“Don’t forget the part about how you used to like me,” Kel adds.
“We went ononedate,” she responds, leaning forward past Ernesto and holding up her index finger to Kel. “I’d say you were pretty instrumental in my realization that I preferred women.”
“You’re welcome,” Kel responds. “Sounds like you owe me.”
“And Ernesto?” Finn asks.
“Oh, I’ve never seen him before. Some guy he was sitting with said he needed a ride and told me where he lived. I said sure and Ernesto followed me. I didn’t know he couldn’t speak English. I just thought he was drunk.”
I face forward again, glancing over at Finn and nervously rubbing the side of my neck.
“Hey, Finn, why were you looking to give rides home? You on the drunk drivers committee or something?” Kel asks.
Emerson responds before Finn can speak. “No, Liz smashed her drunken face into his and didn’t want to have to talk about it, so she asked me to fill up the car.”
My mouth gapes and I spin in my seat to shoot her the vilest glare I can muster.
“Oh come on, like he doesn’t know,” she says, motioning to Finn.
“You two made out?” Kel asks. “Fucking awesome.”
“Honestly, I told Liz the other day that I wouldn’t mind driving more people. See, I’m from New York and I never had a car until I moved here. I love driving.”
“Dude, you can drive me every day. Taking the train blows.”
“You know what? I have no ideawhereI’m taking you. I need addresses,” Finn states, scratching his cheek.
“I’ll just give you my license,” Emerson states, rifling through her purse. When she finds it, she holds it up to Ernesto and points to it. He nods and pulls his wallet out of his back pocket. I turn around to take them and note that Kel has turned to face his window. His leg is thumping up and down.
“Hey Kel, Liz is waiting for your driver’s license. Hand it over,” Emerson shouts.
“I don’t have it with me.”
“No worries, I’ll just type it in,” Finn replies.
“I’ll type. You drive,” I say.
Finn verbally walks me through how to enter the addresses in the GPS. After Ernesto’s, I’ve got it. I plug in all the addresses. Em will be dropped off first, followed by me, Ernesto, and Kel.
“Can I pay you for gas or something?” Emerson asks.
“It’s not a big deal,” Finn shrugs.
“What are the chances I can hitch a ride tomorrow?” Kel asks.
My eyes dart over to Finn. I’ve really put him a bad position.
“I can pick you all up, if you want.”
“Dude, that would be awesome. I hate the fucking train.”
“There’s no way I’m riding for free. How about forty dollars a week for gas?” Emerson asks.
Finn shakes his head. “That’s too much.”
“Okay, twenty dollars. Two hours each way and four stops will cost you a fortune.”
“Yeah, twenty bucks sounds about right,” Kel adds. “Plus, I can probably walk to Ernesto’s. He’s not that far from me. That should save a stop.”
