It was almost midnight and they were driving towards Edinburgh . There wasn’t a specific reason for that, it was the first thing that came to mind, really. Besides, Edinburgh was pretty far from Birmingham and if something bad were to happen, they could flee to Japan.
“We can’t go home and we can’t contact our families. If we use cards, they will track us down. The police will look for us too since we worked there tonight.” Evan explained, not taking his eyes off the road.
Abby was far more relaxed than before, leaning against window with a distant look on her face.
“What are we going to do?” She asked before sighing as if the world was on her shoulders.
He took a peek at her from the corner of his eye but didn't answer right away. She looked completely drained and the stress was backfiring harshly.
“We can only use the cash we have on us.” He said, catching sight of a gast station a few meters down the road.
Abby raised an eyebrow curiously when she saw his eyes glistening with hope. Evan parked the car in front of a gast filling station and intended to go out when he remembered something.
“How much do you have?” She asked in that silence.
Evan grabbed his bag that he randomly threw in the back when he first rushed inside and got out his wallet. It wasn't much but it was enough; actually, it was his pay for that month.
But Abby's eyes widened, surprised that he kept them with him at all times.
“Wow. Quite a few, huh?” She sounded so thirlled about it.
He rolled his eyes and threw his bag in the backsteat.
“Your turn.”
Abby bit her lips nervously before she pulled out her wallet from the backpocket and threw it on his lap. they were lucky she wanted to borrow some money after her shift or else she might have left it at home.
Evan's eyes widened when he found only one bill but it was more than enough.
“It's 100 pounds!” He exclaimed, shocked that she had so much cash on a regular night.
The boy was ready to take it and put it in his wallet when she stopped him.
"It's fake." She mumbled before coughing twice,“I keep it in case I get robbed.”
Abby only threw a glance at him before she turned to look out the window.
Evan raised an eyebrow and slowly pulled the bill out for inspection. His eyes widened when he realized that she was right.
Abby watched him from the side, thinking that he will soon explode.
“Are you serious?! Why would someone even think of that?!” He exclaimed, annoyance creeping up on him.
Abby crossed her arms in front of her chest, finding the tapistery on the ground very interesting for some reason.
Evan rubbed his face and tried to understand how she could be so, so...He didn’t even have a word for it!
“At least you have enough money for gas.” Abby added quickly, smiling at him.
He smiled back at her ironically, smoke coming from his nostrils in Abby's mind.
“Of course. Because I work three jobs only to make money for gas.”
She noted his sarcasm and didn’t like it but couldn't exactly combat him. Evan was right and she was stupid for having 100 pounds on her that meant nothing because it was fake.
Evan got out of the car grumbling swears. Gas stops usually had CCTV so he had to move quickly. Evan bought a 2,5 l bottle of water and a few packs of chips. He was still holding on his precious money and felt a stab in his heart when the cashier snatched it from his hand.
When he returned to Abby, he found her leaning against the window with a grim expression. He threw the bottle and packs on her lap and went to fill the car. She took a pack of chips and inspected it closely.
“I don’t like spicy things! This has spicy sauce!” She complained, rolling down the widnow so he could hear it better.
Evan could barely care about her preferences. He ignored her but she wasn’t giving up easily.
“It’s your entire fault if we’ll have to stop so I can use the bathroom!” She threatened him but he really didn't care.
Seeing how Evan was ignoring her and her genuine pieces of advice, Abby pouted and rolled the window back up. Her big brown eyes wandered around the car before she grabbed her phone and realized she had only half of the battery full.
“Alright. Let’s go.” He mumbled, entering the car and turning on the engine. It was a good car and the sound made Evan smile.
“So you like cars?” Abby asked once they were back on the road.
“That doesn’t concern you.” He answered coldly.
“We’re stuck together for indefinite time. I think I deserve to know some things about you.” Abby commented, staring at him blankly.
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye for exactly a second before responding.
“I live in Birmingham and my university is in Birmingham.”
“What university? What major?” She asked, pestering him for how much she could.
“University of Birmingham. IT.”
She snorted which only annoyed him even more.
“What?” He snapped at her but Abby was more amused than scared.
“You don’t look like an IT specialist. You look more like the guy that's into sports and doesn’t do very well at school.” If that wasn’t offending, he didn’t know what was, “Do you want to know what I am majoring in?” Abby asked, turning fully towards him with a smile.
“No.”
Well, that was very rude.
“Don’t you want to know anything about me? It might be useful in the future.” She added, her eyes getting a differen glint than the usual one.
“No.” He answered again, not noticing that slight change in her form.
Her excitement was hit with every cold response. Evan raised an eyebrow when he saw her turning on the music player and connecting her phone to it.
