.

      Edith quickly shook her head. "Seriously. We're just friends. We've only been friends for over a month."

      "Yet you seem comfortable enough to get high with him." Her papa retorted seriously.

      The teenager put her elbows on the table, waving around her slice of pizza she was holding. "Be happy it's weed. I could be shooting up heroin or snorting cocaine." She smiled innocently. "Besides, it helps with anxiety. You can google it."

      Eddie shot her dad a look, who merely sighed and shrugged. "Look, I was doing way more shit than what Edie's doing now. I'm just glad she finally has a friend her age and learned how to use the front door."

      She shot her daddy a thankful smile but rolled her eyes at the last sentence. "I like being in my safe bubble. But I'm willing to expand that bubble for Stanny. He's chill."

      "Of course." Her dad said, but she could tell that he meant more than just that. He thought she had a crush on Stanley and she certainly did not. She enjoyed being around him and felt almost comfortable. There were no butterflies in sight. Just relaxation.

      It was weird, the teenage Tozier had to admit. She wasn't used to her dad asking about her friends because she never had any. Friends weren't her strong suit and not many people could handle her. But Stan was caring and kind, always made sure she was okay and gave her pep talks that made her laugh before she had to present for any of her classes.

      But that didn't mean she liked him. This wasn't like how her dads fell in love. This was just pure friendship. And it really was nice having a friend.

      Except when Stanley called her five minutes before her alarm went off the next morning.

      "Your house better be on fire for you to call me while I'm asleep." Edith grumbled to him right after she picked up, already thrown into a foul mood.

      "Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Stanley said with a chuckle, already sounding incredibly awake too early in the morning.

      "Don't make me hurt you." She threatened.

      "Jeez, okay, okay, I'm getting to the point!" He said quickly, probably because he feared that she would hang up or march to his house and hurt him just as she threatened. "I was thinking maybe I could drive you to school."

      The Tozier girl yawned loudly, scratching the back of her incredibly messy curly hair before blinking. "You called me...five minutes before my alarm went off...to ask if you could drive me to school?" She spoke slowly.

      The other boy must've been able to tell that she still sounded annoyed. "Wow, you're really grumpy in the mornings."

      "That's because I haven't had my morning coffee!" She said quickly before sighing loudly and her head hit the pillow. "But you can come pick me up if you want."

      He chuckled softly and she could tell even without seeing him that the Barber boy was smiling his signature smile. "Okay, I'll pick you up in an hour! See ya soon, Eeds!" He said quickly before hanging up.

      The curly-haired girl smiled slightly despite how tired she felt, putting her phone down and closed her eyes. Maybe she could get just a little more sleep...

      She jumped, her alarm clock going off before she could fall asleep again.

      "MOTHERFU—!"

      Even though Edith didn't get to sleep some more, she felt a lot better after having her morning coffee. Coffee always helped her, no matter what. It was like she always said, "more espresso makes me less depresso!"

      Her daddy always thought it was hilarious and agreed while her stepdad called them both caffeine addicts.

      "So your new BFF wants to drive you to school?" Her dad asked, an eyebrow raised and holding his own cup of coffee.

      "Mmhmm. I've driven with him before, he's a pretty good driver." She reassured him, quickly finishing off her coffee and stood up from the table to grab her things.

      Her dad nodded, not saying anything for a moment before speaking again. "Cool. I wanna meet him."

      Edith's eyes widened comically. "Nope, gotta go, bye!" She quickly said as she ran out the door, backpack in hand.

      It wasn't that Edith didn't want her dad to meet Stanley. It was just...this was her first friend and she was pretty sure her dad's waited to finally embarrass her in front of her friend for years. So she would like to delay this the most she could.

      She heard him laugh but he thankfully didn't follow her as she went outside, spotting Stan's old ass looking car.

      The girl noticed Stan look at her before he began rolling down his windows, painfully slow and squeaking with ever half inch it went down before it finally got halfway.

      "Hey." He said after a moment and Edie snorted.

      "Fuck, that was the most painful thing I've ever seen!" She said as she laughed, opening the door and sliding in.

      Stan flipped her off but was smiling in amusement, starting the car. "Oh, fuck you!" He tried not to laugh and be serious.

      "Maybe on your birthday." She responded with a smirk, laughing more when he started blushing. "Now, put on some music, Barber!"

      Stanley finally laughed and nudged Edith's shoulder with his elbow, turning on Bloodwitch as the both of them began singing along with smiles on their faces.

      Yeah, this was the life.