Take Me to Infinity

For the second morning in a row, Autum awoke to her roommate’s voice echoing from the living room, only this time, another voice joined Kandi’s. The walls in their apartment were really too thin. Autum couldn’t help but think that if they hung a really thick quilt between every room, it would probably do a better job than their walls.

Autum rolled over in bed and grabbed her cell phone off of its charger on her nightstand. It was five minutes after seven. Who the hell got up this early?

She peeked through the door and saw Kandi, Logan, and James all piled up on the couch. The television was on, blasting some obnoxious hip hop song. Kandi was talking to James, and Logan was on the other side of James, his head propped up on his arm and his eyelids drooping over his brown eyes. Obviously Autum wasn’t the only one who wasn’t a morning person.

“Why are you guys over here so early?” Autum asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and stretching out her arms as she entered the room.

“I came to pick you up for those surf lessons,” James chuckled, pushing his shaggy hair out of his eyes.

“Like, right now?” she asked. Her eyes widened in response to his enthusiasm.

“Yup, morning’s the best time to hit the beach,” he grinned.

“You are insane,” she muttered. “Be right back, I gotta go change.”

Autum glanced around her room, looking for something, anything, to wear. She didn’t want to wear the swimsuit she had worn the night before, but she didn’t have anything else…until she spotted Kandi’s polka dotted bikini sticking out of the hamper in her bathroom. It didn’t reek of mildew, so she slipped it on.

“So you’re letting me borrow your car, right Logan?” she could hear James ask as she reentered the room. She quietly took a seat in the armchair near the kitchen.

“Yeah, if Kandi lets me drive her car today,” he replied and shot a glance in Kandi’s direction.

“Nobody drives my car but me,” she stated, her honey brown eyes daring him to challenge her.

Logan sighed. “But you have no clue where we’re going.”

“I can take directions,” she said, leaning over onto her knees.

“Fine,” he muttered, too tired to put up a fight.

“Alright, well I guess we’d better get a move on,” James announced as he stood up from the couch. Logan dug his keys out of his pocket and handed them over.

“What are you guys doing today anyway?” Autum asked as she stood up.

“Getting shit for the apartment,” Kandi replied. “And I’m trying to get him to take me sight-seeing, but he refuses. I find it funny that he’d rather go shopping, just saying.”

Autum heard a groan coming from Logan’s direction. “That is funny,” she teased. “Well, I guess I’ll catch up with you later. Y’all still making dinner?”

“Yep yep. Wow, this feels weird. We’re actually spending the day apart. I think this is a first.”

“Whatever, you’re such a sap,” Autum laughed and followed James out of the apartment.

“So are you excited?” he laughed, every pour of his body exuding happiness.

“Maybe if I wasn’t so tired…” she joked. Even though she was exhausted, she couldn’t stop the smile that was spreading across her face.

“Well we can stop for coffee first. I know this really good little place. They have the best coffee.”

“Better than Starbucks?” Autum questioned, eyeing him suspiciously.

“So much better than Starbucks,” he answered as they approached the elevator.

“I’ll have to see about that.”

“Trust me, I’ll make you a believer,” he joked with a wink.

“Oh, I’m sure,” Autum laughed, playing along. “So are you and Logan roommates?” she asked, then added,” Does he get on your nerves like Kandi does mine?”

James laughed a little to himself as the elevator’s huge metal doors slid open. “Yep, we’re roomies, but he’s hardly ever at the apartment anymore. And yes, just a little,” he admitted. “Promise me you won’t laugh if I tell you why.”

Autum crossed her fingers. “I won’t, I swear. Now spill it.”

“Sometimes he steals my hair products,” James started, pausing to accommodate Autum’s stifled giggles, “and pretends that he doesn’t, which makes everything that much more awkward.”

“Okay, you’ve got it worse. I mainly steal Kandi’s stuff, so I can’t complain.”

>>

They spent two hours on the road driving to this amazing coffee shop that James raved about. Autum was beginning to become accustomed to the long car rides, she just chocked it up as a part of L.A. life.

Back home, an hour on the road would take you across town and back with a few stops along the way. In the city during rush hour, an hour on the road might get you two streets over.

But the ride wasn’t boring, and Autum wasn’t driving, so she had no complaints…well, aside from one. James almost froze her to death with the air conditioner.

They played car karaoke the entire ride to the coffee shop. James loved this nineties station, and Autum, being a fan of nineties music herself, couldn’t help but sing along. Things weren’t as awkward as they had been the last couple times she and James had spoken.

He was just a really chill guy, and Autum had always admired that quality in other people, mainly because she was so tightly-wound herself.

The coffee shop James brought her to was a little…shabby chic, to say the least. Sun-bleached lime green paint was flaking off the sides of the small building, revealing the slightly rusted metal beneath.

“This place has the best coffee you’ve ever had?” Autum asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Okay, okay, it’s not the best looking place in town-“

“Obviously,” Autum smirked.

