[22]

Bored Girls, Moody Boys

Contrary to all those enthusiastic tourist ads and websites, Mexico City wasn't as exciting as Skipper had anticipated. She had initially planned to stay there an entire week, but barely two days in, she grew bored. 

   Sitting on the hood of the SUV while Wade leaned against it, studying the map, she sighed heavily. "I'm bored."

   "Seriously? You're on a roadtrip to see the world, and you're bored?" Wade scoffed, folding the map and tossing it at her. She caught it before it could fly off, rolling her eyes.

   "All this A to B nonsense is lame to me. I need spontaneity, like the night you decided to join those people at the bonfire."

   Not sure how to react to this, he glanced away and chewed his lip. "Um, you're still thinking about that?"

   "How could I forget when you're such a terrible dancer?" She smirked, to which he rolled his eyes. 

   "So you want to be spontaneous."

   "Yeah. Like, just pick a place and go. No in-depth planning, no rush, no 'we have to see everything' attitude."

   "But it hasn't been like that. And I like structure, it keeps me focused. I'm sorry, but I'm a planner. I like to know what I'll be doing and when I'll be doing it."

   "It's my trip."

   "Fine, we'll be spontaneous. I'll pick a destination and surprise you. First stop, the ferry back to the states."

   She stared at him in a mixture of shock and annoyance. "What? No!"

   "I'm homesick. You can get another chauffeur." And with that, he turned and got into the driver's seat. Skipper slid off the hood, map in hand, and climbed into her seat.

   "You're not seriously going back to the states, are you?"

   "I dunno, you tell me whether you think I'm serious or not." Twisting around, he checked to see that Charles was calmly resting in the backseat. 

   "I don't you well enough to tell you that," she frowned. "Your sarcasm sounds just like your seriousness."

   "Shame you can't tell the difference," he muttered, straightening in his seat and relaxing. The two sat in complete silence for a good fifteen minutes or so before Skipper spoke again.

   "Are you actually homesick?" she queried, tucking a piece of gum into her mouth and chewing slowly. Wade just stared through the windshield, not speaking. His jaw was set and he looked a lot older than he had when they'd started this trip. Maybe it was just his lack of sleep getting to him?

   "Where do you want to go?" he finally sighed, tired of her watching him so earnestly. His eyes flicked toward her, saturated in exhaustion. "Name a place. If it's drivable, we'll go. I don't care."

   "You didn't answer my question."

    "I shouldn't have to. It's none of your business."

   "I mean, it kind of is. And you said you were homesick."

   "Drop it. It doesn't matter how I feel, does it? This is about you. You're dying and you need to see the world. My needs are minuscule in comparison and frankly, they're irrelevant. So don't ask. You know me enough to know I tend to just blurt things out."

   "And yet it seems everything you blurt out has been thought through at some point."

   "I don't want to talk about me, okay? I'm just here to bring you from one end of the world to the other. Let's focus on your boredom and work from there. There are a million things to do here in Mexico City. You don't have to do what all those chic tourist articles say, y'know?"

   "Honestly, I just wanted to visit the beaches," she shrugged, pulling the travel journal from the glove compartment and idly flipping through the pages. 

   Wade observed her through the corner of his eye, resting his forehead tiredly on the steering wheel. When he'd initially taken this job, he hadn't taken into account how long the trip would actually take, nor had he considered the emotional and mental aspect of it. 

   "Why don't we just go for a walk and do whatever the hell seems the most fun to us?" he muttered, lifting his head and meeting her gaze. She glanced up from looking at the journal, almost impressed that he was willing to compromise. 

   "There's a few amusement parks not far from here," he continued, showing her the list he'd conjured on his phone. "Water parks, too. Take your pick."

   Leaning closer, she scanned the list. Part of her was tempted to choose a waterpark, since she adored water activities. However, from past trips to the beach, she knew Wade was the opposite. He didn't mind swimming, but he definitely preferred not to be in the water. She figured the most likely reason for this was that he was self conscious. She may not know him very well but she knew enough at this point to recognize that he was an introvert. And while she hadn't had much experience with introverts in the past, she had a vague gist of how they functioned; meaning, it took them time to warm up to certain situations, some things were simply off limits to them, and they were often rather worried about what other people thought of them.

   Skipper frowned as she realized that these traits could be applied to anyone, introverted or otherwise. 

   After a terse debate about why roller coasters were more favorable than water slides, they determined that Six Flags would be their choice destination. It was a bit far to walk, so Wade said they'd drive there. But before they could do any of that, Charles needed to be walked, watered, and fed. That way, he'd be ready to wait a few hours in the vehicle.