Life Isn't All That Bad

The drive from New York to Tempe took us four days. We refused to stay in the car for more than twelve hours a day, and traffic was awful. Overnight, we'd stay at cheap motels. Honestly, the driving wasn't that bad.

But by the third day, I was ready to die of boredom. My Ryan Adams' Love Is Hell CD was playing softly throughout the car. I pressed my face against the cold glass of the passenger window and watched the world fly past me. What state was I even in?

"Hey Mom?" I spoke up.

My mother lowered the music to an inaudible level, something I couldn't stand, glancing briefly at my. "Yes, Beau?"

"What state are we in?" I questioned, raising the music back to its soft volume.

"Um, Oklahoma, I believe. Stop being so impatient, we'll get there eventually."

I just rolled her eyes. "If we didn’t drive here, we'd already be there," I grumbled under my breath, pulling out my cell phone. One new message, the screen read.

"When r u getting here? I want to see ur pretty face again!"

I chuckled at Liz's enthusiasm. I pressed the reply button, typing in my response.

"I don't think I'll ever make it. This drive is going to kill me."

"Beau, there's a rest stop up ahead. You want to stop?" Mom asked, briefly looking over at me.

"Um, yeah. My legs are dying," I laughed. It was true- they'd been cramped in this car for the passed three days. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. Despite my short height, I had long legs that just didn't enjoy being stuck in this car for so long.

My phone buzzed, signaling a new message had been received. "R u listening to the CD I sent u?"

"Not yet. Ryan Adams is serenading my car at the moment. When the CD is over, I'll switch, k?" I entered quickly, hitting the send button.

The phone buzzed again. "U have an unhealthy addiction to his voice."

I couldn't help but laugh loudly at this, which caused my mom to give me a strange look. "I think I'm gonna drive now. I'll talk to you later."

As we pulled into a parking spot at the rest stop, I quickly hopped out of the car, stretching my arms high over my head. I twisted back and forth, cracking my back in the process. Standing up had never felt so wonderful. I looked to the other side of the car and saw my mom doing the same. "Can I drive now?" I asked eagerly.

"Jesus, Beau, we just stopped! Have a little patience, would you?" My mother snapped. I groaned as she began walking over to the building. She was not in a good mood.

After using thedisgusting restrooms, and buying some cheap, greasy food, my mother and I retreated back to the car. "So, about driving..." I began, pouting innocently.

My mom just rolled her eyes, tossing me the keys. "I'm sleeping in the back."

As we got comfortable in our new spots, my CD began to end. The last few notes of Hotel Chelsea Nights rang out softly in the car, before fading into silence. I took the CD out, replacing it with Liz's CD.

She was right, I did have an unhealthy addiction to Ryan Adam's voice. The past few days, his voice was what filled the awkward silences between my mom and I. Even the oversized, worn out t-shirt I'd been wearing was a Ryan Adams shirt.

The first song on the new CD was Everybody (Backstreet's Back). I couldn't help but laugh as I drove the car out of the rest stop area, getting back onto the highway.

I drove for several more hours, switching back and forth between Liz's CD of pure, 1990s' pop, and Love Is Hell. The silence between songs was filled with my mother's snores coming from the back of the car.

As the sun began to set, my now-awake mom began searching one of her countless maps she'd picked up along the way for a hotel. "You know, Tempe is only about four more hours away. We'll definitely be there by tomorrow."

"Thank God!" I groaned, shifting in my seat. My butt had fallen asleep, making sitting ridiculously uncomfortable.

"Oh! Here we go! I found a motel!" She exclaimed, tapping her finger on the map. After a few wrong turns, and making a giant loop, we finally pulled into the parking lot, a vacancy sign blinking overhead.

After checking in and heading to our room, I flopped down on the queen sized beg, spreading out as much as I could. "These car rides are trying to kill me," I whined to my mom, rolling over so she could sit down.

She patted my leg. "One more day, sweetheart. We'll be there before you know it."

At this point, I was just too tired to even argue that one more day still felt like an eternity.

The bed in this motel was less than clean. I cringe when I saw the stains on the sheets, and opted for sleeping on the small sofa instead. The sofa, of course, wasn't much cleaner, and was even less comfortable than the bed. When I woke up, my neck was sore and my left leg had fallen asleep.

Once my mom had woken up and headed to the lobby to check out, I changed in a washed out pair of shorts, and a black t-shirt with a gun that read "zombie repellent". To say the least, my mom didn’t approve of that shirt, but it didn’t matter to me. I pulled a purple and black plaid shirt over that. Then I added some accessories, finally sliding on a worn out pair of Toms.

"Can we go now?" I asked my mom after she returned, eager to escape the trashy motel. She nodded, and we made our way back to our car.

After five more excruciating hours in the car, several wrong turns, and a pop-tart, our car pulled into the driveway of our new home.

Before the car had even come to a complete stop, I flung myself out of the door. The grass of my new front yard was soft and green. I stretched out, enjoying the fresh air. Man, it was hot here. My mom parked the car and climbed out, staring down at me. I started rolling around on the ground, giggling as I did. "Grass! It's actual grass, mom! I actually have a yard with grass now!" After growing up in New York, grass was not a common thing. Especially when you live in an apartment building like I had.

My mom laughed. "Beau, you look like a fool."

"But mom, seriously, it's-" I was cut off by my phone buzzing wildly in my shirt pocket. I expected Liz's name to pop up on the screen, but instead "Danny the Sexy Beast" popped up. The little fucker had changed his name in my phone, yet again.

"I have no one to slay zombies with now. Fuck my life."

I chuckled, sliding my phone open to respond. My mom sighed loudly, heading inside the house.

"Watch your language, young man."

The heat began to get to me. I sat up, stretching one last time before standing up. My phone buzzed once again.

"Young man? Two years isn't that big of a difference! No need to act like my mom."

"It's closer to three years, though. So I have every right to act like your mom. Now tuck in your shirt and clean up your room! ;)"

As I stood in the warm sun, I shook my hair out, getting the little blades of grass out of the dark waves. It was really hot here. I quickly hurried inside, only to discover it was even hotter in my new home.

"Beau!" I heard my mom's voice call from upstairs. "Honey, leave the front door open a little! That might help it cool off a bit. I'm going to take a shower. Find something useful to do, alright?"

"Yeah, okay mom!" Did she consider hooking up the Xbox and playing Left 4 Dead useful? I felt that it was pretty productive, so that's exactly what I did.

After awhile, I paused the game when my phone buzzed.

"R u here yet?!'

Oops. I never told Liz that I'd made it to Tempe. I was about to respond when I heard a noise. I spun around, discovering a boy about my age holding a plate of cookies staring at me.

"Um, hi...." He said awkwardly, his already red cheeks darkening.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Uh, what are you doing in my house?"

"I, er, here," he said, holding out the plate of cookies. How manly. "My uh, my mom sent me here with these to um, welcome you to the neighborhood..."

".... So you let yourself into my house?" I asked, taking the plate from him.

"Well, your front door was open...." He stuttered out, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm just... I'll be leaving now," he said, quickly hurrying out the front door.

Why did I have the feeling this wouldn't be my last encounter with this strange boy?