“I’m just saying, don’t knock it before you try it,” he said with a grin.

Autum began to realize that giving things a chance was a recurring theme in her life. She had never considered herself close-minded, but everyone around her seemed to be trying to pry her open.

James adjusted his brown billed beanie as he pulled into the shop’s rickety drive-thru.

“Wow, they actually have a drive-thru?” Autum muttered in false wonderment.

“Classy, right? Trust me, no other guy in L.A. would take you to a place like this,” James chuckled.

Even though Autum had only been in town for five days, she knew he was right.

As they pulled up to the window, the midday sun streamed through the car’s window, causing Autum to squint her eyes. James grabbed a pair of aviators from the overhead compartment and offered them to her.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“So where’s the menu?” she giggled, looking around the window.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered. What do you like?” he asked as he rolled down the window, letting his arm dangle as he waited for her response.

“Caramel macchiato,” she replied with a smile.

“Alright, alright. I got ya,” James laughed before turning towards the window. “Hey man, can I get a caramel macchiato and a mocha frap?”

The boy behind the window grabbed a stumpy pencil from his curly blonde afro and jotted down their order. “Sure thing, dude. Anything else?”

“Nah, that’s it.” James smiled.

“A frap? Fraps are total girly drinks,” Autum teased as the window guy dealt with their order.

“Don’t judge me.”

“To each their own, I guess.”

The boy at the window handed James the drinks, and Autum reached for her wallet. James waved her away. “I got it.”

She mumbled “thanks” as he handed her her drink.

“Wait!” James spoke up as she held the cup to her lips. “I want to see you drink it.”

“Oh okay,” she laughed.

He dug out his wallet and paid the guy before pulling into the parking lot.

“Alright, try it. I’m just waiting to say I told you so,” James smirked, crossing his arms across his chest as they sat in the empty parking lot.

Autum held the cup up to her lips for a moment, gazing sideways at him before taking a sip.

“So?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“It’s all right,” she stated. “It’s all right, but it’s no Starbucks.”

James nodded a couple times, looking away. “Yeah, yeah whatever. You and your horrible coffee taste,” he laughed, his fingers gripping around the steering wheel.

“Oh, so now I have horrible coffee taste?” Autum laughed, shifting in the seat to face him.

“Obviously,” he smirked and dramatically rolled his eyes.

“Oh okay, I see how it is.”

They continued sipping on their drinks, occasionally pausing to tease each other or laugh at some car’s ridiculous paint job.

James quickly finished his coffee and set the empty cup in the cup holder before pulling out. Traffic was beginning to pick back up; it was close to lunchtime.

“So much for catching those great morning waves,” Autum replied as she reached to turn on the radio.

“Eh, it’s all the same anyway,” James muttered, shrugging it off.

>>

As soon as Autum felt the sand beneath her toes and came within view of the Pacific Ocean, anxiety began to wash over her. She was actually nervous, a feeling that she didn’t experience too often, but one she’d been feeling frequently since the big move.

“What’s wrong? Scared yet?” James joked as he ran out to the waves, leaving Autum to trudge behind.

Autum gripped the longboard James had lent her under her arm. The breeze rising from the waves sent cold chills up her spine.

James floated his board in the shallow water of the sandbar as he waited for her.
“Okay, teach me how to surf!” Autum squealed, trying to make herself more excited and less afraid.

James stretched his arms out behind his back. “First, you need to learn how to paddle out and stay afloat on the board,” he explained and held his hand out to take her board.

He got down on his board and showed her how to paddle, then motioned for her to do the same.

“You have to take long, smooth strokes, like swimming, except you have to keep the board moving with you,” he explained. James made it look so much easier than it was. Autum was a good swimmer, but she was still struggling.

They spent the entire day out there in the sandbar. James was patient with her and didn’t get frustrated when she screwed up. Autum had never met anyone who didn’t get aggravated with her after a while; she was sort of a slow learner.

As the day progressed, Autum began to view the waves as James did. Instead of seeing them as this ominous monster waiting to pull her under, she began to perceive them as a challenge, every frothy wave that crashed onto the shore was something she wanted to conquer. She didn’t successfully stand up on the board that day, but James told her he would take her out again until she finally did it.

And she was actually happy, being out there in the salty water with the sun beating down on her skin. It was a feeling she hadn’t really felt since being in Los Angeles. As much as she had hated her hometown, she had to admit that she was a little homesick.

The car ride home was quiet, but it wasn’t an awkward silence. They were both exhausted from their day at the beach, so they just sunk back into their seats, listening to the top forty countdown on the radio.

Autum felt her phone vibrate against her palm and flipped it open to reveal a text from Kandi. “Kandi says they’re making dinner, so we need to hurry our asses up,” Autum laughed as she read the message aloud to James.

James just shook his head. “We’ll get there when we get there.”