“No matter how many times I explain why this isn’t the best idea, you’re going to do it anyway, aren’t you?” Ethan tosses one of her many bags on top of the green-ish van. Most of the paint had been chipped off or worn away by the harsh weathers it had endured, leaving large grey and grey-ish/green spots throughout it’s body.

“Yes, of course I am. Why would I listen to you? You never have any fun.” She smiled cheekily at him.

“That’s not true and you know it!! I’m loads of fun, doing fun stuff all the time…” mumbling under his breath. He leans up against her van and listens to it creak under his weight.

“Just because I’m concerned about your safety doesn’t mean I’m not fun. This thing doesn’t even seem sturdy enough to be taking that far.” He kicks his foot on the bottom of the rusting car, making the metal flake and fall like ash.

“Then just come with me.” she finishes loading up, and tying everything down, and looks Ethan dead in the eye.

“I.. you know I… oh, come on Callie….”

“I’m being serious. You have nothing holding you here. You can pretend I’m annoying all you want, but you love my roadtrip music.” She wiggles her eyebrows and smiles with her tongue showing between her teeth.

Ethan thinks of a million ways to say no. He sits in his brain and reasons with himself that it’s not a good idea; that he doesn’t need to go. His hand finds it’s way to his hair and he runs his brown locks between his fingers. Just tell her no. “I’ll go.”

Callie throws her head back and laughs, loud and free. Ethan’s mouth hangs open in shock as he tries to figure out how the message got so messed up from his brain to his mouth. Callie goes on about getting him packed and ready to survive the long journey with her. He just stares at her while she hops into the front seat of her old Volkswagen van.

“Get in! We’ve got stuff to do; I still want to leave before the sun comes up!” Ethan groans and stalks over to the passenger seat, mumbling about how horrible this would be.

*****

Callie speed races to Ethan’s house. The sky was beginning to lighten as she pulled into his drive and she practically jumped out of the car before it was in park.

“Let’s go, my dude.” Ethan grunts and gets out of the van slowly.

“Hurry up! Go pack and I’ll make us coffee.” Ethan smiled at the thought of coffee and hurried inside to pack so Callie would get started on the caffeine filled goodness. He walked through the front door and straight upstairs.

His bedroom was the first on the left and he swung the door open quietly. The plain white door, in the plain white house, opened to a room filled with color. Ethan had painted, colored, scratched, and scribbled on every wall in the room, even the ceiling. He grabbed the one bag he had suitable for luggage and filled it with his favorite t-shirts, 3 pairs of jeans, plenty of socks and underwear, and he grabbed a light jacket. He decided he might need blankets and, so he yanked them off his bed and shoved them in his pillowcase with his pillow already tucked away inside. He ran quietly to the bathroom and added toiletries to his pack: toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, body wash, and toilet paper. He did a quick checklist in his head and walked back down the stairs.

The smell of coffee hit him like a wall. She always made it strong. He walked into the kitchen and started throwing what non-perishables into his pack. The little space he had filled up quickly, so he started sticking water bottles in the tight little spaces left. He looked up the find Callie staring down at him, bemused.

“What?” He asked

“Did you think I wasn’t going to feed you or something?” She raised an eyebrow.

“No, but I know how you are, you forget things all the time, Callie.” She just laughed and shook her head.

“Well, duh. I am the most forgetful person on this planet, I’m sure, but I’ve been planning this trip for years, my dude. What on Earth would I forget?” She pours them both to-go coffees as she asks and Ethan shrugs in response.

“Who knows, your head maybe?” She grins and hands him his coffee.

“Let’s go, cowboy. I’m going to miss my sunrise.” She heads out the door with Ethan’s pillow. He follows slowly, stopping to write a note for his parents, and to take a good long look at his house. He takes a deep breath and hears the horn honk, awful and old sounding, and turns away, shutting the door behind him. The house seems empty and dark even as the sun has started to turn the sky colors other than blue. The van pulls out of the drive and heads towards the highway.

“Awe, hell yeah.” Callie had already started the “roadtrip music” as they took the ramp onto the highway. The first song to leak through the speakers was “Circle of Life” from The Lion King. She gestured dramatically to the sun coming up over the horizon and made herself giggle. Ethan even smiled with his head leaned up lazily on the window.

“Weirdo. You know, I am really glad you aren’t a bad driver.” As soon as the words leave Ethan’s mouth, Callie swerves and causes him to spill his coffee onto his lap.

“GEEZ, CALLIE,” he mumbles curses under his breath and glares at her, “not only is that a waste of caffeine, but now we already have to make a pit stop on this long-ass haul.” His glare got more and more intense until Callie’s laughter died and she took the next exit for him to change at a gas station.

He emerges clean and irritated at this girl. He stalked to the van and slams his door once safely inside the vehicle. He looks over when Callie extends her hand with a fresh cup of coffee and a smile. He grunts and takes the offering, waving her back onto the highway. Ethan slowly sips on his coffee and watches the sky change colors ever so slowly. From dark blue, to purple that bleed into a pink-ish red and wash into golden yellow and orange. He sighs and thinks of how weird it is to dread the exact moment when the sky would just be blue. He hums along as Callie sings “Who Says” by John Mayer, and closes his eyes, falling asleep before the song has the chance to end.