How Important Is Getting There? (5/10+1)

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Chapter 5

It's a good thing Penny always sets her alarm to go off an hour before she's supposed to wake up. After slipping in and out of consciousness for a good 45 minutes of snooze-and-slapthealarm, she finally managed to drag herself into the shower. By 5.30 she's fully awake, dressed, and in desperate need of some caffeine. She was about to walk out her the bedroom door when she realized that she didn't set the coffee maker the night before. She groans before she turns the knob, then frowns in confusion when the smell of coffee hugs her from the kitchen.

“Morning.” Tara says, putting down her cup of coffee to the kitchen counter. “I figured you'd need coffee to drive.”


Penny looks at the coffee maker, then at Tara— who's also already showered, dressed and ready to go— mentally cursing herself (she's been doing a lot of that lately). She should've known Tara would be ready too. “Morning,” Penny forces a smile. She feels a little proud because that smile would've convinced anyone that it's genuine. Well, OK, it's actually half genuine to begin with. She made the coffee after all.

//

Penny woke up feeling extra pumped that morning. They're 17, and the four of them are going on a mini road trip to Six Flags and spend the night up in Arlington. They wanted to go somewhere that would take more than just 3 hours, but none of the parents approved.


Tara, Cee, and Rose tried to talk Penny into going east, an 8 hour drive to New Orleans. But Sally refused. If Sally, Tara's mom, doesn't want them to go to New Orleans, then Penny will not go to New Orleans. She already owes the woman so much, she's not going to break her trust. Penny's spent a lot of years looking for a home, and she's not planning to get kicked out of this one.


Stepping back into the bedroom, already dressed and good to go, Penny only sees Tara all packed up, sitting on her bed.


“Ready,” Tara asks.


“As I'll ever be,” Penny nods. “These two clowns, however...” she drops her gaze to Rose and Chiquita, who's still sleeping on their mattresses.


Tara follows her eyes. They're both now standing at the feet of the two still sleeping girls. “I say we kick them around till they wake up. What's a bruise or two if we can get to Six Flags on time?”


“You got a point. Then again, you'll get away easy. I, on the other hand, have my name on the system. I will probably get shipped and sold to a Middle East royalty or something.”


“Psh. You'd live a lavish life. You'd shower in gold dust.”


“True. Now I really want to kick them,” Both girls laugh. “Tsk. Why can't them be like us,” Penny exaggerates her sighs.


“Well d'uh,” Rose pokes Penny on the ribs. “The world would explode from our awesomeness.”

//

“You think we should just kick them out of bed?”

Penny hates that Tara still can see what goes on in her head. She contemplates about actually engaging in the small talk, but ends up shaking her head with a half smile. She gets up from the chair and walks towards Rose's room.

//

It's 9 o'clock and they're finally outside, shoving everything into the car. They're two and a half hours behind schedule, and Penny is surprised that she hasn't bitched at all. I must be getting old, she thinks as she gets into the driver's seat and starts the engine.

Tara, out of habit, opens the front door and starts to climb into the seat. Penny's eyes widen. She panically gets out of the car again and walks around it to meet Rose who's still busy shoving her bags into the trunk.

“Ro,” Penny whispers. “What the hell is she doing?”

Rose, who's completely oblivious about what just happened, looks at her friend and silently demands an explanation.

“She'ssittinginthefrontseat,” Penny hissed. Rose mutters an 'oh' to herself. She then gives Penny her bags and walks over to the front passenger's side.

“Hey, T. Do you mind if I sit at front? I get motion sickness whenever I'm in the backseat. I think it's because of all the leather in this car. Dead skin smell. Me no like.”

Rose had ended her speech with a smile and a very reasonable lie, but she can tell Tara doesn't buy anything she said. They both know it's not about getting nauseous, although Tara can't argue about the amount of leather in the car is ridiculous (in Penny's defense, she got the car for cheap from a used cars dealer).

“Sure, Ro,” Tara finally agrees. “But roll the window down or something. I'm not cleaning up your breakfast. Ew,” she makes a funny face before getting out of the car.

Five minutes into the road trip, at a stop light a few miles from the apartment, Penny's eyes accidentally meet Tara's on the rearview mirror. It doesn't last long, not even a second, but both look away with a lot of mixed emotions building up in their chests. Mostly guilt.

//

“Really, Ro? Really?”

“What? You told me to handle everything else, including the music.”

“Yes, but—“

“As I remember,” Rose cuts Penny off. “Spice Girls is perfect for a road trip.”

Rose turns up the volume and Penny rolls her eyes. But it doesn't take long until she joins her three passengers, singing on the top of their lungs.

//

“Stop the car! Penny, stop the car,” Chiquita screeches from the back seat.

“Cee, I love you, but I can't stop yet. We're in the middle of the freeway!”

Chiquita leans forward that her head is now between the front seats. “I forgot one of my bags,” she says with a worry tone.

“Cee, we can't turn back now, we're already two hours in,” Tara tells her. “What do you have in that bag? Maybe we can stop somewhere instead and get those things?”

//

Tara gets their coffee while Penny scores a table. She's told Rose and Cee they got 40 minutes before she hightails and leaves them behind. When Rose shot her a look, Penny just gave her back a look that said, 'try me.'

Rose and Chiquita started running when Penny took out her phone from her back pocket and started the timer. Penny chuckled but then she realized she didn't think things through. This means she'll be completely alone with her.

“Here's your coffee,” Tara puts down a large cup on the table.

“Thanks.”

“Don't thank me. I got that date, remember?”

//

“Penny. Penny, wake up. Penny. Penny!”


“OK, OK. I'm awake. What time is it?”


“Six.”


Penny turns around to face her roommate. “Six? Tara, I still got 2 hours before my test. Which means I still have an hour worth of sleep,” Penny tells her. Tara's sitting on her bed grinning that crazy grin of hers.


“I know you still got time, but I'm going for a walk—“


“Lies,” Penny smirks. “You just wanna go to that coffee shop so you check out that morning barista.”


“Shut up, it's not even open until seven.” Tara playfully slaps Penny on the arm. “So... how about you get up, get changed and walk around with me?”


“I'd rather sleep,” Penny throws herself back on the bed. She closes her eyes for good measure.


“Come on. We don't get to do this anymore. Besides, you're already up. We both know you're not gonna go back to sleep.”


Penny opens her eyes and turns to Tara. “No, seriously, what's your motive?”


“What, I can't ask my best friend to go for a walk with me,” Tara asks innocently.


Penny doesn't say anything. She crosses her arms and cocks an eyebrow.


“Aaand I want to get coffee from that place,” Tara pauses. “Aaaand go check out that guy.”


Penny laughs and walks to the dresser. “Fine. But just so you know, I'm not paying for my coffee.”


“I'd get you coffee every friggin' day if I ever get a date with that guy.”

//

“He turned out to be a douche,” was the only thing Penny can say at that moment. She never needed it before, but she wonders if there's a what-to-do-when-stuck-with-Tara manual somewhere.

“Still,” Tara answers. “I don't break promises. Well, at least not when I'm around.”

Penny coughs. Tara fidgets in her seat a little bit.



(end of chapter 5)