Breaking the News.

"Hey! Wait up!" I clutch my chest indignantly and turn to see my best friend, Cheyenne, running full speed towards me. Her long limbs and boxer braids flapping in the wind. Cheyenne is gorgeous, tall and tan, with dark shiny hair and large doey eyes. Watch her run reminds me of a clumsy gazelle, and I snicker as she approaches.

           "Hey Chey!"

            "Don't you hey me. You made me run. I was yelling for you for like...gee...I dunno...TEN minutes." I cackle at her dramatics as she wipes imaginary sweat from her brow. "I hate running. I could've died!"

           "I couldn't hear you over the sound of everyone yapping and roaming around. It's a mad house." And it is!

            The street is lined with kids leaving classes and going to the dorms to pack up their remaining things in preparation for the summer. I, of course, never had that issue. My aunt and uncle guilty me into staying home and traveling back and fourth. Only about a fifteen minute drive, but I walk to kill time. I enjoy being out of the house. I prolong it as often as I can. Even at the age of twenty one, my family still suffocated and guards me. Sometimes calling or texting during classes, or driving by campus.

            It's frustrating, but I do understand the tragedy behind their protective nature. They have raised me since I was about eight, I believe, when my parents were killed. They've also lost their oldest boy in a car accident, and my uncle lost both his parents in a housefire. To say death is a stranger to our family would be to lie. It has made them both paranoid and timid.

         They view even the smallest things as ominous, and I remember how aunt Marta nearly had a mental breakdown when I had mentioned staying on campus here. She had cried and begged, offered money and everything she could think of. I was old enough I could have done as I pleased, but I couldn't hurt my sole mother figure. She has loved and stepped up for me in my mother's absence, as has my uncle. I love them as much as I had my own parents. Never once have they allowed me to feel outcast here.

          "It is a madhouse. Like watching ants running from a little ant hill, and the Dean...ha! She's running behind like a psychotic brat with a magnifying glass in the sun." I snort at this and we bustle to put distance between us and the buzzing crowd. Chey, like me, does not stay on campus. Her family is very religious, and also a bit strange. In fact, we bonded over our strange families because we could relate to one another so well.

          "Chey?"

          "Yes babe?" I shove her shoulder playfully.

           "Do you have any plans for break?"

            "Actually, I do...kinda sorta. Why what are you doing?" I chew my lip.

             "To be honest, I have no damn clue. I've been saving my money though, and Marta and Bill would shit, bit I really just...ugh. Well, I want to go somewhere. Do something. Between the  studying, side jobs and being in that depressing house, I just want to break the routine. A change of scenery."

              "I feel you! I'm wanting the same, but I was too afraid to do do alone. I was just waiting on you to say something like that so I'd have a partner in crime. I don't have the balls to go solo." I smile.

              "Me either. Bill has kind of freaked me out over the years. If a dude follows me through the 7/11 I'm already reaching for the industrial strength dog deterrent and convinced it's my end." She laughs.

             "You'll get nabbed if you go down a dimly lit aisle." She scolds sarcastically.

              "I told her once they'd bring me back, and she busted my ass with a bottle of lemon lime soda..."

             "No! No! Oh my gosh! That's freaking hilarious! She looks so sweet and sad though."

             "It was full, I swear! She always buys the liters instead of the regular bottles because it's price savvy. It hurt like a bitch. Believe me, she's not always sweet. Sometimes she gets the power of Satan in her." We laugh at the thought of a possessed Marta.

           "My mom once busted mine with her own flip flop in Chuckle cheese because she caught me holding hands with a boy."

           "Like IN the building, in front of everyone?"

           "Yes! No joke."

           "I'd have just dug a hole right there and died."

           "I did. I dug a little hole in my brain and died inside." We chuckle and stop to watch carefully before crossing the street.

           Once the coast is clear, we hustle knees to chest quickly to avoid the traffic which is know to fly through this intersection. We take a left and instead of going towards our homes, we stop by the diner where we both worked in high school. We order our subs snd curly fries and chatter about everything between bites.

            "So, are we really gonna do this? Like, this road trip thing? Because there's something I've always wanted to do..."

             "Spill it!" I interrupt, curious to hear.

              "Well, there's a train on the far side that you can ride. It's got everything. It goes through a few different states! It would be so cool. Not expensive hotels or taxis. Just us. Chilling and eating. Watching the scenery, and when it stops we can find local attractions and go from there."

             "That does sound fun! We are old enough to even sample the wines now, and you know they will have cheeses and breads and good stuffs." I make a goofy face and smacks my belly.

            "Your fat ass would be swayed by the cheese."

            "You son of a biscuit!!" I wail as Chey pinches my belly. I curl up in my sest like a bug, knees covering my offended stomach. "Leave my rolls alone. Damn it. You made me drop my fry!"

            "I'm sorry! That was a really crunchy looking one too. I really am evil."

            "I can't look at it, it just makes me sad. I don't know ehy, but the crisper ones that are super curly are the best ones."

            "Lettuce take a moment of silence." She dips her head after pulling a large piece of lettuce from her sub and picks up the fry. We set it on a napkin in front of us and pretend to honor the fry.

            "I came to see if y'all needed refills, but I see y'all still stupid as ever."

