Status: I'll try my best to keep the updates frequent :)

In Green Fields

Stick

I awoke with an abominable groan. My body was aching everywhere from the uncomfortable sleep last night. My eyes fluttered open and roamed my surroundings. I was in the Blazer’s flatbed covered with a thin, blue blanket. I felt Ari’s body against my back and his arm squeezing me tight, clinging onto my body for warmth since the tiny blanket didn’t do us any justice. The top of the Blazer didn’t do a great job of keeping the cold out, either. I readjusted my position on the cold, leathery seats, so I’d take some pressure off of my side. Ari grunted and rolled over with the entire blue blanket tangled around him.

“Good morning to you, too,” I scoffed and sat up.

“M-Morning,” he shivered and clinged onto the blanket even tighter. “We should add blankets to our list.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” I smirked. “Maybe once we play a few shows we can afford a decent comforter and some blankets.”

“I don’t think I can take this weather every single night,” he stuttered and rolled over, so I can see him.

“Man up.”

He made a disgusted face at me and then wrapped his head into the blanket. I grabbed the keys out of the passenger cup holder and threw them into the ignition. The heat immediately swarmed into the car with no delay. I heard Ari sigh in relief after a minute. I switched on the radio and then hopped out the passenger door.

“You listen to the news and lay on your ass while I go get us some food.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he grinned and gave me the thumbs up.

I rolled my eyes at him and slammed the heavy door shut. First of all, I had no idea where we were since I knocked out early last night. I saw that we were around civilization, parked in a gas station parking lot. I bit my lip as I analyzed our breakfast options. My conscious forced me towards the AMPM at the gas station, since we don’t have that much money to throw around. The clerk nodded at me as I walked into the store. I grabbed a big jug of water and some breakfast sandwiches that the clerk was keeping warm under heat lamps. I scrounged up some change and a couple loose dollar bills in my jeans and then handed the fee to the clerk. He made an uncomfortable face as he took the money from me and added up the sum. I politely smiled at him as took the paper bag and water from the counter.

“Oh, is there a bathroom around here by any chance?” I asked and then shined a reassuring grin.

He grunted and fumbled for something underneath the counter.

“Take the key,” he mumbled and slowly slid it to me across the counter. “Bring it back.”

“Will do.”

I juggled the jug of water and paper bag in one arm and used my free hand to hold the bathroom key. My feet quickly carried me back to the Blazer to escape the cold. I threw my body into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut. It was incredibly warm and toasty inside the Blazer. Ari was sitting upright on the flatbed strumming his guitar. He looked over at me and smiled, then brought his attention back to his guitar.

“Sausage and cheese or sausage and egg?” I raised my eyebrows at him.

“Cheese.”

I grabbed the sandwich and tossed it at him. I climbed out of the truck and began unbuttoning the top of the blazer since the sun was beginning to peek out from behind the clouds. Ari groaned when he realized what I was doing.

“Can’t you wait till the sun is completely out?” He groaned and lunged for the blanket on the flatbed.

“Well, we’re about to leave, so no,” I displayed a sarcastic grin on my face and climbed into the back of the truck.

I grabbed my suitcase and scavenged for my toiletries. I grabbed the bag and hopped out of the truck.

“What are you doing?” He made an odd face at my toiletries bag in hand.

“I’m brushing my teeth and washing my hair. I feel fucking disgusting,” I smirked. “You should do the same.”

“I think I’ll stay disgusting for a day or two,” he chuckled and crossed his arms behind his head.

“Yeah, have fun with that.”

I grabbed the bathroom key from the passenger seat and jogged over to the bathroom on the side of the AMPM. I fidgeted with the key trying to escape the cold as quick as possible. My body quickly jumped into the bathroom stall that wasn’t much warmer than outside and slammed the door shut. I used the toilet before starting to brush my teeth. Either the mirror was extremely old or I looked like complete shit. I convinced myself that gas station bathrooms couldn’t afford nice mirrors. I awkwardly bent over and put my head into the sink. The water ran through my long brown hair and went down the drain. Without moving my head from the sink, I stretched and reached for my bag on the back of the toilet. I grabbed one of my travel shampoos and unleashed it into my hair. I tried my best to wash out all of the shampoo, but I could still see some suds near the back of my head in the mirror. I ignored it and moved onto the conditioner and did the same thing. I took off my jacket and wrapped it around my soaking wet hair. I hobbled out of the bathroom and back into the convenience store. The clerk gave me the most peculiar look as I tossed the key towards him.

“Thanks!” I called before jetting out of the store.

I sprinted to the truck feeling every single strand of my hair turning into an icicle. I jumped into the passenger seat and pressed my face against the heater, which then began to melt my hair. Ari was giving me a weird look as I continued to force my body up against the heater.

“Are you ready to go?” He smirked and stuck the key into the ignition.

“I believe so...” I said slowly, enjoying the heat of the heater.

“I’m gonna have to turn that off in a few minutes,” he smirked.

“What? Why?”

“Because I’m getting hot,” he scoffed.

“You’ve been sitting in here for almost an hour in the heat!” I complained and turned back to the vent.

Ari clicked his tongue and reached over at the heat dial. He turned it to the middle, so no more hot air would come out of the vents. I immediately shot away from the vent and shivered in my seat. Ari smirked and put the car into drive. I continued to shiver and shake as I reached into the glove department for my pack of cigarettes. My thumb was frantically flicking the steel roller trying to ignite a spark. A flame burst and lit the end of my cigarette, letting out a tiny trail of smoke. I immediately felt a rush of warmth when I took that first drag and let out a content sigh. We began driving on the highway to Baltimore.

I brought my knees to my chest and planted my feet onto my seat. My lips pursed around the cigarette as I reached over to press the ‘mode’ button to get the CD to play. I listened to a few seconds of the first song before realizing that this was the same CD from yesterday. I scavenged through the CD collection next to the gear shift and pulled out The Doors: Greatest Hits. Ari nodded in satisfaction as “Hello, I Love You” began to play over the speakers. We were about twenty minutes away from our destination, so we’d be able to relax and maybe explore whatever there is to do in Baltimore; I’m assuming there won’t be all that much to do. I closed my eyes and listened to Ari’s sweet voice singing along with Jim Morrison. My lips pursed around the cancer stick, inhaling a mouthful of smoke before I flicked the rest of it out the window.

“What did you want to do once we got to Baltimore?” Ari questioned as he turned down the sweet and gentle calls of Jim Morrison’s voice.

“I have no idea,” I scoffed and looked over at him. “Is it supposed to be a touristy place?”

“I don’t even know… I guess we can act like dumb ass tourists and wander around.” He smirked and looked over at me.

“Sounds like a plan,” I chuckled. “That should burn off all of the time between now and our show.”

My fingers fiddled with the volume control until it reached its maximum. The both of us nodded our heads to the soothing music in unison as we took turns dragging off of my cigarette. We took in the music in full relaxation as we drifted off to our destination.
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Just started writing again... Anyways, this is my first original fiction, so feedback would be awesome.

- Mia