"I really slept like a log," she said, scrolling down her Instagram feed. "The bed was like heaven." She was back to checking her phone as if our promises were long forgotten. Since she broke hers, I thought I could break mine—I smoked a cig last night but she didn't know that—and told her to hand me cigs from my hoodie's pocket in the backseat.

"Huh?" She said, looking at me. "You promised not to smoke."

"You promised not to check your phone," I retorted, shrugging.

"If I remember, our promises weren't correlated at all."

Tearing my gaze from the road shortly, I turned at her. She looked at me in disbelief that I didn't understand if she was really talking about the kiss part or if she was ready to do anything to prevent me from smoking. "I didn't know you were so eager to kiss me." Her reply came in the form of a snort and that made me laugh.

My answer rendered us speechless for a while so I turned the radio on to color the tension into something softer. The weather was pretty okay today, not too hot and a bit windy. Perfect. As soon as the radio was on, a pop song started playing and as I was about to change, Abby swatted my hand away. "I love this song," she said. The lyrics were like I know you want it but you're a good girl kind of thing. She didn't seem to mind the meaning but the tone by the way she was shaking her body. Her dance sort of amused me so I let her be, focusing back on the road. We were quite close to our next stop: Sugar Creek Covered Bridge. Abby read somewhere near the bridge, we could go on a picnic.

"Glad you slept well because tonight we are crashing in the car."

"No way," she said.

"If you didn't make me spend a fortune last night, we could get sound sleep and even eat burgers for dinner but...tough luck."

Abby didn't like the idea but we didn't really have many options considering our budget. Once we arrived in Glenarm, my eyes were looking for a market to buy stuff for a picnic. "There's a small one there," Abby said, pointing at a really small market. It was still something. Parking the car, we stepped in and bought stuff—I convinced Abby not to buy half of the stuff she put into the basket—and paid the least amount possible. This trip was challenging us to care more about money since it had never been a problem for any of us before. I wasn't complaining since I liked to stand on my feet by myself but Abby seemed to struggle.

"That one was high-quality wine," Abby complained since I went for a cheaper one. "Shame on you, Arthur. Can't believe you have a fake ID and your fake name is Arthur. What the fuck."

"If it wasn't for Arthur, you wouldn't be getting alcohol so shut up." I carried the bag to the car and put them in the trunk. "Also, I'm a party guy," I said, shutting the truck. "unlike you, geek."

After a few minutes, we arrived at Sugar Creek Covered Bridge. As Abby went to discover the place, I discarded the goods from the truck and followed her. She'd finally decided on a nice place for a picnic and she took the blanket from me to lay on the grass. "Let's try not to mess this blanket," she said as she sat down, cross-legged. "We are gonna use it to sleep, too."

"Okay, captain." I paid extra attention while filling our solo cups with cheap wine. She tore the package of the cold sandwich and took a bite. Taking the cup from my hand, she threw a thankful smile. "Do you remember that evening when Uncle Matthew served us wine in his garden and made us promise not to tell our parents?"

"Of course," she said, her eyes glittering with remembrance. "He used to yell at us whenever we played in his garden and ruined his flowers. Damn, I miss him. It's been a while. He was such a memorable man and made my childhood colorful."

"Same." I took a sip from my cup. The wine wasn't so bad or I was too thirsty to care. Maybe we should have gone for beer instead, for wine added a romantic tone to the picnic.

Abby lay on the blanket, propping her head with an arm beneath, and shot me a look. "Still can't believe we will be miles away a month ahead. I always thought we would go to the same college, you know, or like somewhere close. You're staying and I'm leaving for New York."

It just sounded more painful out of her mouth, tearing my heart into pieces with her sorrowful gaze. I tried not to dwell too much on that; we had FaceTime, right? I could still call her whenever I missed her and she would be there...on screen. Shit. She would be meeting new people, making new friends, crushing on someone else and I would be...too far to stay in touch.

"Look on the bright side, though," she added with a laugh, trying to soften the mood. "We are both in the positions that we want, Georgie. I'm so proud of us. And to be honest, I can't stay with my father and his Barbie doll."

