Free So Shall I Reap by Kathy-Lynn Cross

breath caught as I gasped… and woke up.

 
4
     
    Forcing My Character To Be…
     
    N onconformist: one who does not conform
    O ddball: an eccentric
    R are: marked by unusual quality, merit, or appeal
    M aniacal: affected with or suggestive of madness
    A nomalous: deviating from what is usual
    L unatic: wildly foolish
    ~Alexcia
     
    Well, it was official, the night was ruined. I popped my head up while strapping on Mom’s high heels as the sense of direction alarm went off between both ears. We were heading in the wrong direction to the party. My head whipped around to stare at Tod, who was singing an off-key version of “Enter Sandman.” He loved the metal songs from the eighties, said the drumming made his truck sound more monster-like. The second chorus started playing when he finally noticed I wasn’t getting ready, and he looked disappointed when he realized I was staring a hole through his brain.
    “What?” he yelled over the guitars and drums.
    “You want to clue me in why we aren’t heading over to Scotty’s place?” I had to raise my voice an octave to be heard over the gritty, deep singing.
    We were traveling up Charleston and had passed one of the local hotel/casinos. Luckily we stopped at a red light before getting on the 215. Flipping his bottle-blond bangs while chewing on his tongue, he gauged a reply. “Nope, it’ll just start a fight. You’ll see soon enough where we’re going. I don’t want you to start acting all pissy.” He motioned with his head at my shoes, pointing out the other one wasn’t on yet.
    I unfastened the shoe and tossed it onto the black floor mat in front of my seat and stared out the window. No way was I getting ready while not knowing where we were going. Instead, I would remain in the truck, call one of my friends to come pick me up and hang out with them.
    The unbuckled seatbelt made the final point with a defiant click, and I swished it away in a nonchalant move. Gracefully, I reached for the borrowed purse and started digging for the metallic green get-out-of-jail free card. When I found it, I grabbed my lip gloss too. After tossing the bag back in between bare feet, I set the phone down in the middle cup holder and leaned forward to grab onto the rearview mirror. Tilting it toward me, I applied a thin coat of gloss, nice and methodically. Tod got a small preview of what he would be missing tonight if he kept up this caveman act. He was going to learn… I was a person, not a prize. Both were P words but hardly interchangeable. Plus, I was making a point. He hated it when anyone touched or moved anything in his truck. I was now in violation of one of the top five major Tod rules and was hoping he hit a bump and the damn thing broke off.
    Giving back some Ka-cha, I smiled wider at the thought and almost brushed the stick of gloss across my front two teeth. Ka-cha is a secret word I made up in place of karma. I let go of the mirror without repositioning it and wiggled back into the seat. Using my left hand, I reached over methodically pulling the seat belt across the front of my blouse, making sure the click was loud… an exclamation point. After a quick side glance, I noticed he was ready to listen. Tod had begun to simmer in the driver’s seat while turning two shades of red.
    “Damn it, Lex-Cee. You know I need to see in back of the truck. You should’ve been ready before I even pulled up into your driveway. Why do you always insist on making a presentation?” The oncoming headlights highlighted his jaw muscle as it twitched. Maybe his brain was on overdrive from so many sentences linked together. “You know how I feel about that. Plus, we planned to go out together tonight. So does it really matter where we’re going as long as we’re together?” He carefully moved the rearview mirror back into position, his face still holding a look of annoyance.
    Anger was one emotion that worked against me because it brought these itchy, red-blotchy welts on my face