Breaking Electricity

"You and John will be driving to Tempe for me later today," My dad said as I stood with him in the kitchen. It was Saturday, which meant that I didn't have to work on the farm until Monday. I had been feeling really tired lately, and I was thankful that I could sleep in this morning. I think John was, too, since he was still sleeping. "Go ahead and wake him up, and then I'll give you guys some money. I just need you to pick a few things up for me." I nodded and trudged upstairs, "Oh, and Anna?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't make him drive the whole way..."

"Ugh!" I stomped upstairs as my dad laughed, and quietly made my way into my room. I walked over to John's bed and watched him sleep for a minute while I contemplated how exactly to wake him up. He looked peaceful, and I knew he wasn't a morning person. I sighed and decided to get it over with. "John," I whispered, shaking him a little bit. "John," I whined this time, and he stirred a little. "Wake up..." He turned and I thought I had accomplished waking him up, but all he did was switch to his other side, so he was now facing me. "Ugh, come on, John," I shook him more violently this time and he was so startled that his hand raised up and whacked my face, causing me to tumble over in pain, "Mother f-"

"Shit," He jumped out of bed and knelt down next to me, raising my head up. "Are you okay?" I glared at him as the blood poured out from my nose, "Yeah, stupid question. Come on," He lead me to the bathroom and I shrugged his hand off my shoulder and cleaned it myself, keeping one of the hand towels on my nose. I brushed past him and started walking downstairs. "I'm sorry," He sighed, leaning against the doorway. I didn't turn back around, but I stopped and smiled to myself, then walked downstairs slowly.

"I told you to wake him up, not fight him," My dad chuckled, cauisng me to roll my eyes. "What happened?"

"He's not a morning person," I rolled my eyes again and sat down at the kitchen table. "So I get punched in the face for trying to wake him up."

He laughed again and set breakfast on the table in front of me. I started eating and sighed when I heard John coming down the stairs. My dad laughed silently at me and started washing the dishes.

"Morning," John said as he sniffed the kitchen, "Smells good." He gave me a smile and then sighed when he saw my now-turning-blue nose. "Sorry about that, by the way."

"I'm gonna go change now," I threw my toast on my plate and made my way upstairs, ignoring the stares I was getting from John. Don't ask me why I was looking through everything I had in my closet to find something perfect to wear. Don't ask me why I decided to curl my hair into waves. And don't even ask me why I spent almost fifteen minutes with my make-up. Maybe I just felt like looking cute, you know? It didn't have to be because I'd be with John basically the whole day in a car and around downtown. It didn't have to be because I thought he was the slightest bit attractive. Don't judge me.

As I made my way downstairs, I heard my dad and John talking in hushed tones, so I snickered and decided to listen in. "Maybe go to dinner or something before you guys head home. Or a movie. Just - relax tonight and tomorrow. I'll be out of town until tomorrow night, so don't wait up for me when you get back." I silently killed my father and hopped down from the stairs into the kitchen. "You ready - whoa."

I rolled my eyes as my dad laughed at me, "You can stop laughing, Dad. I know, I'm a girl. It's hard to believe, but it's true, you know."

"It's just - the hair, and the make-up, and the flip-flops, and the skirt, and - " I glared at him as John stayed silent. This was really embarrassing. I was sure that my face looked like a tomato. "What got into you?"

"Can we drop it? Please? I'm ready to go," I sighed as my dad smiled and handed John some money. As I made my way out to the truck, I could hear the thunder start. That was my favorite part of summer; the storms. They calmed me to no end, and I'd always sit outside and watch them until they died down. It never got old.

"Don't take what your dad said the wrong way," John muttered as he started the truck. I looked over at him in confusion and waited for an answer, but I knew it'd take a minute. John wasn't the best at 'spitting it out'. So I waited and finally rested my head on the passenger side window. "You look pretty." I looked over at him again and furrowed my eyebrows together. This was weird. "That's what he meant."

Secretly, I smiled to myself and watched as he made our way onto the highway. I knew this would be about a three hour trip; we lived way too far from downtown. So I decided to start asking John questions. "What's your favorite color?"

He laughed slightly and looked over at me, raising an eyebrow, "Blue?"

"Just wondering," I smiled softly and crossed one leg over the other. "Movie?"

"Garden State," He smiled. "I don't even know why, either. It just really fascinated me. The ending scene was what got me."

"I've never seen it," I shrugged. "I don't watch many movies."

"I don't believe that," He laughed. "Have you seen your DVD collection?"

"Those are my brother's," I said as I started to put my hair into a ponytail, "He's a bit of a movie freak, needless to say."

"Leave it down," John blurted out. Then he pretended to look into his side mirror. I could tell he was embarrassed by the way he was trying to hide his laughter. "I mean - it looked good when it was - down..."

"Alright, John," I giggled as he blushed, "Your turn. Ask me a question."

"I already know you, Anna," He sighed as he took an exit. I guess he was stopping for gas.

I furrowed my eyebrows again, "What?"

"Your favorite color is yellow, because it makes you think of the sun. Your favorite band currently is Dave Matthews, but you'll always go back to REO Speedwagon no matter what. When you can, you wear your Arizona State t-shirt when you sleep, because, I assume, it reminds you of your brother. You make sounds in your sleep, but it's not weird. It just sounds like you're having a bad dream. And it kind of makes me a little sad, though. You like to sing in the shower, even when you think no one can hear you. I think if you could be confident enough in your overalls, you'd wear them every day because you like them. You sleep with one stuffed animal; an owl. And you're angry at me for living with you right now."

It took me a little bit to process what he just said to me, but I eventually got it into my brain. I didn't know he paid attention to the little things as much as he did. It was almost...cute; the way he knew almost everything about me. Almost. "I'm not angry," I muttered, looking out my window.

"You don't have to lie."

"I'm not angry," I shook my head. "It's just always been me and my dad since Andrew moved away. And I guess, I feel like my dad is trying to replace my brother; and it's kind of breaking my heart a little bit. Because my brother is my best friend. And I miss him a lot." John was showing no emotion, or at least he was trying really hard to hide his emotions. "So I'm not angry at you. I'm angry at my dad."

There was a moment of silence as I tried to decided whether or not I should tell him about my real parents. I think he kind of deserved to know now; he knew almost everything else; it seemed right. But, I wanted to wait a little longer. As he stopped at the gas station, I got out and stretched a little bit. I waited for him to start pumping the gas, and then we both went in as we looked for a snack. I just decided to get a pack of cigarettes, which I knew John would be shocked by. Now he knew another thing about me. As we made our way back to the car, I laughed as he stared at me in shock.

"Well that was unexpected," He started the truck. "You smoke?"

"Occasionally. It's not an everyday thing, if that's what you're asking."

"Well you're just full of surprises," He smiled and I sighed as I looked out the window.

Boy, was he right.