Abby had never dreamed of a settled life. When we were little, she would always talk about traveling around the world, discovering new places, and moving here and there. I could never imagine her staying here, so it didn't surprise me at all when she decided to go to Columbia. Back then, I didn't think we would separate, though I always thought of life here. Unlike her, I wasn't too keen on changing places. I liked our town, silent and uneventful.

Though I was teasing her about crashing in our car, I honestly didn't care where we slept as long as she was beside mine. I know, it sounded so romantic—maybe it was, but that was the truth. What sounded romantic to me would probably freak her out. I tried to imagine her reaction if I ever told her that: I don't care where we are as long as you're beside me, baby. Okay, baby just made it creepier.

"What are you thinking?" She asked, sipping on her wine. I didn't notice she was watching me and I prayed that she didn't notice my probable crimson cheeks. I felt like I'd just been caught in action, though she knew nothing of my guilty thoughts.

"I was thinking of all those new friends you would make in college." It just slipped my tongue—unfiltered, unplanned, maybe too jealous.

Abby frowned, putting her cup aside. "Are you serious?" She let out a deep laugh like she thought I was kidding. She must have figured out I wasn't, though, because next, she tilted her body a little to lean closer at me. "I'm freaking out, George. I'm too nervous, you know, and people will probably find me creepy or too awkward."

"You aren't awkward at all, Abby. You're so nice."

"To you," she corrected me. "Don't worry. I'll probably be fighting my anxiety in college and calling you at night to chat. If anyone will make new friends, that's you Mr. Heartbreaker. You will just add more to your broken hearts train."

"That's really annoying when you act like I'm a bad guy."

"Aren't you, though?" She replied, looking at me. I could reply to her but I didn't know what to say. In my view, I was anything but a heartbreaker. I was heartbroken if anything and my heart were broken by her. So, I tucked a grape into her mouth in lieu of an answer. "What was that for?" She said in the middle of chewing.

"You sometimes talk too much, Whittaker." After throwing me a glare, she finished her drink and lay on the grass. Mimicking her, I finished mine and lay beside her. Since I only had one cup, I was still fine. Lying down with her, it was a relaxing moment, just two of us accompanied by the soft breeze and fresh air. There were moments in life when words weren't necessary and this was one of them.

I didn't know how long we had stayed like that, but I was about to fall asleep when she poked me on my arm. Turning on my side, I found her lying on her side, my sudden move driving our faces close. "Hmm," I murmured, almost feeling my own voice against her skin. Her golden freckles, blushed cheeks, ocean eyes, strawberry lips...I only noticed I had been staring at her bluntly when her cheeks turned red as she turned her gaze away and retreated, clearing her throat.

"We should go," she said, pulling her t-shirt down and getting on her feet. "Still have places to visit." Dazed by the previous moment, I managed to nod and get on my feet as well. "George," she called. When I looked at her, she was smiling. "Let's take a photo at the bridge first."

After setting our next stop as Henry's Rabbit Ranch, I started the engine and looked over at Abby. She was looking out of the rolled-down window, her earphones on. I was still stuck at that moment between us, ending awkwardly but she looked chill as we took some pictures at the bridge. However, now that she was speechless showed she was as shy as me about it.

The fortune, and a curse, about loving your best friend was knowing her well enough to read her actions but being too afraid to act on them—it was a risk I wasn't willing to take.

Henry's Rabbit Ranch was a nostalgic place full of Route 66 signs and stuff, so I spent plenty of time taking some praise-worthy pictures as Abby went around and bought some souvenirs. I didn't ask her how she bought that—for I knew she spent the last money in her pocket—but I was definitely saving my comment about her budget management. It sucked.

Still, she looked pretty happy when we departed, off to our next stop: a Lutheran church. This one was my suggestion because its story attracted my attention. St. Paul Lutheran Church was a blue neon cross church, and it commemorated a man that died in World War II. It was indeed attention-worthy, especially at night. Unfortunately, it was around afternoon when we arrived there so the cross wasn't as pleasing as it was in the pictures. It was still good, though.

