AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“They’re not that bad,” he laughs, clearly amused that I find it so funny he eats them. He always made fun of my eating habits, not the other way around.
“If you say so.” I roll the window down and lean my elbow on the edge, hoping the cool air will wake me up. I prop my foot on the dash and remember the drive from Payson to L.A. I stuck my hand out the window and moved it through the wind as if I were riding a wave. That feels like so long ago.
“Do you meditate, too?” I chuckle.
Jack shakes his head at me and I can see the beginnings of a smile.
“Scented candles?” I counter.
“Fuck off, Stone.” Jack’s boisterous laugh fills the car and he playfully pushes my foot off the dash. “Coming from the vegan,” he adds.
“New Age rehab rub off on you?” I tease. “You’re a real Californian now.” Stuff like that used to annoy him, and now he seems to be embracing it.
“Meditation works,” he says as he glances my way, looking for a reaction.
“Wow.” I accentuate the word.
“What?”
“Nothing.” I stifle a laugh.
“I worked on some shit in rehab. Took therapy seriously this time,” he admits. I know he has struggled over the years, and I’m glad he is working the program. It’s not easy.
“Third times a charm, I guess.” I meant it as a joke, but it comes out insensitive. I don’t mean to be snarky, but I wished he would have taken rehab more seriously the first time.
Jack blanches.
“I guess I deserve that,” he says.
I take another bite of my Red Vine.
“How long has it been?” I ask, changing the subject. “Since you’ve been back home?”
Jack doesn’t answer, and I can tell he’s in deep thought. I know this trip must be hard for him, and he’s never wanted to visit his father before. In fact, whenever we had shows in Phoenix, Cash and Wade would drive up North to visit their families, but Jack never would. I don’t think he’s been back to Payson since he left home at seventeen.
“Why now?” I dare to ask, only because I’m curious. “Just because he’s sick, you have a change of heart?”
Jack grips the steering wheel tighter. I can see the tension in his arms and the tick of his jaw. “There’s something I want,” he says.
I rest my cheek on my palm and stare at him, trying to remember the young boy I risked everything for. I think the day we met our fate was sealed. We could try and stay away, but we always circled back to one another. Maybe what Amber said was right, it’s always Jack and Mia, everyone else is just collateral damage.
Cash is living proof of that.
“HEY.” I HEAR Jack’s voice and feel a soft nudge. “Wake up.”
I blink my eyes open and stretch my arms above my head, hitting the roof of the car.
“Mmm, what time is it?” I must have fallen asleep when we crossed the border into Arizona. I look out the window and see the mountains. “Why are we here?” I ask, opening the car door, needing to stretch my legs and feel the warm summer mountain air. The wind whips my hair around my face and I tuck it behind my ears.
Before me is the Mogollon Rim, a deep valley with mountains the color of a sunset. Pine trees dot the highway and the valley below. I breathe in deeply, taking in the familiar scents.
Home.
“It’s been a long time,” Jack says, grabbing the guardrail beside me. I watch as the wind blows his hair and he closes his eyes.
“We used to come up here all the time.” That was when we were all still together, a ragtag group of misfits trying to find their way in the world. We were so innocent back then, with aspirations. Now, everything has changed.
“I thought I’d never want to come back, ya know?” Jack says, bringing me out of my reverie. “But now that I’m here, I don’t know why I wanted to leave so bad.”
