Misanthropy

I didn’t go straight home after leaving school. Weird, I know. I needed to let off some steam and the only way I was going to be able to do that by driving around for a while. With my windows rolled up, I cussed out anyone who even cut me off. I was blasting some music through the aux chord, not even paying attention to it.

I was driving in a part of town I had never been in before. It looked to be a pretty shitty part. Everything looked grimy and looked about fifty years old. I decided to turn around and get out of there quickly. I didn’t need to be stuck in a situation I couldn’t get out of. As I pulled into an alley to do a turnabout, my car stopped. My eyes widened as I cranked the keys. “No, don’t you fucking do this today,” I whined as I continued to turn the keys, causing the car to make a croaky sound.

I slam my hands against the wheel. This is what I deserved for getting a cheap car from a sketchy lot. I looked up to see smoke billowing out from under the hood. “Fuck,” I muttered as I scrambled out of the car. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

Opening the hood, I got slapped in the face by smoke. I coughed loudly, waving my hand in front of my face. As I inspected the contents under the hood, I realized the problem. It overheated. Letting out a growl, I kick the tire. There was no way that this car was going anywhere anytime soon. It needed a shit ton of water and time to cool off. That was when I remembered my surroundings.

I glance around, noticing that no one was on the street. It did nothing to calm my nerves. After I closed the hood, I jumped back into the car, reaching for my phone. There were only two people in my contacts, and there was one that I was for sure never going to call willingly. My thumb hovered over the other. Would he come and help me? Before I could ponder on it, my thumb hit his name, ringing loudly as I held it to my ear. After a few rings, I hear him pick up, “Hello?”

“Alex, it’s Hazel,” I groan. “I need your help.”

“What? Hazel?” He sounded very surprised. “What the hell happened to you?”

I roll my eyes, “I left school, took a drive to calm down and I broke down in a shitty part of town. I need you to come get me.”

“Woah, wait,” he seemed to be scrambling around. “Where are you?”

I step out of the car once more, staring out of the alley, finding some street signs, “An alley across from the intersection of Maple and Main. Not sure otherwise. All I know is that this place looks pretty fucking sketchy.”

“I know exactly where you are,” he mutters in a serious voice. “Get in your car, lock the doors, and stay there. Don’t go anywhere.”

I didn’t need him telling me twice. I stepped back into the small car with him still on the phone. “Don’t hang up,” he insists. “That’s a bad neighborhood. How the hell did you get there?”

“I just drove,” I snapped into the microphone. “I wasn’t exactly paying attention to where I was going.”

“But you’re really far in there,” he sighed in annoyance. “Did you not see things turning to shit?”

“I already fucking told you, I wasn’t paying attention!”

I heard him mumble something on the other end, but I couldn’t quite make out what it was. “What did you say?” I question, narrowing my eyes.

“Nothing,” he corrects himself swiftly. “I’m here.”

“That was fast,” I mumbled.

He didn’t make a remark about my statement, staying silent until I saw a car pull in behind me. Glancing in the rearview mirror, I see Alex’s face beaming through the glass. I let out a sigh of relief before a puzzled expression appeared on my face. Why the hell was I relieved to see him? It’s probably because of the sketchiness of this place. I make my way to his car, hopping into the passenger seat. The interior was a bit messy and there were CD’s hanging above his head. “Is this your car?” I question.

He nods, “Yeah. It just got fixed so that’s why I didn’t have it yesterday.” He pauses. “What are you going to do about your car?”

I wave my hand in dismissal, “I can just buy a couple jugs of water at a store really quick. It’s been sitting for a while, so it should be cooled down by now.”

The car was filled with silence as he drove me to the nearest convenience store. There was a bit of tension in the air, but it wasn’t thick. It was probably a result of my blow up today. My eyes shifted over to Alex, who had a blank expression on his face. He had one hand on the wheel, the other on the shifter. No matter how hard he tried to be relaxed, eyes are windows to the soul. I could see his true emotions brewing. Anger and reluctance. He did not want to be here right now.

My heart ached for a moment, causing me to hold my chest in confusion. I hadn’t felt this feeling in a while. It was guilt. Why the hell was I feeling guilty? Was it…was it because I was a dick to Alex? No, no way. I felt no guilt for the way I treated people and Alex was no different. It must have been something else.

I was in and out of the store very quickly, wanting to get back to my own car. Along with gallons of water, I purchased a bag of Twizzlers. As I sat in the passenger seat, I tossed them at the driver. They fell on his lap, causing him to jump in surprise. “What’s this?” There was a slight bite to his voice.

“My way of saying thank you,” I refuse to look at him. “I know you don’t want to be here.”

As he starts to car, he shakes his head, “That’s not true-“

I cut him off, “Don’t lie to me jackass. I could see it in your eyes.”

“I swear-“

I blow up at him. Combining the fact that I was still tired of the lying, it just lit a fuse in me, “Jesus Christ, it won’t hurt my fucking feelings if you just admit it! Why do you have to lie? You are just like every other disgusting human on this planet!”

He grits his teeth, gripping the steering wheel so tight, his knuckles turned white. He pulls the car over, putting it in park, “Get out.”

“Excuse me?”

He rounds on me, anger blazing through his face, “You are such an ungrateful bitch! I go out of my way to come pick you up and you go right back to treating me like shit! I didn’t have to come out here you know! And you’re right, I didn’t want to. I try so fucking hard, but I always end up being dismissed and shoved to the side. Not anymore. Get out of my fucking car and you better pay me tomorrow!”

I was shocked. He had never exploded on me like this. It was…amusing. I finally pushed him away. He’s finally done. I give him a sneer, “Sure thing. Give me back the fucking Twizzlers.”

As I open the door, he throws the package at me. It hit me square in the back, “Here! I hate them anyway!”

I grab my belongings, stepping out of the vehicle. I had barely closed the door when he sped off, leaving me in the worst part of town with the sun setting. I rip open the candy, taking a bite out of one of the strands in spite.

Notes