What does "THE FAULT IN OUR STARS" mean to you?

What Shapes Us - Chapter 3

By FireFlyGalaxy

Chapter 3

As I drift in and out of consciousness, Gunnar sings along to the new Imagine Dragons album. Well, he's not necessarily singing. He mumbles the tune and acts like he knows the words. If we weren't best friends and I didn't have a boyfriend, I would say he does the cutest things sometimes. I smile slightly as I fall back to sleep.

The next time I wake up, we are in Austin, and Gunnar is extremely squirmy. I look at the dashboard and see that he didn't hesitate to drink all six of the Mountain Dews. I look at him and joke, "I wanted one of those!" He gives me this half smile before quickly pulling in to a gas station. In one swift movement, he parks the car next to a pump, unbuckles, and is at the door of the store.

I laugh to myself as I fill up the tank. My stomach begins to bark and growl and make some godawful sounds, and I realize I haven't eaten since we left this morning at like 7:30. I look at the clock and cringe at the time, 4:46 pm. I start to panic. I rummage through all our snack bags. Like the Mountain Dew bottles, they're empty. I look up to see Gunnar now fully stocked with food and drinks. He hands me a Mountain Dew and a Nacho Lunchable as he crams a ham sandwich down his throat. I run around the car and sit in the driver's seat quickly so Gunnar cannot. He melodramatically slinks into the seat beside me with his famous too-heavy sigh.

We drive for a little longer watching the farms stretch out beside us as we leave urban Texas. "So how're you and Jenny?" I smirk. Jenny is the girl who Gunnar has his eye on, but no one has ever really heard her talk, so we aren't sure Mr. Mouth really has a chance with her.

"She's wonderful of course. I finally texted her." Gunnar looks like he's about to swoon.

"And?"

"We talked about math and she may even tutor me!" Gunnar looks giddy at the thought.

"Gunnar. You have the highest grade in math in the school," I state. I can see the realization sweep over him.

"Well she doesn't have to know that," he responds after thinking for several seconds. "How's your stupid boyfriend?" he barks, obviously done thinking about Jenny.

Stupid? Yes. Hot? Also yes. Instead of these answers, I respond with, "Jase is great and muscular. He made the football team for next year." Gunnar observes his pale stick like arms.

He rebuts, "Of course he did, he's the best stupid jock in the whole stupid school." Gunnar sounds really irritated. He hates Jase and thinks I can do much better. Honestly, I know I can, but I'm a sucker for hot boys.

"If you're going to be sassy over the matter, why bring it up?" I inquire almost too angrily. I can see him tense up beside me, so I hit his knee to show him I'm only joking. He gets the hint and relaxes only minorly. I decide now is a good time to change the subject.

"Anywhere here you want to go?" I ask only to find Gunnar has already fallen asleep with a slight grimace on his face. I slowly put a jacket over him. I finish off my food and search for something else to munch on. He actually got a map and seems to have circled everywhere he wanted. The closest destination? Vegas.

The drive all in all is too long, but we have the week off for Spring Break so I take the next exit that takes me west. My phone starts to vibrate next to me. It's Jase. Crap. I forgot we were supposed to go to dinner tonight. I look at the dreaded clock. Of course I should've been at Olive Garden in the middle of Arkansas about fifteen minutes ago. I answer the phone hesitantly. "Hello?"

"Hey, you weren't at school."

"Hey, I wasn't at school." I don't want to admit where I am. He's already suspicious of Gunnar.

"Where are you? We were supposed to be celebrating our three month." That's today? What do I tell him? I can't just lie.

"My grandma is in the hospital." And I lied. Good going, Timber.

"Oh no! Which hospital? I'll be there in a min-"

I cut him off, "She's my dad's grandma. She lives in Texas. We're going to be here for Spring Break. Sorry!" Gunnar is awake by now. He realizes who I'm talking to and huffs as he turns to look out the window dramatically.

"You do what you need for her! I love you," Jase smiles.

I roll my eyes and in the cutest way possible, I say, "It's a little too soon for love, buddy. I like you." I'm trying to help him move slower. The kid might as well propose to me with all of his accidental "I love you's."

He heavily sighs and says, "Fine. I like you a whole lot. Talk to you later." I hang up. Gunnar immediately turns to me.

"What does he want?"

"I was supposed to go to dinner with him for our three month. He doesn't understand the concept of 'space'. It seems to just be mind-boggling to him." Gunnar is just smiling to himself. I punch him in the arm and he lets out a fake whimper.

"Well," he starts after an awkward silence, "you get to spend your three month with the meat-head, with me!" He sits there smiling to himself. He must feel like he got me away from Jase. The accomplishment is plastered to his face. Why ruin it?

"And I'm glad I am," I smirk. "To Vegas?" I ask after a few minutes of silence.

"To Vegas," he nods.