Passenger Seat

We sat in the car once again with the A.C. Blowing. We drove in a comfortable silence with Say Anything playing in the background.

My legs were resting up on the dashboard again and I leaned lower into my seat. I looked out the window and looked up at the sky. I watched as the clouds were floating high above the sky with the sun shining intensely down on us as we drove down the highway.

It was going on noon when Kennedy first texted me.

”Good morning babe.” as I read the text it made me me made, he was totally going to forget about what had happened last night. I threw my phone into my bag and let out a sigh. I saw John look over at me but I ignored his looks and looked back out the window.

An hour of doing nothing but watching trees and cars passing by wasn't the trip I wanted. This was actually boring.

“Do you want to stop and get some food?” he turned down the music and looked over at me.

“Sure.” I said eagerly. I didn't care what we did at this moment I just wanted to do something.

We got off an exit and followed signs that led us to a small Burger shack. We pulled in and got out of the car, the heat was killing me. John started to walk towards the restaurant but I called out to him for him to stop.

“I want to change my clothes, can you unlock the doors/” he lifted up his key s and pressed the unlock button.

“I'll go find us a table.” John yelled out to me.

“Alright.”

I found a pair of shorts and a razor back tank top. I went inside and went straight to the bathroom to change. All I have to say is that the bathrooms were disgusting; there were toilet paper and towels all over the floors, there was a nasty smell and it just wasn't sanitary. I quickly got dress, trying my hardest not to touch anything around me and hurried out.

I went out to the seating area and scanned the room for John but I didn't see him. I walked down one of the aisles and head to the back of the room. I finally saw the back of Johns head and walked fast to him.

“Hey” I said as I sat down across from him.

“Hi, I already ordered some water for you for now.”

“Oh thanks.”

The waitress shortly came and gave us our waters and asked if we were ready.

“I am if you are Blake.”
I picked up the menu and quickly scanned it “Um not quite, can you come back in like
2 minutes?” she nodded her head with a smile and told us she would be back in a few minutes and then walked away.

“So I was thinking maybe we could stay here for the day maybe the night, I'm kind of tired of driving.” John said.

“Yeah that sounds fun. I'm tired of just sitting down.”

“So after this we can go find a nice motel or something that's downtown so we can walk around and do something tonight.”

“Oh yeah that would be nice.”

The waitress came back shortly and took our orders. We made light conversation and our food came. We ate quietly and made comments on our food. We still didn't know that much about each other, so I felt it was time to find out more about him.

“Tell me some more about you.” I asked.

He brought a napkin up to his face and wipe away the grease and ketchup that was left on his mouth.

“Like what?”

“Tell me about your family.” I had a weak family, so hear about other peoples perfect families made me happy and a little jealous.

“Okay well you know I have 2 younger brothers Shane and Ross. Their pretty cool, their the typical annoying little brothers, but I miss them when I'm on the road.” he said honestly.

“Aw I bet they miss you also. I think I met Shane once at one of the band practices. He seemed cool.”

“Yeah their both pretty chill. We talk all the time on the phone right before I go on stage. They help me calm down and focus better on stage.” As John was telling me this, it made me feel sad, all I wanted was a family like Johns.

“That's really sweet John, It seems like you have the perfect family.”

He let out a small chuckle, “It seems like everyone says that, but I don't, we still have our problems. Like my mom may seem super supportive over the band and tour but she still disagrees with it, every time I come home from a tour we always get into a fight about it. It's like becoming a routine now. It's tiring.” I felt bad for him, the band has gotten so far, their going into their second album, his mom should see that they are getting some where.

“I wouldn't of thought that, they seem so supportive.”

“Yeah, I mean my dad is, he always says that I just need to listen to my heart and do what it's telling me to do. I just wish my mom saw it like that.” he looked a tad upset, he looked down at his food and played with his french fries. I didn't know what to say to him, I felt so bad, he put everything into The Maine.

“I'm sorry John, I bet she knows how much you care for the band and everyone knows you put so much heart into it, shes just being a mother and seeing it differently.”

He didn't say anything, he just nodded his head slowly and I could tell he was thinking about home and all the fights he had had with his mother.

“So why are you and Kennedy fighting?” he asking obviously trying to change the subject.

“I don't even know to be honest. It feels like we just yell at each other for no reason anymore.”

“Kennedy doesn't seem like that.”

“I know really, and hes not usually like that but lately me and him just go at it. Don't say anything but I want to break up with him.”

