Passenger Seat

“I've got an idea.” I said to John as we kept swimming around in the ocean.

“Alright lets hear this idea.”

“Well we got that blanket in the car, could we just lay it down on the sand and chill out here?”

He looked at me like I was crazy but I knew I wasn't. I thought it'd be fun. We just go to California and I wanted to experience everything I could.

“I don't know B, I just don't want to get in trouble.”

“You know John I always thought you were this fun and crazy guy but I guess I was wrong.” I turned my back to him, pretending I was angry with him.

“Oh come on you can't do that. I just don't want to get arrested.”

“We won't get arrested. If we do, which we won't, I’ll take all the blame. Please can we?” I gave him my puppy dog eyes and pouted out my lip. I swam closer to him and grabbed his hand and bounced them up and down in the water. I repeated please over and over again.

He took his eyes off of mine and looked around the beach and I could tell that he was thinking. He looked back at me and I kept my pout on and tried to convince him.

He let out a sigh and shook his head. “Ugh fine, but were going to go get In N Out because I'm starving.”

I shouted and jumped around, splashing the water while I was at it.

“Thank you, I knew you weren't a party pooper.” I threw my arms around him and hugged him.

He just laughed and hugged me back. We swam back to shore and go our clothes back on and ran back to the car. We drove around trying to find an In N Out or anything else that caught our eye. After about 10 minutes we finally found the fast food joint and went inside and ordered our food. We went inside and sat at one of the table and ate our food.

“Are you sure you want to sleep on the beach?” John asked.

“Yes I am. And you can't change my mind.”

“It's going to get cold, and it's sandy. I just think we should reconsider this.”

“You can't take that back. You said yes so were doing it.”

He only shook his head and sipped on his cup of coke. We finished up our meals and headed back to the beach we were at earlier. We put on warmer clothing and brought the blanket with us. We tried to find a spot that wouldn't be to noticeable, which was hard since we were at a beach and it was all open land. We put down the blanket and rolled up some clothing to make them our pillows. John had a few towels in his car that he stole from one of the motels and we used those as addition blankets to keep up warm. It was around midnight when we finally laid down and watched the stars up above us.

“Have you ever gone camping?” I asked him.

He looked over at me and nodded his head. “Yes me and the boys have gone a couple times. Have you?”

“No, so this is my first time.”

“Ha I wouldn't really count this as camping more like being beach bums.”

“That's fine, I'd rather be a beach bum actually.” I gave him a bright smile and looked back up at the stars. I started to think about my mother, thinking about how she's probably looking down at us right now and smiling. She was always for a cute romance story.

“Why were you so mad that I broke up with Kennedy?” I asked John. He turned his head and looked over at me.

“I don't know maybe it was because Kennedy is one of my best friends and I'm just looking out for him.”

“But it's okay to be mad at me? Don't you think there's a reason why I broke up with my first love? God all you boys are so stupid.” I for some reason I was getting so mad and frustrated.

“Hey I'm not that mad at you, you had to do what you had to do.”

“But you were still mad at me, that's not fair.” I sat up and looked down at him. He sat up also and turned his body so he was facing me.

“I overreacted and I'm sorry. It wasn't fair.” He gave me an apologetic smile and I smiled back at him.

“It's okay.” I shrugged my shoulders and looked back up at the stars. I went back to laying down and looking up at the stars. He followed and laid down also. I scooted a little closer to him and he noticed how close I was so he lift his arm and wrapped it around my shoulders. I closed my eyes and started to drift off to sleep.

I must have slept for a while because it was getting lighter out but it must have been still really early in the morning and John was right it was freezing. I looked up a little and saw that John was still asleep. I felt his breath lightly hit the top of my forehead and it made my giggle to myself. I kept staring at John, I was surprised he didn't wake up from the feeling of someone staring at him. I couldn't keep my eyes off of him, he just had something about him that made the inside of me boil. I didn't understand why I was feeling like this, but I hadn't felt like this in a really long time. I started to smile to myself, he looked so cute and peaceful.

