Somersault, Part II

Somersault, Pt. II

            I followed her towards the parking lot, to her red mini cooper. She always is pretentious. She walked to the left side of the door and I just stood there. I’m not going to let a girl, especially Aubry, to drive me to a place she didn’t even know.

            ‘What?’ she asked like nothing’s wrong.

            ‘Yeah. Like I’m gonna let you drive,’ I shrugged.

            ‘Well, it’s my car,’

            ‘Well it’s my town,’

            ‘I drive us there, you drive us back. How about that?’

            ‘Fine. Whatever,’ I waved my hand into the air.

            She got in and up we go, the 30 minutes of sweet torture. Unexpectedly, she stays silent the whole time. Too silent that the situation becomes awkward, like it hadn’t been before. I started wondering if it is okay to ask her to turn on the radio.

            ‘Hey, is the radio on?’

            ‘Uh-uh,’ she nodded. I started looking for some radio channel I usually listen to. Then silent again. When did she become so silent? It’s like there’s a mute button hiding somewhere inside her and somebody accidentally turn it on. Should I start a conversation? But I wasn’t the one who’s onto something. I’m just doing her a favor. She’s the one who should make some effort.

            I waited for a whole 15 minutes. That’s halfway of the way there. Still nothing. I can’t stand the silent.

            ‘So… gap year. Why?’

            She took a deep breath, then sighed. ‘Well, I don’t know. I just …’ she paused, looking for the right word. “Don’t think I’m ready, I guess.”

            “You’ve decided which college to go and what major to take?”

            She took another breath. “I’m not sure. I’ve been thinking about Psychology,”

            I shrugged automatically. “Psychology? This is you we’re talking about! You used to put people down and shove everyone down your throat. If anyone should take a psychology major, it’s those people. So that while they’re trying to understand people, they can understand themselves and heal. Not you!” The second I stopped talking, I regret it. It didn’t sound rude at all when it was just inside my head. It actually sounded funny. It’s not like I meant to hurt her or something. It’s just suddenly my mouth was separated from my mind and blurted all those things I should add to my ‘Things I Shouldn’t Have Said’ List. It’s like we switched soul or something.

            I expect some snide remarks or anger or sarcasm to come out right after it. Something to defense herself. But nothing. This is worse than her being mean. I’d never thought this day would come but there, I said it. I am just so used to her being mean all the time that this becomes so weird.

She pursed her lips and said, “Yeah. I know right?” What has gotten into her? Did someone possess her? Is this an alternate universe? I wanted to ask her these questions so badly but perhaps it’s not my place to. So I remained still. I only said one or two words to show her directions after that.

“So, how long are you staying?”

“A week. Relax, I’m not gonna bother you for too long,” she said comfortingly. Even though I kinda don’t care of how long she’s staying. It’s not like she’s planning to get me kicked out of my college. I just want to make sure her mental state is alright.

We said nothing at all until we arrived.

-Author's note: Sorry if it's kinda shitty.