We Could Be Enough - Lams

XXIV.

"Which one's yours?" He asks, looking around the parking lot.

"Guess."

He points to a red one near the end of the row of cars. "That one."

"No. Guess again." I cross my arms. I wonder how long we'll have to stand here before he gets it right.

"That one?" Alex points to the black car right next to us.

"Nope. Here's a clue: South Carolina license plate."

"Oh, duh." He smacks his head. I watch him closely inspect the license plate of every car within a 200-foot radius. He almost found it, stopping a few feet away.

"Dude, you were so close," I say, walking over to him.

"Really? Where is it?" He looks around quickly.

"I dunno man, you're gonna have to find it." I pass Alex and lean against the trunk of my car.

"Be right back." He says before walking the entire way around the parking lot, checking each car again.

He's so oblivious.

"I can't find it! Are you sure you parked here?" He yells at me from across the lot.

"Yeah, I'm 100% sure."

He puts his hands on his hips and takes one last glance around. He stomps over to me and leans against the car with me.

"I can't find it."

"Alex..." I whisper, bewildered that he is actually this stupid.

"What?"

I gesture at the car that we're leaning against. I moment of confusion passes over his face before it turns to pure embarrassment.

"Just get in already, dear." I grab the keys out of my pocket and go to open my door. Alex sits there for a minute before moving and getting in on the passenger's side.

I put the keys in the ignition and click my seatbelt on (staysafekids), then I turn to make sure Alex is all situated before pulling out of the parking space.

The car starts rolling out of the small parking lot and onto the road leading out of here. It's so weird to me that this is the first time I've been in my car for a whole week. There might be a thing or two still in the trunk that I forgot to take out last Monday.

Alex looks out the window at the passing buildings, "I can't believe I'm so stupid."

"You're not stupid! Just... blind. You're blind."

"I have 20/20 vision, for your information!"

I take my eyes off the road for a moment to look at him and his stupid face. "What about that branch you ran into a few days ago?"

"I wasn't paying attention, but that's beside the point, John. I-am-not-blind."

"And that time you ran into the cafeteria door." 

"Shut up!" He giggles and lightly pushes me. I shake my head and laugh, then look back at the road to narrowly avoid running into a squirrel. "That was your fault."

"Wha-how! You're the one who's driving." He sinks down in his seat.

"You... pushed the tires... with your feet. Then it...did the thing."

Alex turns his head slowly. "I... don't even know what to say to that."

"That's 'cause you're stupid and blind."

"I will actually jump out of this window"

We keep driving up the winding road. Alex said that the road goes over to the other side of the mountain, then goes straight for another forty-five minutes until we finally get to the teeny tiny, middle-of-nowhere, run-down town. When Alex first proposed this idea to me (less than 5 minutes after waking me up) I obviously said yes. Now that I've thought about it, it might not be the greatest thing.

Of course, hanging out with Alex would make me really happy, but I don't know if there are going to be plenty of things to do. Will there be awkward silence? probably. Are we going to run out of things to do, and subsequentially go back to camp a few hours early? Maybe. Am I going to do something so embarrassing and idiotic that Alexander flees in horror and I never see him again? Not likely, but could still happen.

"Hey, I have a joke," Alex says to me. 

"What is it." I'm in the middle of figuring out which turn I need to take, damn it Alex I don't have time for this right now.

"Why does Waldo wear stripes?"

I roll my eyes. "Why."

Alex starts to tell me the answer but laughs at himself before he can finish. He tries this several times, but he ends up almost crying without even telling the damn joke.

Finally, "Because he doesn't want to be spotted!"

My foot slips on the break, and Alex's head flings forward. He complains about the seatbelt digging into his neck, but I'm too busy angrily staring at him to care.

"Are you... FUCKING kidding me!"