I started to move around trying to get comfortable but that was impossible. I reached down and tried to grab my phone to see the time and it said it was 4:00 in the morning. I stirred around some more and tried to get comfortable but I just couldn't.

“Can you stop moving around?” John said in a low raspy voice.

“I'm sorry but I’m uncomfortable.” I said in a low voice like him.

“What time is it?”

“It's 4 in the morning.”

He let out a huge yawn and finally opened up his eyes.

“Do you want to go to the car and warm up? I'm freezing.”

“Yes that sounds great.” I said and jumped up and got my stuff together and ready to go to the car. John was a little bit slower and wasn't focused. I helped him get his stuff and hurried him to the car. We jumped in and turned on the heat and covered our self’s with the big blanket. I was wide away but John on the other way was still in his sleepy state.

“John?”

“What?”

“Can we switch seats? I want to drive around and get coffee.”

“Um sure.” He got out and just went to the back seat so he could spread out. But he didn't leave the keys for me. I looked around but didn't see them. I turned my body and looked in the back see and saw John was turned so his back was to me and I saw the shape of the keys in the back of his pocket. I too a few moments to see if I should try and pick them out or just leave them. I didn't think I should take the chance so I turned around and just sat there. I looked out the window and thought about this trip and how much I've been having. But then I got bored and I looked back at John, I thought about it again and I wanted some coffee. I turned my body again and tried my best to be quiet and not wake him. I pulled up his shirt so I could stick my hand down his pocket. And when I did I noticed that John really does wear tight jeans, it was so hard to get the keys out. He started to move and I started to freak out but he didn't wake up. I went back and finally grabbed a hold of the key hole and tried to pull them out.

“Blake? Why is your hand down my pants?” He asked with out even moving so I didn't even know he was awake.

“Their not down your pants their just in your back pocket.” I said in a sarcastic voice. He started to move around so he was facing me. He looked so tired I started to feel bad.

“Okay so why is your hand down my back pocket?”

“Because you left your keys there and I want coffee.”

“You could of asked. I haven't fallen asleep yet.”

“Well I didn't know that. Can I just have your keys so I can go get coffee and you can sleep?” He thought about giving them to me and I thought he would say no but he reluctantly took them out of his pocket and handed them over to me.

“Please don't crash my car.” He said in a worried tone of voice.

“John please, you can trust me.” I turned around and started up the car. I heard John mutter something under his breath but I dismissed it and drove off.

I didn't know where I was going but I just drove. This was my dream, to come to California and be free and just do my own thing. I wanted to be here and no where else. I got on a main road and finally found a Dunkin Donuts. I didn't know what to do if I should wake him up and ask him what he wanted or just leave him and have him rest. I decided on leaving him and getting him a cup of coffee. Since it was still early in the morning there wasn't a line, I was lucky that it was even open.

“I'll have a small black coffee and a small blueberry coffee.” I said to the younger teen girl who was behind the counter. She nodded her head and told me the amount which then I handed her the money and waited.

I looked out at the car and saw John standing outside, leaning up against the car, waiting for me. I smiled to myself and heard my name being called. I picked up the coffees and went out to John.

“Well look whose up.” I said as I gave him his cup of coffee.

“Oh thank you, you are my angel.” He said with a smile and took a sip of his coffee. And at that moment the knots in my stomach were turning. I smiled back at him and sipped on my coffee. I didn't know why this was happening, was it just because I broke up with Kennedy and I need someone now? I couldn't help it but I didn't push the feelings away. I kept on looking at John and kept on smile. He looked over at me and I quickly looked away and felt a small blush come across my face. I looked back over at him and saw that he was looking at me. We had a small moment, both our eyes were on each other and neither of us looked away until Johns phone went off. He looked away and picked up the phone and I just rolled my eyes and kept on sipping on my coffee.

I looked around, watching the cars go by and the people walking down the streets. The sun was coming up and it was a brand new day in California.