Love's Memories

There's something slightly unnerving about being crammed in on four sides for long periods of time, while the empty road stretches for miles. You spend hours waiting to reach the point where horizon meets road, but somehow you never do.
I lay my head on the headrest and shifted around to keep my legs from sticking to the leather seats. I shouldn't have worn shorts, but it was 90 degrees outside and Cassie said the air conditioning wasn't working in the 1998 Lincoln Navigator she bought from my father several years ago. It was bad enough that my claustrophobic self was stuck in this car in the middle of Minnesota as the horizon kept getting further away, I couldn't deal with excessive sweating too.
"I love this song," Cassie said, reaching over to turn up the volume on the radio, her eyes never leaving the road. As she started to brake on a curve, her fingers slipped and suddenly Aerosmith was blasting out of the speakers. The seatbelt dug into my neck as I shot up, covering my ears and glaring at her as she shrugged and quickly turned the sound down.
"Oops," she said with a giggle.
I grimaced and took my hands from my ears. "You know," I said, "I'd like to not go deaf on this road trip."
"Lighten up, Aria," Cassie said, her shoulders moving in time with the music, her fingers tapping on the steering wheel. "Just have a good time."
"Good time, sure," I said sarcastically as I watched fields flash by in a blur. "How'd I let you talk me into this?"
"Call it best friend persuasion," Cassie replied. "I said college is over and we're jobless, let's hit the open road." She glanced over at me and grinned. "Come on, you know you didn't want to rejoin your world of parental battles, and when I said the word open, your claustrophobic self went into overdrive."
I shrugged and put my feet up on the dashboard. I hated enclosed spaces, ever since I was eight and started spending hours in a small cupboard underneath the stairs while my parents spent the nights trading insults. When they lost a marriage, I gained a phobia.
"How bout we make a quick stop?" Cassie's voice broke into my thoughts of a messy divorce and bitter legal battles that made me believe all our supposed happy times were just my imagination.
"Fine," I said, tearing my eyes away from the shrubs dotting the side of the road. "We gonna stop in the middle of the road?"
Cassie sighed loudly. "You're such a pain, Aria," she said. "There's a rest stop a mile ahead. I need to use the facilities."
"Facilities?" I said slyly. "So proper."
She smirked and slowed down as we rounded another steep curve. "Yeah, and you gotta stretch your legs before you claw your way out of this car. Stop fidgeting already."
I clenched my fists as she pulled into the parking lot of a small wooden cabin with a triangular roof. Near the lot were picnic tables facing a row of trees that shielded the building from the view of oncoming traffic.
Cassie pulled into a space and killed the engine before grabbing her purse from its spot on the floor. "I'll be right back," she said. "Go stretch or something."
I nodded as she got out of the car and half-skipped, half-ran to the bathroom, disappearing inside.
Reaching into the backseat, I pulled my journal and a pen out from my duffel bag. I got out of the car and walked to a picnic table, settling myself on the bench and staring out at the open road. I sighed and closed my eyes, feeling the sun beating down on my face, and trying to decide how to write about this phase of the trip. There was something familiar about this spot, but I couldn't place it.
"Aria." My eyes snapped open when I heard a male voice pronouncing it as though the "i" was saying its own name.
"Not quite," I muttered, swinging my legs around to the other side of the bench and grabbing my journal off the table. I should learn not to leave the book out in the open, or at least cover the front flap that has my name written in Sharpie marker.
"Okay, Ar-eeeee-a," he said, drawing out the syllable.
I turned my head back to him, keeping my body facing away and looking at him through slit eyes. I made a mental note of his spiked brown hair and dimples on either cheek that got bigger as he smiled. "Sure, whatever," I said, shrugging. I had decided long ago not to be impressed by a stranger's good looks. I guess I had to learn something from my parents' divorce.
He laughed, a loud guffaw that sounded like it came from the pit of his stomach. "Cory," he said, holding his hand out to me.
I nodded, but didn't take his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm just waiting for my friend." I gestured toward the bathroom.
"Right," he said. "I'm waiting to get in there."
I heard the crunch of gravel and turned my head to see Cassie coming out of the bathroom. "Well," she said, "that was absolutely disgusting, but....hellooooo." She noticed Cory and I think all thoughts aside from "cute boy" just disappeared. "I'm Cassie." She held out her hand and he took it, throwing
me a sly grin. I shook my head and pulled Cassie's hand away as I stood up from the table.
"And he's Cory," I said. "We better get going." I looked over toward the bathroom as another man walked out. "Look, bathroom's free."
I started pushing Cassie away from the table, giving her a little kick in the shin when she started to protest. She cried out and, ignoring her, I looked back at Cory. "Nice meeting you."Cory smiled and rose from the table. "You too, Ar-eeeee-a."
Rolling my eyes, I pushed Cassie toward the car as Cory disappeared into the bathroom. She threw her arms up in disgust and, limping slightly, let me guide her. At the car, I ran to the passenger side, desperate to get in before Cory came back out. As I moved to get in the car, I slipped on the carpet and banged my knee on the glove compartment. I shrieked as it fell open, dumping its contents on the floor. Grumbling, I got out to pick everything up.
"That's what you get for rushing away from cute boys," Cassie goaded as she watched me clean the mess.
"Yeah, yeah," I murmured, wincing as my knees touched the hot pavement. After picking up an assortment of travel guides and other paperwork, I noticed a hint of copper on the floor. I reached over to pick up a flattened penny, and turned it over in my hand. Small letters said "Minnesota" and there was an image of a building with a triangle roof and small doors...
I gasped and Cassie dropped her keys on the floor with a start. "What?" she cried.
"This penny," I said slowly. "It's pressed." I held it up to show her. "It's from here."
Cassie squinted at me and glanced at the penny. "Okay, that's...nice?"
I giggled. "Now I know why this place is familiar." I fell into the seat. "My parents and I stopped here on our cross country trip." I looked down at the penny. "Our last trip together before the divorce. I must have left this in here." I sighed. "I loved that trip. We got through, maybe, 10 different states without any arguments. Met lots of interesting people, saw the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River and lots of rest stops. And my mom used to sing arias while my dad played a stupid little harmonica when we camped outside in each state." I smiled and shut my eyes, holding the penny close to my heart. "They loved making music together."
"Sounds nice," Cassie replied quietly.
A smile crept across my face and I nodded. "Yeah, it was a good time." I squeezed the penny in my hand, comforted by the fact that at least one memory was real.
Cassie reached into her pocket, and pulled out her own penny, holding it up so it caught the sunlight. "You want another one?"
I looked at her for a second, then grabbed it out of her hand. "Let's do this," I said.
Minutes later, as we pulled away from the rest stop, I held the two pennies in front of my face and stared at the sunlight reflected in the copper. Details of the image weren't as sharp on the original penny.
"They look the same?" Cassie asked.
I grinned. "Not at all," I said. I held the first penny out the open window and let it be taken by the wind, watched it disappear where the horizon meets the road.

by Audrey Levine Created on: June 06, 2009