"World War II makes me sad," Abby commented as we stood in the yard of the church. "Like, it was no good for anyone and it damaged humanity." She was talking about how many people died in Hiroshima, and that she thought it was such a pity. "They had died for nothing, George. They weren't even a part of the war. They were just a bunch of innocent people. It scares the shit out of me how you end up just being a number."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Like, the news says 5,000 people died in a war and you're like sad for a minute but you move on. You don't know the names or the stories—you just know the number. But like, they died and they were people like us. They had stories ending on a sad note. I don't know," she said, shrugging. "I hate this."

I hadn't got any words to add after her sudden speech and it wasn't a surprise that we lit two candles and prayed for the humanity in the church. It felt good, to think of the better of your community and the world. That was why I suddenly said, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being you."

Abby looked at me like she was not only looking at me but also seeing me—her eyes shone with a spark of realization I couldn't put my finger on. Her next move was unpredictable because she threw her arms around my neck and buried her face in the crook of my neck. Honestly, though we were good friends, giving hugs weren't something we frequently did. I wrapped my arms around her, too, and stood like that until she retreated and looked up at me.

"Geez, Abby," I finally said, taking a step back because I felt touched, and my eyes almost watered. I didn't really mind crying, you know, but I didn't want her to hold it against me for the rest of my life. "Are you on your period or something?"

Her affectionate expression turned into frustration and shyness, painting her face burning red. "No wonder you don't have a girlfriend, Shaw."

"You said it yourself," I said, walking back to the car with her. "I'm a heartbreaker."

Once we hit the road off to the Mississippi River, Abby let out a sigh. "We are running out of time," she said, checking the map. "It's gonna get dark soon and we haven't seen half of the list yet."

"We can find somewhere to crash for tonight and tick off the rest tomorrow morning."

"Won't we be behind our schedule?"

"Doesn't matter," I replied. "We can eliminate some places, anyway."

She still made us take a break before crossing over the river to take a picture in front of the Chain of Rocks Bridge. It was such beautiful scenery to take, indeed, so I didn't complain about spending our extra time here. As I was capturing a wonderful picture, Abby suddenly said, "Roy says hi." That was all she had to do to shake off my axis and turn a beautiful picture into a disaster. "I just sent him a selfie."

"Hmm," I replied, pretending to be focused on taking pictures. Shooting a sideways glance, I noticed she went back to texting with a soft grin on her face. Cigs. Cigs. Cigs—I took a deep breath. Just because she broke her promise didn't mean I needed to break mine. Well, I was just desperate for that kiss she promised me, though I still reckoned she was messing with me.

As the sun went down, we decided to overnight in Missouri. In the morning, we could explore the whereabouts of the Mississippi River. Tired of driving for hours all day, I stopped the car near a camping area. I got out to have some fresh air and decided to take a stroll. I walked to Abby's side and knocked on her window. When she noticed it, she rolled the window down. "Hey Ab," I said, putting my hands on the sides of the car and leaning down to her window. "I'm gonna take a walk, wanna join?"

"Nah," she replied. "I'm tired." As I nodded and turned back, she added, "George." Her voice sounded afraid. I looked back at her with a frown. "We're in the forest."

"So?"

"There could be anything," I smirked. "I'm serious," she demanded. "We should stick together—locked in our car. Safe and sound." It was her way of saying don't leave me alone and hell, I never could. Sighing, I pulled the back door open and waited for her to join me. She'd first grabbed the blanket from the truck, then settled down next to me in the backseat.

"Will you sleep yet?" I shook my head no in response. "I'll put my head on your lap, then," she said, happy with my answer. As I pushed myself to the left, she lay down and put her head on my lap. "You good?" I replied with an mhm. "Did you lock the car?"

"Yes."

Now that she had the necessary conditions to fall asleep, her breathing slowed and her eyes started to shut. The last thing I'd heard before her even breathing was, "Night, Georgie."

"Night, Abby."

***

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