Journey to the Unknown

by Jacqueline Francis

  There was silence for a long time and he just stared at her. He didn’t seem angry anymore. In fact, he seemed to be giving quite a bit of thought to what she’d said and, in a way, he did empathize.

  “Are you coming or not?” she asked, opening her door.

  “Quit nagging. I’m coming.” He got out and looked up at the sign on the building in front of them. “The Leonardo Museum? This is your idea of fun?”

  “To each their own,” she replied with a shrug.

  They stepped onto the sidewalk and he stopped for a second, glancing back at the car. “I didn’t know you were part of the club.”

  “What club?”

  “The you park like a douche club.”

  She looked back too and noticed the front left wheel was over the white lines of the parking bay. He didn’t understand how difficult it was to park. She was sitting on the wrong side of the car, but at least he seemed to be in a better mood now. “Yep. I just got bumped up to VIP status last week.”

  “Oh, yeah? And what exactly does VIP status entail?”

  “I can’t tell you,” she replied haughtily. “You’re not part of the club.”

  She stuck her tongue out at him and that’s when it happened.

  Slowly, so very slowly, a smile curved on his lips, two adorable dimples sinking in on both cheeks, and she melted a little. He was so abrasive, she hadn’t expected such a heartwarming smile. It took her by surprise.

  “Oh, my God. Is that a smile, Kevin? Like a genuine smile. Just when I thought you couldn’t get any cuter.”

  He rolled his eyes and continued walking to the entrance of the museum. “You’re a jackass.”

  “And you’ve got dimples, Son. I don’t know why you hide those away from the world.”

  “Don’t get ahead of yourself. It was just face spasm. It happens when I’m annoyed.”

  He was trying to be grumpy again, but it wasn’t really working. They walked into the museum and she was in awe from the second they entered. It was the perfect blend of art, science, and technology. The first thing that caught their attention was the hylozoic veil that hung from the ceiling and they went up the escalators to get a better look. It was amazing, an intricate mesh that looked like white palm leaves and feathers. It moved almost eerily, the leaves opening and contracting on their own, but it wasn’t made of anything organic. They learned that it was made of shape memory alloys and it worked very similar to a human muscle, drawing CO2 from the atmosphere to make it move. The mechanics of it was so complex and yet so simple.

  After that they could not be contained. They exchanged numbers before they split up and they were like two kids who had been let loose in a candy store. He went to the moving map on the floor while she made a movie of herself in front of a green screen. She made friends with three kids somewhere along the way, two boys and a girl. They built Lego airplanes and painted on the walls, watched moving pictures and drew with the multimedia tools. There were illusions that played with the mind and workshops and a science lab. It was nerd heaven. There was so much to do, so much to learn. It was the most fun she’d had since…ever!

  Occasionally, she passed Kevin and it was just awe-filled drivel that left their mouths as each of them moved to the next exhibit.

  “Those paintings over there are made from silver nanoparticles,” she said. “Nanoparticles! It’s silver salt mixed with electrons, but look at how they manipulated the colors.”

  He didn’t stop walking, merely slowed his pace for the exchange. “You gotta check out that alien and android section,” he said, pointing behind him. “They’ve got real live robots. It’s insane!”

  They had a few moments like that, fleeting yet filled with eagerness. She’d only planned to be there for about two hours, but they ended up spending the entire afternoon there. Despite the fact that he made it seem like her idea of fun wasn’t fun at all, Kevin was just as enthralled as she was. He didn’t smile, but he didn’t have to. His excitement showed anyway. By the time they left, she knew one more thing about him, a small piece to his mysterious puzzle. He loved science as much as she did.

  * * * * *

  Alone again. Somehow the solitude was not as appealing as he’d hoped. Kevin had been looking forward to getting away from her all afternoon, but the peace and quiet wasn’t so peaceful. Every time he was alone with his thoughts, the memories came back, relentlessly swirling around his head.

  It was dark out already and he was getting ready to settle in for the night. He didn’t know if other parts of Salt Lake City had a buzzing night life, but this particular area was very still and all he could hear was the occasional car passing by.

