“When you got your permit,” I told him. “Do you remember how we used to go on those crazy long drives? We’d just fill up the tank, jump in the car, and go.”
“I remember,” he said wistfully, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. “We had a nice time, didn’t we, Kenny?”
“It was great,” I confessed. “I loved driving around with you. Do you think maybe we could go for a drive today, after debate club? I’d like that a lot. We could go somewhere, anywhere. Doesn’t even matter. I just want to get away from… everything… Just for a few hours.”
“Sure, Ken,” he said with an easy smile. “We can do anything you want.”
That was what I’d always loved about Ryan. He was always so easy going, always ready to do something fun and spontaneous. Not that I was very fun – or spontaneous – myself. That was more Amanda’s thing… but even I had my moments.“You ready?”
I came out of the gas station carrying two bags filled with snacks. This was another one of our things. We used to stop at the gas station and stock up on so much unhealthy junk food we couldn’t eat anything overly salty or sweet for weeks.
For some reason though, it felt nice to be doing something that we used to all those years ago. Slipping into a routine with Ryan was always so easy, and I couldn’t help wanting it. Just some small reminder of when things weren’t so complicated would do me good.
“Ready, locked and loaded,” I grinned at him, showing him my overflowing bags.
“Did you get my sour–”
“Cream and onion chips?” I asked, lifting them out of the bag. “How could I forget? I still have the horrifying memory of your breath after you eat these things.”
“Oh yeah, gummy bear queen?” he teased me, and I laughed again. “We’ll see about that. Now get in, I have the perfect spot for us to go to.”
I climbed in the car and he revved up the engine, getting ready to take off. Ryan drove a convertible, a 16th birthday present from his parents. They were rich, but they’d treated him like an accessory since the day he was born. Ryan used to confide in me about it, but over the past years we’d grown apart, and I didn’t know that much about him anymore. I did, however, remember him getting the expensive car as a birthday gift and being so upset, because it really didn’t make up for all the time his parents spent away from their home and their son.
“Where are we going?” I asked him, a note of compassion slipping into my voice.
Ryan didn’t notice, or if he did, he didn’t bring it up.
“I have the perfect spot,” he told me. “But you’re not allowed to know before we get there. Now buckle up, babe!”
I cringed at the nickname he used. It reminded me too much of Levi and the whole mess we’d gotten ourselves into, and I couldn’t even bring myself to think about it. I just wanted to get away, even if it was just for an afternoon. I needed a break.
“Turn the music up,” Ryan suggested over the roar of the engine.
The wind blew my long dark hair all around me as we took off. My long locks slapped me in the face and I put my mirrored sunglasses on, loving the breeze and the freedom only a car like this could bring. I rummaged in the glovebox and found a stack of old CDs we used to play when we went out together.
“You still got these?” I asked him over the roar of the engine, and he nodded with a grin.
“Put them on,” he told me, and I hesitated. “Come on, babe. For old times’ sake.”
“What the hell,” I shrugged, and slipped one of the discs into the slot.
A familiar sound filled the car as a song we used to listen to all the time blasted from the speakers. I laughed out loud when Ryan honked in greeting, raising my arms above my head. I felt freer than I had in ages, and it felt good.
I loved that Ryan let me have my moment. It was hard to talk in the convertible with the roof down anyway, and I really just needed that music and distraction away from my regular life, which was threatening to creep back in through the cracks.
I belted out the lyrics to the song and Ryan sang with me as we drove down to the beach. I realized where we were going after he took a different exit on the highway, and I grinned at him with pleasure.
“Ryan,” I said happily. “You aren’t taking me to…”
“The cove,” he smiled at me. “Of course I am. You didn’t think I’d forget, did you?”