Flashes of Our Endless Summer Love
Chapter 3: Daytona
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RXoqMus5ZU
When one of your friends accidentally bumps into my backpack as you’re casually walking past me, I’m brought back to the time I least expected you to be around. You ignored me now, you didn’t back then. But you knew, right? You thought it would be funny to mess with the invisible kid.
I had my backpack on my back, my hands holding onto the straps for extra support. My treck was going to be a long one and I had only just started. You drove past me as I was walking down the street, only three houses from ours. I continued walking, not looking at you parking your car in your driveway, which became a sort of routine later. You, however, had other plans. I heard you close your car door, and then your quick footsteps started approaching me.
“Hey!” You shouted at me to get my attention and closed the distance. I never did enjoy walking hastily. “Where are you going?
“Daytona,” I answered as I continued walking. I was on a mission, I wasn’t going to stop.
“What’s Daytona?” You inquired, trying to keep up with me by side stepping.
“Where.”
“Where what?”
“Where’s Daytona.”
“Where?”
“Daytona beach,” I told you, looking straight ahead.
“Never heard of that.” You shook your head.
“Florida.”
“You’re going to Florida? How? Walking?” You asked in straight up disbelief. Still, the fact that you asked must have meant you didn’t cross it out as an option.”
“Bus,” I corrected. “Washington, Richmond, Miami, Daytona Beach.”
You started walking normally and in pace with me. “With just your backpack?”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
“Why not?”
You looked at me. There was nothing to say to that, because why wouldn’t I go? So, after a second to yourself, you suggested, “mind if I join?”
“Sure.” I shrugged.
As soon as you joined my quest, we were in complete silence again. You followed me. Why, I did not know. I had no idea where I was exactly going and how I was going to get there. For some reason you trusted me. That trust was either thinking I could get us there safely or believing I would never go through with it. To this day, I don’t know what you were thinking.
“Are you actually going all the way to Florida by bus?” You checked with me, some skepticism behind your voice.
“Dunno.”
“Why Daytona?”
There was a simple explanation. “I wanted an adventure.”
“But why all the way to some random place in Florida?”
“I opened the map to the wrong place,” I explained.
“What?”
“I wanted to choose a blind location in Maryland.”
“But you opened the map to Florida,” you added, finishing the reasoning.
“Exactly!” I nodded.
“Why not just redo it when you realised you were on the wrong map?” You laughed as if I had just made a funny joke.
“Dunno.”
“You don’t know a lot,” you remarked.
I shrugged. There was so much knowledge out there, I really didn’t know a lot. Nobody does. Everybody just holds this tiny fraction of the possible.
“You know what?” You stopped us. “I’ll take you someplace for an adventure. And it’s only just a short walk away.”
I shouldn’t have gone with you. I should have just gone to Daytona Beach as I was planning. This was all on me. I shouldn’t have trusted you, I shouldn’t have blindly followed you. You never had good intentions.
When one of your friends accidentally bumps into my backpack as you’re casually walking past me, I’m brought back to the time I least expected you to be around. You ignored me now, you didn’t back then. But you knew, right? You thought it would be funny to mess with the invisible kid.
I had my backpack on my back, my hands holding onto the straps for extra support. My treck was going to be a long one and I had only just started. You drove past me as I was walking down the street, only three houses from ours. I continued walking, not looking at you parking your car in your driveway, which became a sort of routine later. You, however, had other plans. I heard you close your car door, and then your quick footsteps started approaching me.
“Hey!” You shouted at me to get my attention and closed the distance. I never did enjoy walking hastily. “Where are you going?
“Daytona,” I answered as I continued walking. I was on a mission, I wasn’t going to stop.
“What’s Daytona?” You inquired, trying to keep up with me by side stepping.
“Where.”
“Where what?”
“Where’s Daytona.”
“Where?”
“Daytona beach,” I told you, looking straight ahead.
“Never heard of that.” You shook your head.
“Florida.”
“You’re going to Florida? How? Walking?” You asked in straight up disbelief. Still, the fact that you asked must have meant you didn’t cross it out as an option.”
“Bus,” I corrected. “Washington, Richmond, Miami, Daytona Beach.”
You started walking normally and in pace with me. “With just your backpack?”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
“Why not?”
You looked at me. There was nothing to say to that, because why wouldn’t I go? So, after a second to yourself, you suggested, “mind if I join?”
“Sure.” I shrugged.
As soon as you joined my quest, we were in complete silence again. You followed me. Why, I did not know. I had no idea where I was exactly going and how I was going to get there. For some reason you trusted me. That trust was either thinking I could get us there safely or believing I would never go through with it. To this day, I don’t know what you were thinking.
“Are you actually going all the way to Florida by bus?” You checked with me, some skepticism behind your voice.
“Dunno.”
“Why Daytona?”
There was a simple explanation. “I wanted an adventure.”
“But why all the way to some random place in Florida?”
“I opened the map to the wrong place,” I explained.
“What?”
“I wanted to choose a blind location in Maryland.”
“But you opened the map to Florida,” you added, finishing the reasoning.
“Exactly!” I nodded.
“Why not just redo it when you realised you were on the wrong map?” You laughed as if I had just made a funny joke.
“Dunno.”
“You don’t know a lot,” you remarked.
I shrugged. There was so much knowledge out there, I really didn’t know a lot. Nobody does. Everybody just holds this tiny fraction of the possible.
“You know what?” You stopped us. “I’ll take you someplace for an adventure. And it’s only just a short walk away.”
I shouldn’t have gone with you. I should have just gone to Daytona Beach as I was planning. This was all on me. I shouldn’t have trusted you, I shouldn’t have blindly followed you. You never had good intentions.