  They’d booked into a cheap motel, not as nice as the one they’d stayed at the night before, but he couldn’t afford to be fussy. He’d spent the entire afternoon with Jasmin. After the museum, they’d gone to a small café and discussed the trip going forward. Money didn’t seem to be a problem for her at all, but she still listened to his concerns and tried to think of ways to cut costs. She volunteered to cover all the costs for gas and sightseeing, so he would only need to pay for his food and accommodation. She’d also said that she’d won vouchers that were redeemable at any South Star hotel or resort and they could stay the night for free. That would help him enormously and he might just be able to scrape by if he managed it properly. If push came to shove, he’d have to swallow his pride and give his sister, Jordan, a call. He didn’t want to get his family involved in all this. This was his impulsive decision and he didn’t want them to have to bail him out of a mess he’d created for himself.

  He felt a bit better now that he’d actually discussed it with her, less anxious. What was still mind-boggling, though, was her attitude towards everything. Two days. Two days and he’d lost count of how many times he’d been rude to her, yet she didn’t even bat an eyelid. Like water off a duck’s back. His remarks didn’t affect her at all. And not only did she not retaliate, she showed kindness.

  Any other person would have told him to hit the road after he blew up in the car like that, but she just calmed the situation with firm kindness. He didn’t want to be rude; she was helping him out and he was grateful. But she was so goddamn annoying. He was trying to put her upbringing in context, trying to fully understand the type of whack-job she was, but it became a bit much at times. She touched him without permission, picked from his plate, complimented him in a way that was awkward and uncomfortable.

  Their afternoon at the museum, however, proved that she wasn’t that bad. They seemed to have at least one thing in common. With a lot of effort, they could potentially get along. If she could just work on not making him uncomfortable every single second, there was a chance this road trip might actually be bearable.

  He was about to pull down the covers and climb into bed when he saw her walk past his motel room window. Where the hell was she going this time of night?

  He rushed to the door and flung it open. “Jazz, where are you going?”

  “I want something to nibble on and there’s a twenty-four hour diner a few blocks away.”

  “So take the car.”

  “Kevin, I’m not going to pollute the air to drive someplace when I can easily walk there.”

  “You’ve never been here before. You can’t just walk around at night all by yourself. I feel the need to point it out again: you’re a girl.”

  She actually had the nerve to humph at him. “Stop being paranoid. I’ll be fine.”

  He sneered and slammed the door shut. She was so goddamn annoying! Her craziness must have somehow rubbed off on him because he started talking to himself. “Gee, Kevin, you know what I think is a swell idea? Walking around in an unknown place all by myself.” He pulled on a pair of jeans. “I know that we don’t know anything about this town or the people who live in it, but I’m just gonna assume it’s safe. I’m looking for adventure, so what better time to do it than in the dead of night when there won’t be a soul around to hear me scream for help.” He stuffed his f
oot into his boot and tugged on the laces. “I’m gonna let you in on a little secret, Kevin. I am just dying to be pulled into a black, unmarked van by some creepy guy named Lester. It’s always been a dream of mine. But, Jasmin, that’s not a very bright idea. Why would you do something so undeniably dumb?” He pushed his foot into his other boot. “Oh, haven’t you figured it out already? I’m fucking bat-shit crazy!” He marched to the door and threw it open again. “Hey, Jazz, wait up.”

  She stopped and waited for him to catch up. “You hungry too?”

  “I could use some fresh air,” he lied.

  She mused about how beautiful the city was, the incredible backdrop of mountains in the distance. Although he agreed, he didn’t say much as they walked to the diner. She shrugged off her jacket when they got inside and hung it over the back of a chair.

  “This is awesome,” she commented as she sat down.

  The diner was trapped in a time warp, with a jukebox and pictures of black and white Cadillacs on the wall. It looked like it came straight out of the sixties—light wood furniture, accompanied by white and bubblegum pink vinyl chairs. Framed posters of James Dean and Elvis Presley only added to the nostalgic feel.

  A waitress was at their table before he even sat down. She was cute: curly, short black hair and her pink and white uniform accentuated every voluptuous curve on her body. He guessed that she must be in her mid-to-late twenties.

  “Hi, I’m Bella,” she said sweetly.

