"The Drive" by Aubrianne M

 “Bye!!” I call out as I walk away from the house I’ve known by heart since Kindergarten, when we moved to the strange town with the quiet houses. “Finally,” I think to myself as I fall into my car, making sure all of my suitcases aren’t going to fall as I drive. College, the first taste of freedom in my adult life; four hours away: close but not too close. Perfect. Ever since I saw my acceptance letter, I’ve been counting the days until I move into my dorm, start my classes, and essentially begin the rest of my life.

After I see that my parents have waved a sufficient amount of times and my father has come and checked my luggage placement an excessive amount of times, I’m finally out and on the way to my future. My parents didn’t let me leave a second earlier than humanly possible to get there “on time” (the middle of the night) at least allowing me to go alone.

My headlights shine on the neighborhood sign with all of the trees that I’ve sat on practically since I could jump up and slide my butt onto the top of it. The tree everyone used to lay under after middle school. “I’ll really miss this,” I sigh as I turn on the radio to help me endure my coffee-powered drive ahead of me. At least at this time of night in this sleepy town, there’s nothing else out here except the diamond-filled sky.

As I’m about to enter the freeway entrance, something catches my eye. A girl, couldn’t be more than my age, ghostly skin and a huge brown ponytail with bangs engulfing her thin face. She looked up at me and started waving her arms desperately; she really needed someone. If something happened to me, I’d want someone to come help me. She’s a teenage girl, incredibly fragile-looking; she shouldn’t be out here. I pull over to her.

“OhMyGoshThankYouSoMuchMyBoyfriendLeftMeAndIHaveNoCarPleasePleaseIJustNeedARide!!” She’s practically hysterical, and she really looks like she’s been through it tonight. I let her in, meanwhile her flinging her arms around me crying “thank you!” I guess she had a way older boyfriend who left her for someone with a way larger bank account than this seemingly penniless teenager, and her parents hated him, so she was far too scared to call them. She started wandering after he dumped her at a nearby diner over to here. As fate would have it, she really needed me. She gave me an address probably an hour away from my college destination: an aunt who was always accepting of her. “Thank you so much; I needed someone.”

After that we drove in silence for probably half an hour before I ran in to a gas station store for even more coffee and sugary soda to stop my “I’ve been up for like 20 hours packing and I’m exhausted” mind daze. I handed the cash to the man at the counter and stretched my arms out as I walked back to my car. As I got closer, I saw a small, white, rectangular light illuminated from the dark car window: an iPhone. Wait, if she had a phone, why didn’t she just call someone? My phone gets service over where she was. Huh, there’s also a small, glow-in-the-dark star sticker on the back of the case I see as I get closer. “How did you get my phone?!” I say incredulously as I open the driver side door.

“I heard it ringing; it was some random number.”

“Then why are you still in it? Wait. I have a passcode.”

“I figured you were a ’97 kid too; you know, your birth year isn’t exactly a top secret code.” I grabbed the phone back. I guess she was one of those “anything I can find is mine” types of people. Oh well. Still somewhat annoyed at her lack of respect of privacy, I drove from the gas station in silence. I could feel her eyes looking over at me expectantly every ten or so minutes, as if I’d just change moods in a split seconds. After another half an hour or so, I caved. “Okay, I’m over the whole phone thing, I get you didn’t mean to upset me.”

“Thank you so much; I’m so sorry Hailee”  

“Wait, did I ever tell you my name?”

“Uh… No... Sorry, that probably seemed weird. I saw it on the text from your mom that popped up as I unlocked your phone.”

“Oh uh okay.”

The next of the drive passed in silence, as she almost seemed embarrassed on the events of the last hour, but I felt bad for her: she never meant any harm.

“Are you going to college?

“Yeah; I’m going out of state next week. All the way up to Washington.”

“That sounds great.”

I guess the phone situation had made things awkward because after that she didn’t make any attempts to talk to me. I soon pulled up to the address she gave me. This girl shared in my drive to my new home with me and I didn’t even know her name.

As if she could read my mind: “my name is April just by the way.”

I soon got to my dorm and saw a small box sitting halfway under one of the beds. I got curious so I looked inside of it. There were pictures of me with friends, my favorite tee shirt, and my diary. “Home,” I breathed. I’m so glad my mom sent these, I guess she did get ahold of my friend that’s going here. Maybe she’s my roommate. Finally, everything’s falling into place.

I heard a voice in the hallway and peered to see if the face was familiar. I saw a huge brown ponytail, a childlike voice. “Oh no.”

It turns out I’m right.

“Hi, I’m April. I just know we’re going to be great friends. I already feel like I’ve known you forever.”