Johns face immediately dropped, shock was written all over his face. Me and Kennedy had been together for two years now and I was just done.

“What? Wow. I mean if your not happy then you should do whats best but you guys have been together for so long, why now?”

“I guess I'm just ready to move on, that's all.”

He nodded his head like he understood what I meant and maybe he did.

“Are you done?” John asked me. I looked down at my half eaten burger and fries. Like the bathroom the food was also gross.

“Yeah I'm pretty done with that place.” we both laughed and got up from our seats and went to the cash register to pay. I started to take out my wallet to help out with the bill but John pushed my hand away and gave the waitress his money. He looked down at me and gave me a smile, but I gave him a mad face.

“You didn't have to do that.” I said as we were walking away from the cash register heading for the door.

“I wanted to, you can pay for something else tonight.” we stepped outside and I'm pretty sure the weather had gotten worse, it was so hott.

We got into Johns car and drove off. We went down the main street and looked for a decent looking motel, it was kind of hard to find one they all looked scummy but we finally found one that didn't seem that bad. We got out of the car and walked to the main office to get a room. I stood by John as he talked to the older looking man and we got a decent price on a room. He thought me and John were dating and he was so glad to see two happy looking people together. We said our goodbyes and he told us that if we needed anything just to ring him up and he'd get it for us. He was a kind old man, which is weird to see now a days because it seems like their all grumpy and angry at the world.

We walked back to the car to grab our bags and we walked up a set of stairs and went to room 145. The room was decent, the walls had a peach colored paint on it, with a strip of the same color but with flower print wall paper along the perimeter of the room. The bathroom was small, but we were only going to be here for one night so there was no need for a huge bathroom. But once we realized that there was one big queen bed we both got worried.

“You take the bed, I'll sleep on the ground.” John offered

“Don't be silly, I don't mind if you in the same bed as me.” I said.

“I don't know B, I wouldn't feel comfortable. You have it, I'll make a bed on the ground.”

“I bet they have cots, we could call the office and see if they do.”

He nodded his head so I walked to the phone and called the main office, I talked to the same older man and found out that his name was Gregory, he told us he had a few cots and he'd bring them up in a bit.

“He'll be up later with a cot.” I said with a smile and laid on the bed. The bed was surprisingly comfortable.

“So what do you want to do?” John asked as he stood in the same position.

I sat up and fixed my shirt that had rose up “Um I'm not sure, what exactly is there to do here?”

“we can hang out here for a bit, to rest up or whatever then we can get ready and just walk around and hopefully by then the sun has settled down and its not as hot.”

“Sounds like a great plan.”

he laid down next to me on the bed and closed his eyes. I got up and went to the T.V and turned it on, I put the volume low so John could rest. I flipped through the channels and nothing was on. I put MTV Teen Mom was on, nothing else was on and this would at least keep me entertained for the time being. It had been an hour or so since John fell asleep when I heard a soft vibrate going on, so I hurried to my bag and saw that Kennedy was calling. I went back and forth thinking if I should pick up or not, and if I didn't pick up what would I say, “Oh hey don't worry about anything Kennedy me and your best friend John ran away.” no I couldn't say that, if I did he would just have a cow and tell me to come home. I let the phone ring and go to voice mail, which of course he left a message. I went to the message and heard what he had to say.

”Hey B! I'm sorry about last night, I didn't mean to get so angry. I think we should talk face to face today. I texted you this morning but you never answered me. I hope your not that mad anymore. I really want to see you. Please call me back. I love you with all my heart. Please call me back.” I just sat on the ground with tears filling my eyes. Why did he have to do this, I want to break up with him but it was so hard to let go of him.

“Are you okay?” I heard John move around in the bed, he got up and sat down next to me.

“Nothing is okay and I don't know what to do.” I said as I leaned into him and started to cry. He put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him,
“Everything will be okay, I promise. I'm here for you.” he cooed in my ear to stop crying but it didn't help, the tears just kept flowing out.

I let go of John and went into the bathroom to grab some tissues. I came back to the main room and saw John just standing there with worried eyes and his hands in his pocket.

“I'm sorry” I said softly.

“If you need anything just say the word, I mean anything.” he softly sang. I looked over at him and gave him a soft smile “But seriously You and I might not be the closest friends but I'm glad you came to me last night because I am here for you, if you need my shoulder to cry on you can have it. Even if you have a snotty nose and it gets all of my shoulder.” I couldn't help but to laugh at that, he made me feel better. I'm glad I went to John to because I knew whatever I was going through he could help me out.