When I'm With You

I’ve found that through the years it’s really just better if I explore every new place on my own. Of course, there were others who were never okay with this resolve, but I always managed to get my way in the end. Of course, this also meant that I was in for it whenever I decided to return to wherever it was that we were deciding to take residence in for the moment. A new town, a new state, a new country… none of it mattered anymore. No matter how many times we moved, it was always the same. I was the new kid that didn’t quite fit in, whereas Mat was the one person that adapted well to everything.

I could acclimate myself to somewhere new, but I had learned that making friends was slightly pointless. Why bother really? I mean, we have never stayed in one place for very long. The longest we ever stayed somewhere was 3 years, and yet Mat still didn’t bother to learn the language. We’ve lived everywhere from the United States to Arabia (but no worries, we didn’t stay for more than a week). France was the only place that we were safe for a long period of time. It’s a beautiful country. Germany was interesting, but there was really no point because we were only there for the spring semester one year.

As you can imagine, school has never really been something that follows well. Everywhere is so different. I like seeing and experiencing everything first hand, but it would be really nice to be able to call someone a real friend that you know that you’ll at least attempt to keep in contact with when you know that you can only stay for so long. Is it surprising that I’ve been asked if I have social problems? I don’t think that it’s fair, but whatever. I’m not going to get close to someone only to have to tell them goodbye and never have any hope of ever seeing them ever again. What’s the point really?

Of course all of our travels have led us to the United States quite a few times, and we’re here again. I don’t quite remember the name of the town or the state, but I do know that it’s rather beautiful. I’ve been driving around the small town for a while now. It’s a gorgeous place. It’s basically a college town so it’ll be easier for Mat to keep track of me whilst he’s taking classes. Of course he also had to be the most paranoid person in the world and apply to some college that was basically attached to this boarding school if you will. Not sure if I’m even going to bother with living there because we did go through the trouble of purchasing a house in the city, but it’s not technically up to me.

I drove along quietly, avoiding breaking any and all traffic laws, because quite frankly, I didn’t want to have to explain to a police officer why I was driving underage. I only do it on the first day that we get somewhere, and only if it’s too large for me to walk around without Mat freaking out on me. It’s easier, and faster. I don’t normally stay out past 8, so it’s never been a problem.

However, as I made my way around the suburbs, and through the side streets, I realized that I made a fatal mistake. All of these streets are either going around in circles or confusing the hell out of me, or they’re dead ends. This is a problem, and Mat is going to flip.

Oh, did I forget to mention that I was out of gas and my engine was starting to overheat from the looks of it. It wasn’t a surprise, the car was getting old, but still, you’d think that it would manage to get me through town without dying on me.

Speak of the Devil.

I pulled to the side of the road as my phone started ringing and flashing Mat’s name over and over again. I was in trouble. This was bad. What was I going to do?

“Hello?” I answered timidly.

“Skye?! Oh my! Where the hell are you?!” he sounded frantic and I almost felt bad. Almost.

“I’m just getting a feel for the place Mat.”

“What the hell were you thinking just taking off with the car?! You’re 15! What are you going to say if anything happened to you?!”

“Oh please. I’ve driven a car before Mat. It’s not that big of a deal. I can take care of myself for a little bit.”

“That’s what you said last time, and where did that land you?!”

Okay. That was low. He knew that we didn’t talk about that. I didn’t speak for a few moments.

“You know that that’s not fair Mat.”

“Well it’s true Skye. Now when are you going to be home?” he asked exasperated.

“Well… about that…” I was a bit hesitant, but wouldn’t everyone be.

“What’s wrong now?” he sounded annoyed.

“I think that I’m having engine troubles and I’m out of gas,” I stated straight out.

I could hear him pacing in the background. I can’t understand why. I knew that I had had problems in the past, but it wasn’t like I hadn’t taken care of myself before. He was overreacting and we both knew it. However, I was also probably not reacting enough, so one of us had to be concerned I suppose.

“What I am supposed to say to that Skye?”

“Nothing, I was simply informing you of the situation at hand. I’m going to try to fix it as soon as I can, but I can’t say when I’ll be back.”

I could just see him in my mind’s eye pacing back and forth with the phone, his opposite hand buried in his hair trying to pull some of it out. I could sense the irritation, but I really couldn’t do anything about it without solving my own problems first. It’s not my fault that the car has been having troubles for some time, and it chooses to completely give out when I have it.

“You are such a pain sometimes you know that? Where do you plan on staying if this takes too long?”

To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about it taking too long, so I was slightly surprised when Mat of all people thought of that.

“Well I suppose that I can just sleep in the car if it gets to that point.”

“No Skye. You need to find somewhere to sleep, that doesn’t entail you sleeping on the streets in the car.”

I rolled my eyes. Unless there was something really wrong with the car I couldn’t see anything coming to that, but one never knows I suppose.

“I’ll try Mat, but I’m not making any promises.”

I looked down at the ground finally understanding that this was a situation that I didn’t really want to be in, but what was I supposed to do? I was already in it and I might as well just deal with it. There was no use in complaining, and it’s not like I could tell Mat to come and get me because I had the car.Convenient right?

“Just be safe Skye. I really don’t want to have to see you in a hospital bed.”Not like it’d be the first time.

“I will Mat.”

“Please call and check in when you can.”

“Of course.”

With that I hung up the phone. He was upset, but let’s face it, neither one of us
could really do anything about the whole situation. The car was practically dead, and if I couldn’t fix it there wasn’t anything that could be done until I could get a hold of a real mechanic.

I turned off the ignition and got out of the car keeping the keys in my hand. I made my way around the front and realized that the hood had steam coming out of the edges.

This really wasn’t good. The engine had completely overheated, and I don’t think that there’s really anything that I can do now. There could be any amount of damage in there and I really don’t want to even try to do this myself. However, I needed to open the hood to let the heat escape. I went back around to the trunk to pull out a towel and a random pair of gloves that Mat keeps in here for no reason. I suppose I should be glad of his randomness though. I did need them.

I placed the towel in on the edge of the hood and lifted up with the gloves sighing in relief when the steam was kept away from my face, for the most part, by the towel. However, I could still feel the heat so I had to back away quickly as the steam rolled up from under the hood of the car.

I don’t know how long I waited, but I do know that it had to have been some time because the sun sank down significantly before I felt safe enough to go back over and look at the car. What I found wasn’t anywhere near encouraging. The cap to the anti-freeze had been melted slightly and the wires connecting the engine and the battery were slightly fused together where they weren’t completely melted and gone.

I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon; that I knew for sure.

I walked around to the back of the car and pulled out a small bag with a bottle of water and my wallet. We always kept a supply of water with us… cautious and paranoid; yes we are. It’s not a bad thing… considering. But we’ll get into that later… maybe. I looked around and set off in the direction that seemed to be the most promising. I knew that I couldn’t go too far, but I had to be able to get back to the car if I didn’t find anyone.

It didn’t seem like too long before I suddenly found myself sprawled on the ground with another girl apologizing profusely… Well, we’re off to a great start now aren’t we?