Get On The Road: A not yet finished story
So I decided to take this plot bunny and use it for my final story to submit in my writing class. It's not finished because the limit for submissions is twelve pages and I stopped at nine because I didn't want to ramble on to a point where I didn't know where to stop. SO this is what I have so far and if y'all feel like it you can check it out and let me know what you think! And if you actually read it then damn I love you forever and ever.
Kyle Lennox and Vanity Morrison met at a party in college where everyone was either too drunk or too sober to properly enjoy themselves. They had spent the night glancing at each other from across the room, the red cups in their hands seeming to be the only thing that prevented them from floating towards each other. As the party started to wind down and people either left or fell asleep on various chairs and couches, Kyle decided to leave the party only to find Vanity trying to make her own escape. Kyle pointed out of the door and smiled at her as they met eyes.
“Uh you first. As long as we both get out of here.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
He waited for her to walk ahead of him before following behind her, keeping his distance until she turned around and came towards him.
“Do you live near Spellmen?”
“Uh yeah, actually. I live in Hatfield.”
“Would you…want to walk me back home then?”
“I’d love to.”
She stuck out her hand for him to shake and smiled, “I’m Vanity.”
“Kyle. I’m Kyle. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
On the walk home, they talked about their majors and plans for the rest of the semester. Both of them were sophomores and both had agreed that even with all of the work and the never-ending drama, college was worth it and it was an experience that needed to be had. He made her laugh and she made him smile and when they reached her dorm building, he reluctantly waved goodbye with a blush on his face after she planted a kiss on his cheek. It wasn’t until he had gotten back to his room that he realized he had never asked for her number or a way to see her again. He was too caught up in the moment to think beyond that point. But he knew that she lived near by and the chances of them running into each other had to be high. They just had to be.
Kyle was proved right in his assumption when they ran into each other the next day and then the day after that until seeing each other became a normal routine. Seeing each other turned into dating which turned into them becoming an official couple. One year turned into two and upon graduation, the pair got a closet sized apartment in New York City. It was small and not always easy to fit into, but they were together and in love and that seemed to be the only thing that mattered.
Three years after moving into the apartment, Kyle was working part time at a bookstore while interning at a publishing house and Vanity had just moved up from intern to secretary at EMI records. When asked, they told their friends they were happy and perfectly settled. How could they not be? They were a working couple in New York City; living the dream. But as the days dragged on Kyle would get home early while Vanity went out with colleagues or Vanity planned a dinner and Kyle forgot, claiming to have gotten caught up in the stories he found in the reject pile at work. It started with smaller things, such as forgetting to wash the dishes and then it became forgetting to pay the rent and falling behind. A few months after their six year anniversary, with no mention of engagement coming from either of them, they had hit a standstill.
Through hushed discussions had right before bed, they had figured out that they either would break up or find some grand fix to their distance and frustration. When Vanity reminded Kyle that he was supposed to be her date to her brothers wedding in two weeks, Kyle was sure that he had a plan to figure out their problem.
“That’s what we should do, Van. We should drive to California for the wedding.”
“Kyle..what the hell is that gonna fix? If anything one of us is going to end up dead on the side of the road.”
“No, no listen to me okay. Driving to Cali takes like what..two or three days depending on how fast you drive and all of that, right? I mean it probably takes more but I’m guessing. Either way how about we make a deal. We hop in the car, grab a map and shut off our phones, break out the old mixtapes and we just drive. We drive and we talk and we figure out and if we get to your brother’s wedding and realize that we need to break up then we will and I will drive all the way back to New York right then and there. If not…” Kyle bit his lip nervously and took her hand in his, “If not then I marry you right then and there.”
Vanity let out a laugh and looked at him as she pulled her hand away and rested it on her cheek. “Do you realize how insane this is, Kyle Lennox?”
“Is that a yes?”
“It’s a yes.”
A few days later, they each packed one bag and threw them in the back of the old Subaru Vanity had bought off of her dad. Handing Vanity the map, Kyle decided to drive first. There was a fair amount of traffic once they hit Pennsylvania and Vanity allowed herself to recline her seat and kick her feet up on the dash board in the way Kyle always complained about.
“Really? You’re really going to do that?”
“Oh I’m sorry, is it bothering you?”
“You’re a huge boob. You know that?”
“Oh god. Do you remember the first time you called me that?”
“Of course I do.”
Finals week was upon them and countless cups of coffee littered the library table that Vanity and Kyle had occupied all week. Vanity was cramming for an Anthropology final the next day and Kyle was trying to read all of the books from his British Literature class that he had never found the time to read during the semester. Vanity had thrown her textbook to the floor, causing Kyle to jump before he moved from his seat and kneeled beside her.
“Babe…come on you know this stuff. I know you do. Remember how excited you were for all of those papers. You’re going to get through it.”
“I’m going to blank on the whole test. I know it. I just know it.”
“No you’re not.”
“Yes I am.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Vanity Lee Morrison, stop being such a boob. You’re going to be fine.”
“Did you just…call me a boob?”
