Some Time Later, After the Sun has Set

You walk out of the door of the bedroom with Jodi and Eden, leaving your mom (who walked in during the sex to lay down) to rest as you start to hang out for a few hours.

After a while, you go to sit in the passenger seat, next to Eden, who took back over driving, when she says, “We have to get gas fairly soon. Can you look up any truck stops?”

“Sure.” You reply, pulling your phone from the dashboard and pulling up your map app.

Jodi, Sabrina and Ashley are all watching a movie on the TV.

“Looks like there's one about 10-ish miles up,” You say, “Are you sure you don't need me to take over for a little bit?”

“Nah, I'm a trooper. I’ll sleep once we hit Boise.”

“We’re still like 4 hours away,” You note.

Eden looks at you with a “trust me” face and sets her eyes back on the road, “I’ve done my fair share of late nights. Actually, Sabrina mentioned something about a crafts fair a little while ago?”

“Yeah… honestly, I've looked through the website she gave me and it looks like it might just be a fan convention with a bit of a crafts or homemade fashion bent. Might be some cosplayers there. I mean, the website has pictures of some from last year, so probably.”

“Never did that kind of thing. Might be kind of fun to try,” Eden replies.

You look at her a little curiously, “Really? Who would you wanna be?”

“Probably a Sonic character. Shadow… actually, that’s the one. I wanna be Shadow.”

You look at her, now completely shocked. You imagine her in a big mascot costume and while it's kind of funny, you really don't think that’s her style at all.

She sneaks a glance at you and asks, “What, did you expect me to say Rouge or something? Her design sucks. Shadow, now that's some good shit.”

“I guess, I just wasn't expecting you to like sonic of all things,” You reply.

She laughs and says, “Hey, all latinas like Shadow, okay? It's just one of the facts of life.”

You sigh, not getting whether that was a joke or not, “Well, I’m definitely excited to go. We definitely don't have enough time to make any costumes though. Hopefully we can find someone to make us some though, because I'd love to see you all in cosplay. And fuck you.”

“You don't say,” Eden teases.

She pulls into the truck stop, which happens to have another diner. “Hey, do you think that starting the trip off with a bunch of diner food was a bad idea? We’re probably gonna eat a bunch of it.”

“Eh, I don't really mind.” Eden says, getting up and grabbing the stamp from a drawer, “I'll do what you told me to get the gas. Hopefully it won't take so long.”

“If you need me to come out there, just holler.” You offer and she just heads out the door.

Sabrina asks, “Hey, are we stopped? Do you think we could get some snacks?”

You look through the big front window of the RV and see Eden struggling to convince the clerk at the convenience store/diner/gas station that she’s mine and therefore should turn on the gas for her.

“I have to get out there anyway, it looks like. Come with me.”

“Anything you guys want?” She asks, turning and looking at Jodi and Ashley.

“Diet Dr Pepper?” Jodi asks.

Ashley’s eyes lower as she thinks, “Uh, I don't know. I guess, some sparkling waters? Anything we can throw into the fridge. Maybe some beef jerky or trail mix too, so we have a little bit to snack on between meals.”

“Gotcha!” Sabrina says, before following you out into the nighttime air, “Woo! It's pretty cold.”

“It's kind of late. But, come on,” you say as you rush over to the door with her hand in yours. You honestly really liked Sabrina, even after only having spent a little under a day with her. You can tell why Ashley fell in love with her, as cheesy as it is to say.

As you get into the convenience store, the clerk suddenly does a double take at the stamp and back to you and then back to Eden. She looked really surprised, but in all honesty, she was probably just being kind of racist and didn't trust someone who looks Hispanic.

“Yes, everything she said was true. Turn on the pump and give it an unlimited budget. Also, we’re gonna ransack the store for snacks and drinks, okay?”

The clerk is an older white woman. She isn't too dissimilar to the lady who took our order at the diner that we found Jodi in. The biggest difference was that she just seems altogether unpleasant, unlike the other lady.

Eden nods at you, looking a little peeved, before walking back out to the RV and starting to pump it up.

You turn to Sabrina and say, “Go pick up like 4 of those baskets.”

She does and together you start to empty out the fridges of all their monster energies, diet Dr. Peppers and Sparkling waters. Then, on top of all of your cans and bottles, you threw on a bunch of candy and trail mix and the whole display box of beef jerky sticks.

Walking back outside, you’re satisfied with the haul and turn to look at Sabrina who has a similar look of satisfaction on her face. Then you notice something.

“Hey, was there a car out there before?”

You’re referring to a pair of headlights down at the end of the long truck stop parking lot.

“Uh… maybe they just showed up?” Sabrina suggests.

“Maybe,” you respond. But there's still something that bothers you about the headlights. You’re almost sure they weren't there when you walked into the convenience store. And they aren't truck headlights, you realize. They're just regular car headlights.

It's impossible to recognize the car itself with about 100 yards between it and you.

It's freaking you out.

You and Sabrina hurry back inside and start to put away everything you grabbed. Eden’s going to be fine, even by herself, you rationalize, so you just focus on your job so you all can get out of there.

Eden walks back in before you two even finish and says, “Wanna get going?”

“Yeah, let's just head out.” You say, stacking all the baskets up and throwing them out the door right before Eden starts the RV.

Sabrina, Ashley and Jodi all look at you like you're going crazy, but your sister is the only one to comment, “What’s going on?”

As you shut the door, you say, “Don't worry about it too much. Let's just get to Boise quickly.”

Sabrina sets the last few cans of Juice Monster into the fridge and shuts it, before saying, “Maybe some of us should get some sleep.”

Jodi says, “I can stay up and keep Eden company if you all wanna take the bed in the back.”

You sigh. “I- Maybe that would be a good idea.”

Ashley stands up and grabs your arm. “It looks like you need it. Come on.”

You don't even recognize the fact that she’s being so considerate as you honestly find yourself incredibly tired all of a sudden.

She and Sabrina help you into bed and Mom seems to naturally start to cuddle up to you in her sleep, which definitely helps make you calm.