           "Rosa!" Chey cries.

           I hadn't even noticed her here, she must have been I the back. Short and curvy, with mocha skin and perfect curls, Rosa is probably the cutest older lady I know. She dresses to impress too, she knows she's a beauty. She is fierce, hard working, and has a killer sense of humor. Working under her management had been nothing but fun. I cried when it was time to put my notice in. My college schedule was too much to work here full time, and it wasn't right to pop in a day here and there and take the new employees' hours.

          "How have my girls been? I've missed you little crazies!" She hugs us and we squeeze her tightly until she groans playfully like we had broken her. "Eating your grains I see. Doggone kids!"

          "We've been good, stressed but good."

           "It's officially break now, and we survived." Chey adds.

           "How have you been?" I ask.

           "Good. Very, very good." She grins. "I finally got that number, and we have been talking for the past few months."

           "Ooh! How did you finally get him to speak?"

           "I laid down the best steak he's ever eaten in his life. After he got his belly full, I came up to him and mind you I was wearing my good jeans, and I told him "you like that steak? If you like that steak, give me your number. If we hit it off baby, you can eat like that the rest of your life. And he dropped his phone trying to get it out his pocket in time to save mine. If this ass don't get em, this food will every time." I can't help but grin, Rosa's confidence is contagious and it tickles me to see her back in the dating scene.

          "That's right!" Chey throws her hands up and Rosa fives one.

           "Things have been going great ever since. He is funny, courteous, romantic. He leaves me gifts here and eats his lunch here on break so we get more time together. We are thinking about..." She leans down to whisper. "Moving in." We congratulate her and hug her again as she smirks and boasts. A large group of people enter and she kisses our foreheads and dismisses herself to tend to the customers.

           "Why couldn't I have been blessed with that kind of figure?" Chey whines as Rosa walks away. I smirk.

           "You can't even act right with the one you have and you thought God was going to give you the upgrade?" She punches at me.

           "Well, a girl can dream!"

           "Agreed! And in my dreams, that's what I look like."

**************************************

            A few days had passed since we left the school that evening. We had been texting and planning though, working out how much cash we each had and how to affordable plan our little trip. Price comparing taxis, the train, hotels, the works incase something fell through or in the event we needed to change ideas. Chey just lives several houses up from us, but we had each been catching up chores and trying to get in our families good graces before we broke the news of our trip.

           We are of age, we are responsible and cautious despite our jovial demeanor and constant kidding around. We can handle this type of trip, and safely. As much as our families worry, it is time we branch out a bit and loosen the leash. We deserve to see the world and have our space. We can call them and check in daily if they'd like, or they can call us anytime.

         Chey and I have decided to break the news this afternoon. We've taken care of everything, secretly packing here and there, and we feel it's time to just rip it off like a bandage. We'll tell then today, let them get comfortable with the idea, and if all goes right we can leave this weekend.

         A knock at the door grabs my attention, and I quickly rush down the stairs to let Chey and her parents in. We exchange nervous looks as we walk through the house and into the living area. Bill, Marta, and their youngest boy, Ore are already waiting for us. They take seats quickly, and Chey and I sit on the loveseat together. Ore abandons his seat and climbs between Chey and I, bouncing with energy. I scrub his head and pull him to sit still in my lap.

           "So, girls, what is your big news? Grades, jobs, or boyfriends?"  Chey's mother teases. Considering she beat Chey with a flop flop for holding hands, I'm definitely glad it's not the later. Chey looks pleading to me, and I take the bait. Here we go. Woo.

           "Actually, none of those. We seem to be man repellent." I joke. "But, we have been saving money and working hard all semester. Chey and I have planned our selves a trip. We want to take the Scenic Sanctuary for a few days and afterwards maybe hit a few tourist attractions." Marta tries to speak and I cut her off. "We will be safe. We have pepper spray, keys knives, pocket knives, cell phones, and the strongest point on the body is the elbow. The train will no doubt be secure, and where we'll spend the majority of the trip."

          "You can't expect to just leave like this for a week in some strange place and us to be fine with it. What if your phone dies? Or there's an accident with the train?"

            "We have chargers! We can't predict train accidents, but you do have to have faith in us. I highly doubt anything of the sort will happen."

            "Why not do something fun here?" Chey's mother begs. "There's lots to do here!"

             "Mom, we just want to see new sights and get out for a few days. We've done almost all there is to do here."

             "Well do it again."

              "We are going. We are adults. We have to learn to navigate the world and see things at some point, why not start now? You heard Mira, we will be super cautious. We promise. We'll talk constantly. You can call or text us anytime, but we are adults and we are going. It's not questionable. We just wanted to tell you guys up front before we went anywhere so you would not worry." The parents exchange looks now, and I reach over Ore to clasp Chey's hand in support.

              "I wish I could go..." Ore whines. My heart sinks a little, feeling guilty. Ore feels like a brother to me, and a bit like my own child at times. I love him.

              "I would take you in a heartbeat if I could. You know that. But, and hear me out, what if I bring you pictures of everything. And even gifts back! It'll be just like you were there. We will see the same things and you'll have the trinkets to remember it by."

              "I want a picture of the train! Oh! Oh! And a toy train. Could you find a toy train?"

              "It will be my mission." I squeeze him into me.