9:41 PM

“okay, now pull into this dollar general up here. and remember, two of each flavor. i drink those things really fast.”

“do you want three then?” wonwoo asks as he pulls into a parking spot, “also, we gotta get gas before we get back on the highway, too.”

“well, how long do you think we’ll be driving?” i ask as i undo my seatbelt.

“a long time,” is all he replies.

we’re getting out of the car and i ask, “where exactly are we going?”

“well, i was thinking we could go to atlanta and then head up to north carolina. unless you don’t want to be out until tomorrow, then we can just head back after atlanta and get home at about… 1 in the morning?”

“when would we be getting back if we went to north carolina?”

“well, according to google we could be getting to the beach at about sunrise, then going straight back to dasher instead of going the to atlanta first it would be about 9 more hours,” he says and opens the door for me.

either he’s actually polite, or he just wants me to be able to tolerate being with him long enough for him to go to north carolina. he’s probably just using me as an excuse to go there. that’s probably what i would do in his shoes. i wonder what it is that he wants to see in north carolina.

“i’ll decide if i wanna go to north carolina when we meet up at the register,” i say as i step inside, “in two minutes. and get three just in case.”

while i’m grabbing some doughnuts and candy, i pull my phone out of my pocket and text my mom.

“i’m staying the night at a friend’s house, i’ll be home sometime tomorrow”

it wasn’t really a hard decision. i don’t want to go home and the more i’m around wonwoo, the more tolerable he gets. i mean, i never had a problem with him to start with, but i guess he’s actually kind of… likeable?

i decide not to think about it too much and grab some sandwiches, crackers, cookies, and a styrofoam cooler to put it all in and head up to the register where i see wonwoo standing with his arms full of drinks. i smile a little and hold the cooler out to him when i get closer.

“oh thank god, i was sure i was gonna drop, like, all of those,” he says as he puts the drinks in the cooler and takes it from me.

“i’ll pay, you go outside and call your mom to tell her that you won’t be coming home tonight. i’ll meet you in the car.”

he smiles, says, “you’re the best,” and pulls his phone out of his pocket while walking backwards toward the door. of course, he ends up running into the woman behind him and apologizes then turns around to walk the rest of the way outside. i set the cooler full of stuff on the counter and tell the register we need a small bag of ice too.

i get the feeling that this is going to be a great road trip.