This Must be Fiction

Ville’s friend Bam was shouting. I crouched deeper onto the floor and hid from the remaining debris that was flying from the bar doors Bam had ripped down. He ran over to Ville who was still standing over me.

“What’s going on?” Ville yelled. His voice boomed over everything else. He grabbed my arm roughly and pulled me to my feet. I looked back and forth between him and Bam, knowing something was wrong. They both looked too distressed for words.

“You know what’s going on. Get in the car! We have to go!” he yanked Ville away from me. As they were sprinting out the door Ville caste a look back at me, and I knew I’d be seeing him again sometime soon.

It was that moment that made me finalize my decision that it was definitely time to move on to a new destination. I was entirely frazzled at what happened that night and I was honestly scared that I was in danger. I packed my car the next morning and checked out of my hotel before 9 AM. I still didn’t really know what direction I was headed in, but it couldn’t hurt to drive out West. It all else failed, I could go to California. At least go across country. I knew I had at least enough money to take me there.

I slammed my car door shut and lit a cigarette. I wasn’t an avid smoker, but it helped to calm me sometimes. I shoved all my belongings in the seat next to me and started the car. Before I could pull out of the parking lot a knock came to my window. I jumped about fifty feet.

“What!?” I shouted, finally turning to look at the person knocking. It was Ville.

“Let me go with you.” He said. I rolled down the window so we could talk easier.

“Are you crazy? I don’t even know you.” I started to roll up the window again and tried to pull away, but he stopped me.

“I’m Ville Valo. Born in Helsinki Finland. I’m in a band called HIM and I have a brother named Jesse. My father Kari owns a sex shop in my home town. There we go, now you know me. Take me with you.”

“You’re insane.” Although I wanted him to come with me, I knew it was a bad idea. How could I possibly bring a stranger with me all the way to California? Especially after what happened last night.

“Molly, you know you want me to get in this car with you.” He leaned down to look me straight in the eye. I realized at this moment how tall Ville was. He towered over me. I rolled me eyes and thought seriously about what I was about to do. Let this man, as gorgeous as he was, into my car. We would drive for hours together and we didn’t really know each other. But there was something about him, about us, which made me unlock the doors. He beamed and threw a small bag of stuff into the back seat, and ran around the car to seat in the passenger seat.

Once he was in, he leaned across the front and kissed me on the cheek. I blushed, but also noticed how icy his kiss was. His lips, plump and soft, were freezing. I shivered.

“Oh sorry. It was kind of… automatic.” Ville looked away. “Where are we driving to anyway?” he asked, talking with his hands.

“Well I am driving towards California. If my car makes it there in one piece.” I said. I looked at the map I had received in Pennsylvania and chose a route towards California.

“Listen,” Ville began after a few seconds of awkward silence. I had begun driving on the highway. “I’m really sorry about last night. Something sort of… came up. I’m sorry if it scared you though.”

“I wasn’t scared, just kind of… confused. And maybe a little scared.” I added. Ville laughed. My heart pounded.

“And I just want to let you know how happy I am that you let me come with you.” He spoke again.

“Yeah. I don’t know why I did to be honest. Why did you even want to come with me anyway?” I asked.

“Because I’m just like you. I’m trying to get away and rediscover myself. I love my life, sure, but there’s nothing about it that is completely mine.” He spoke softly. I glanced at him for a moment and saw how upset he seemed.

“Well, let’s hope this trip goes well then.” I said. We both laughed quietly and then fell into a comfortable silence.

Hours after we started our trip I stopped at a rest stop. My legs were exhausted and I was sure Ville’s were too. We had talked the entire ride, mostly sharing life stories. He knew everything about me including my life, my friends, house, neighborhood, school life, dreams, pets… just everything. When I tried to ask him things about his life in Finland he was pretty quiet about it. I just gathered that he didn’t like to share too much information with people, which was fine with me. Ville seemed honestly interested in my life and truly wanted to hear what I had to say. It was nice to have someone to talk to.

“Coming in?” I asked as I climbed out of the jeep.

“No, I think I’ll just have a cigarette out here.” He said, following my lead and getting out of the car.

“Suit yourself.” I shrugged. I went into the rest stop and bought a salad to tide my hunger over until dinner. When I stepped back out Ville was already back in the car. I thought it was strange; he couldn’t have been out of the car for more than two minutes. I waved him over to a picnic bench I was headed towards to eat my lunch. He got out of the car reluctantly.

“Don’t you want anything to eat?” I asked. He looked uncomfortable for a second, and then shook his head.

“No, I’m fine.”