Mishap on the road

“Tell all of your friends that I'm crazy and drive you mad. That I'm such a stalker, a watcher, a psychopath. Then tell them you hate me and dated me just for laughs. So, why do you call me and tell me you want me back? You maniac. You maniac,” the music quietly played from the speaker.

Mark listened closely to the Conan Gray song, focusing all of his attention to the music, rather than the awkward silence between him and Winter.

There was only many songs on the radio that you could listen to before needing to make conversation.

“So uhh I thought Ross played pretty well,” Mark finally said. Winter just responded with a quick quiet ‘mhm’.

“Did you get to see him after the game?” he asked her again.

“Yes. Saw him briefly.”

Mark nodded and returned his attention back to the music. Oh well, he thought. He gave it a shot and she clearly didn’t seem like she wanted to have a chat right now.

As they got off the main highway, they still had quite a while to go before getting back but at least they would arrive in the next hour. Without any problems at least.

While thinking about that, a loud noise came from one of the back tyres and the car started to swerve. “Oh my god!!” Winter said, quickly trying to keep control of the vehicle.

Of course, there had to be a problem. There always is.

“Pull up over there!” Mark said, directing her to a side street. The brunette followed his directions and found herself parked at the gutter of a side street.

The two quickly got out of the car to inspect the damage. A blown tyre that would need to be changed with a spare one. “Phew, just a tyre,” Winter said, feeling relief that it wasn’t something with the actual vehicle or motor.

Mark looked at her strangely, “Why is that a good thing?”

“Well much better than anything else, we just have to replace it with the spare tyre I have in the trunk,” she said, thinking it was an easy solution.

“Oh you know how to change a tyre do you?” Mark asked her sarcastically.

She looked at before shaking her head, “No. I thought you would.”

Rolling his head back, Mark knew they were fucked. There was a lot that Mark didn’t know about and cars were one of them. He had never even been shown how to change a three, something that everyone needs to know in a situation like this. “How long have you known me Winter? When have I ever been good at something like this?”

Winter shrugged, “Thought maybe one of your new popular friends taught you how to,” she said, trying to land a low blow.

Mark just shook his head, not interested in getting into anything like that right now. All he wanted to do was get home to see Tiff. “Just pass me your phone, we’ll call someone.”

While waiting for her to get her phone out, Mark noticed that Winter wasn’t moving, looking almost guilty. He questioned her again, wondering why she wasn’t doing anything.

“Hate to add more bad news but my phone is flat and I don’t have a charger here,” she told him.

The look of pure frustration on Mark’s face told the story. There was no other choice but to try and fix it himself. Without even replying, Mark just went to the trunk of her car to get everything out to change a tyre.

***

30 minutes later.

“Any luck?” Winter asked him, standing cold outside in the drizzling rain.

Mark fiddled around with the tyre and the tools he was given, “Nope. This is hopeless, I have no idea what I’m doing and I’m pretty sure that you don’t even have the right things here to get it changed. I mean really, what the hell is this for?” he said, holding up an obscure tool.

Winter let out a giggle, “Oops sorry. I probably wasn’t prepared enough for something like this.”

Mark didn’t seem overly impressed, he was laying on the ground, very wet and dirty, trying to fix something he had no idea how to. He was ready to give up, he wasn’t going to work this out anytime soon.

“It’s late. Why don’t we just make room in the back of the Jeep, get some sleep and then we can walk into town in the morning to get some help,” Winter suggested, freezing outside and feeling bad that she had made Mark get on his knees and try and fix her car.

Mark got up, throwing a tool aside, “Fuck this! I needed to get home tonight!”

“Oh calm down,” Winter told him, not impressed by his poor attitude, “I’m sure you can live without your girlfriend for one night.”

Packing up the tools and spare tyre, Mark started mumbling back. “Literally the last person I-,” he started saying before cutting himself off. What he was about to say would really hurt the poor girl, the girl that he once loved.

However, Winter knew what he was about to say, “Sometimes you’re a real ass, you know.”

“Fuck. Sorry, I’m just frustrated, it’s been a long night.”

“Don’t worry,” she said, getting out pillows and blankets from the back and setting them up inside the Jeep. “Just take your wet clothes off before getting it, I try to take care of the inside of the car at least.”

Mark stood outside in the rain as Winter hopped inside. He felt a bit like a dick, probably deservedly so.