“What are you doing?”
“Creating good atmosphere.”Abby answered,throwing a childish wink at her partner in crime.
Evan was sure she was the type to listen to a lot of shitty music.
The atmosphere was definitely not good. It was far from good, actually. Abby ended up jamming to every song on her phone: at first it was Beyonce’s Crazy in Love and she started to dance weirdly on the passenger seat.
Next was Justin Timberlake’s Tunnel Vision. Abby was getting ahead of herself, her hands moving wildly, almost hitting him in the face.
A car drove past them and the driver told Abby to turn the volume down because it was annoying. She flipped him off with a wide smile which brought a wide smile on his face. The driver swore before he hit the acceleration and moved further.
“Did you just flip him?” He asked, taken aback yet bemused, “You’re crazy!”
The happy songs passed quickly and he found out that she had better tastes in ballads. Her behavior changed too and Evan guessed it was because she got tired after messing around for almost two hours.
“What are you thinking about?” He asked, not really curious but maybe a bit intrigued.
“Nothing. I just want to feel like the principle character in a sad music video. Now shut up and drive. I’m feeling the mood here.”
He raised an eyebrow but didn’t dare ask anything else. She was a weird girl.
The rest of the way was as normal as it could be with Abby in the car. The spicy chips really had an effect on her and Evan had to stop the car in the middle of nowhere.
“You have nowhere to go here!”
She inspected the place before she turned to him.
“Turn around!”
Evan was ruffling his hair when he stopped and stared at her in confusion.
“What?”
“Turn around!” She repeated.
Evan did. He didn’t know exactly what to expect but when he heard her sigh in relief he knew he didn’t want to know.
A few minutes later she walked next to him happily and smiled as if nothing happened.
“What now?” Evan asked with a frown.
Her smile widened before she took a deep breath of fresh air.
“I really like it here. It’s peaceful and silent.”
Right when she said that, a big car honked really loudly as it passed them.
“Shut up and get in the car.” He groaned, tired and hungry.
Evan was already walking back towards the car but she remained in the same spot.
“You have to become one with the nature!” She yelled after him. A bird flew over her head and shat on her shoulder, her whole demeanor dropping with it, “Maybe not...”
“What’s that on your shoulder?”
Abby just entered the car and they got back on the road when he asked that.
“Nature?” The brunette chuckled nervously, “It smells.” She added as she scrunched her nose in disgust.
In Evan’s point of view, she got exactly what she deserved. She stood there, waiting for karma to bite her in the arse and just like he imagined, she got it.
“Did you become one with the nature?” He teased her, knowing she'll probably be silent if he embarrasses her.
Abby looked down at her lap before her eyes caught the sight of her little problem on the shoulder. Evan shook his head bemusedly and threw a hankie at her, which she gladly used to wipe the shit off.
“Do you think the police already called our families?”
After that bird shat on her shoulder, she calmed down. Abby realized that the Universe wasn’t on her side that day.
“I don’t know but it’s still too early to talk about it. It’s morning and we’ve been on the road for the whole night.”
It was really unfortunate that they got involved with bad people.
“Isn’t it weird? We didn’t go looking for trouble. The trouble came to us.” She said, chuckling at her own lame joke before grabbing her phone and playing with it.
She didn't expect it to suddenly vibrate and ring so Abby jumped in surprise, droping it somewhere at Evan’s feet.
“Wait!”
She bent after her precious phone that was still ringing and she ignored completely that fact that he was still driving. Since it was morning and they entered Edinburgh, the street wasn’t as empty as before.
Evan drove past a big car with a woman driving. Next to her was a teenage guy. From his point of view, Abby's head was over his lap and Evan was caressing her hair, making it seem bad and pornographic.
But reality was far different. Abby was leaning over his lap but she was only trying to reach her phone. Evan wasn’t caressing her hair, he was hitting her head.
“Get off! Get off!”
Only a little bit towards left and that was it. Abby grabbed her phone and smiled, completely forgetting the position they were in. She pulled back quickly and hit him in the nose pretty hard with the back of her head.
“Ah sorry! I forgot your head was there. Here let me help you!” She said before she pushed his head back.
His eyes widened as he tried to keep looking where he was driving.
“What are you doing?! I’m driving here!”
Abby pinched his nose and he squirmed. He heard honks all around him and pushed her hands away.
“Are you crazy? We’re not alone on the street!” Evan shouted, his eyes darkening.
The brunette bit her lip and leaned back in her seat like a good girl.
“I only wanted to help.” She mumbled.
He threw her a quick glare before he focused on the road.
“Don’t do that again. Stupid woman.”