“I did.”
“That is quite possibly the weirdest thing I have ever heard but it somehow makes sense.”
“Welcome to my life. Now come on. Let’s get back to work!”
He picked up her textbook and placed it on the table before leaning down to plant a small kiss on her forehead. She looked up at him and placed her hand on his cheeks, pulling him down to kiss him before she patted his shoulder and pulled away.
“Okay. Work time you boob.”
“Pft. And you thought it was weird.”
They made a stop in Grove City, Pennsylvania and pulled into the parking lot of an antique shop named ‘Marilyn's Antiques & Gift.’ Vanity went off to find a bathroom and Kyle wandered around the shop, trying to find a gift he could surprise her with. A laugh escaped from his mouth as he came upon a wall of snow globes. He heard Vanity come up beside him and let out her own laugh, her fingers brushing against his as she stood next to him.
“You know, I was sure this is what our apartment would look like when you told me you loved snow globes. I thought, oh god this girl has a crazy obsession with snow globes. We’re going to live inside of a snow globe. “
“Hey. It was a phase where I thought it would be cool to collect something, okay?”
“Of course. You just wanted to be one of the snow people.”
“That’s all I wanted.”
Vanity had been begging him all week to take her to the antique shop and when he had gotten a day off from his job at the school bookstore, he convinced his roommate to let him borrow his car and took Vanity as he had promised. Kyle didn’t know what to look for or how to handle himself, feeling as if every movement would cause something to fall over. But Vanity felt right at home as she moved around easily, picking up pieces here and there that Kyle was sure they’d end up paying for.
“Oh my god, Kyle look at all of the snow people!”
“Snow people?”
Kyle turned around to find Vanity holding a snow globe, shaking it up and down as the small village depicted within the globe was littered with fake snow. The white flecks covered the small people within the glove and Kyle let out a laugh as he leaned in to see it all.
“Wow. They really are snow people.”
“I told you. It’s like..I bet you could write one of your stories about how there’s a whole world in there. You could name it ‘The Snow People’ and if you say it with a deep enough voice it sounds like a horror novel.”
“Right…I’m sure that would be a best seller.”
“Hey! Don’t knock it till you try it, Lennox.”
“Yeah. Whatever you say, Morrison.”
Kyle and Vanity had reached Cleveland, Ohio before they felt the need to get a hotel room for the night and continue on the next day.
“I just don’t see why we couldn’t get a motel. It would have been cheaper, Kyle!”
“Motels creep me the fuck out okay? We are two nice looking, youthful people who are bound to get killed in a motel.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
After they had settled in and the exhaustion started to set in, they lay side-by-side in bed and struggled to stay awake. Vanity turned to face Kyle and he did the same, reaching out for her hand as a smile spread across his lips.
“I miss being close to you like this,” he whispered, his thumb moving across the back of her hand.
“I’ve just missed being with you, Kyle.”
Her statement held more power than he was willing to admit. He saw flashes of memories of coming home late to find her falling asleep on the couch; a plate of food covered for him or used tissues stained with her mascara littering the floor from her crying. He had thrown himself into a job that wasn’t even all that important to him just to avoid talking to her about what was going on and she was too tired to call him out on any of it until it all blew up in their faces.
Vanity played with the stray curl that hung low from Kyle’s hair and let out a heavy sigh. “Do you think we’ll make it to California.”
“I think we can if we really want to.”
“Do you want to?”
“Of course I do. Don’t you?
“Of course..of course I do.”
Kyle leaned forward and kissed her for the first time in two days, her hands moving behind his head and pulling him close as she kissed him back. After a long moment, they pulled away and kept their eyes closed as they rested their foreheads against each other’s.
“I love you, Van.”
“I know. And I love you, Kyle. Madly, truly and for as long as I can stand it.”
In their junior year, Vanity had invited Kyle to come home with her for Spring Break and Kyle had happily agreed, even if the idea of meeting her father terrified him beyond belief. They had been dating for almost a year and they had become inseparable. They were in love, even though neither of them actually had the courage to say it out loud. Her father hadn’t been as horrible as Kyle had imagined and even expressed a hint of happiness at Vanity having someone in her life who was stable and seemingly trustworthy. When her dad went off to his night shift for security at the local loading docks, Vanity took Kyle to the porch swing in the back of her house and teased him about the look of horror on his face when her dad had started to ask him about his future plans.
“Hey. Your dad is scary okay?”
“What can I say? He loves me.”
Kyle looked down at his sneakers and pushed off the porch so they would swing back and forth. “He’s not the only one, you know?”
Vanity blushed and turned to him with a smile before taking his hand. “I know.”
“I love you, Van.”
“I know.”
“Do you love me?”
“I do. I love you, Kyle Lennox. I love you madly, truly and I will love you for as long as I can stand it.”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple, “I hope you can stand me for a pretty long time, Morrison.”
Leaning into him, she glanced up and smiled. “I intend to. Forever doesn't sound too bad, does it?”
“Not too bad at all.”
To Be Continued