A Conversation

We sat in the car, riding along the thruway; myself with a bag of Lay's, my mother holding onto the steering wheel.

I stared out the window for a long time, watching trees and Super Wal-Marts fly past our little station wagon. It seemed like at that moment, they were all so small, so far away and distant.

My mother, as always, had her bluetooth in her ear, talking to her friends about the new ring on her finger while trying to maneuver past a semi with an ad for Walgreens on it.

"Well, we were just walking around in the park when it happened. We were in front of that tiny little creek with the waterfall, and he just kneeled down and asked."

"It was sudden for me. Sure we had talked about marriage, but I didn't really think he would ask so soon."

"We had been dating for two months, but they've been the best months of my life."

"John is so sweet. Right after he proposed, we went to Ginovini's, which was deserted except for us. Turns out, he reserved the place just for us on a Saturday night. There was even a violinist." My mom paused and sighed, pulling a strand of hair out of her eyes. "I love him so much."

I groaned a little bit before stuffing my mouth with more Barbeque chips. This whole engagement and moving to Colorado thing was killing me. Absolutely, positively, killing me.

The moment my mother had ended one of her calls, I turned on the radio to a station my mom wouldn't like, Green Day's "Do You Know Your Enemy" blasting through the speakers. I turned up the volume to a level that I knew I wouldn't be able to hear my mom at, then settled back into my chair.

A look of disgust crassed my mom's face, as she reached for the volume button and slowly turned it down. Her lips parted slightly, letting me know that she was about to give me one of her "world famous" lectures.

"I know you're not very happy about this, but it'll be good for both of us."

I felt angle flare inside of me, ready to burst out at any moment.

"Really mom? You're taking me away from all my friends. I used to have a boyfriend, but now that we're moving, Chris broke up with me. And my friends, they've been my best friends since first grade. Plus, I was supposed to get my permit in a month."

My mom laughed sharply. "You can still get your permit in Colorado. The driving restrictions are no different."

"It's going to be different for me! I won't have a Pennsylvania license plate, on this - thing." I gestured towards the station wagon. "Instead I'll have an ugly Colorado license plate on it, no doubt."

"Don't make fun of Shelly." Shelly was our name for the station wagon. "Even though her paint is peeling, I've owned her for seventeen years, before you were born even, and she's been the most dependable car I've had. She's never broken down once." Mom turned the car left a litte, a large cornfield appearing on both sides of the road. She sighed again, gripping onto the steering wheel slightly. "I know you don't want to have to move in with John and his kid's, but I know they'll try to be understanding."

"They're not. John's kids are the snottiest kids I've ever met. When we were in Denver last month, they acted like they practically owned the whole city!" At this point, I was yelling at my mom, the words coming out like water from a leaky faucet.

"Well you're just going to have to deal with them for a while." Mom's voice was also getting louder, straining to give me a talking to over the sound of the highway.

I suddenly felt my eyes water, my voice cracking as a million emotions flooded my heart.

"I can't, I can't. I just..." I burst out into sobs, burying my head into my arms, leaning against the passenger door.

"Honey..." My mom stroked my back as she kept hold of the steering wheel with her other hand.

"I want to go home." I managed to utter between sobs.

Despite my plea, we kept on cruising down the thruway, going past more farms, Wal-Marts, and McDonalds. Each second, we were farther away from Pennsylvania, and closer to the hell that is known as Colorado.

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