  “Hi, Bella,” Jasmin replied. “I’m Jasmintha. This is my friend, Kevin.”

  “We’re not friends,” he corrected tersely. He really hated how loosely she used the word.

  It was a little tense for a few seconds, but then Jasmin went back to being Jasmin. She briefly perused the menu, then looked up at Bella. “Can I have waffles?”

  He noted that it was the second time today that she’d ordered waffles. Her sweet tooth wasn’t just limited to Skittles.

  “Sure.” Bella said and turned to him. “And for you?”

  “Do you have chocolate sauce?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “I’ll have vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.”

  “Coming right up.”

  Jasmin waited for her to walk away before she crossed her arms over the table and glared at him. “Can I tell you something?”

  “No. I prefer it when you’re not talking.”

  She ignored his comment. He honestly hadn’t expected it to deter her. “Have you watched the movie Inside Out?” she asked.

  She was going to carry on anyway, so he decided to indulge her. “Yeah.”

  “So that movie is obviously fictional, but it’s actually based on a lot of fact. People have emotions, moods and personalities. There are six basic emotions. That movies only shows five. Joy, sadness, fear, anger, and disgust. The missing one is surprise.”

  He had no idea where the hell she was going with this, so he just sat back and listened. He really didn’t have much of a choice.

  “When something happens, the body triggers a chemical response, which is generally one of those six emotions, and turns it into a feeling.”

  She spoke about the release of peptides and adrenalin and whatnot, describing in very accurate detail exactly how those chemical responses work and which part of the brain triggered such responses. Her home-schooling had certainly paid off because she was incredibly smart. He was barely paying attention, though. His eyes were following the cute waitress.

  “Now, you can’t control the chemical response,” Jasmin continued, “but you can control your reaction to it, and possibly stop it from becoming a feeling. Like, when my gran up and died on me last year, I didn’t even cry. I haven’t cried in, like, eight years. I’ve learnt how to control those chemical reactions and stop them from turning into feelings, which is why none of your comments bother me, even though they are extremely rude.” She didn’t even take a second to breathe, just kept on spewing out all this information. “But, anyway, I digress. So every person has their own way of dealing with those emotions. Some people will cover their eyes during a horror movie, others will love every gory detail. It’s the way they react to fear. Some people will scream when someone sneaks up on them, some may burst into tears—it’s their reaction to surprise.”

  Bella returned, placing the waffles, ice cream and chocolate sauce in front of them, and even then Jazz didn’t let up. His eyes zoned in on the waitress’s round ass as she walked away.

  “Those chemicals make your body turn emotions into feelings and sometimes it’s fleeting, but sometimes it stays long enough to become a mood. Like a wife trying to call her husband while he’s out with the boys and he doesn’t answer. She’ll stay angry until he gets home and she can let out her frustration. Her anger stays long enough to become a mood. But sometimes it stays so long it becomes part of your personality. There are some people who are always happy and some people who are always depressed. It’s their personality. Now, something tells me that your grumpiness is just a mood, but, Kevin, if you’re not careful, it’s going to become an inherent part of your personality. And that would be a shame.”

  His eyes immediately met hers as everything she said hit him with clarity. “Wait. Wait. Hang on a second. Did you just tell me all that to reiterate the fact that I’m…grumpy?”

  “Yes. I thought maybe if you were consciously aware of it, you could do something about it.”

  He didn’t want to do anything about it. He was perfectly happy being miserable all the time. The whole situation could have been funny. It could have even been cute, but as she pointed out, he was grumpy, thus it was just irritating. He wasn’t going to take advice, emotional or otherwise, from someone who probably hadn’t experienced anything of substance in her entire sheltered existence.

  With a quick shake of his head, he reached for the chocolate sauce, covering his ice cream until he couldn’t see a spot of white.

  “That’s a lot of chocolate sauce,” she said.

  “You can never have too much chocolate sauce.”

  He said it without thinking. Over the years, so many people had commented on the amount of chocolate sauce he and Perry consumed that now it was a standard response. It had been their favorite dessert, their favorite anytime meal, really, and eating it without him was both comforting and excruciating at the same time.

  “So I saw you checking out Bella,” Jasmin said, wagging her eyebrows at him.

  He thought she’d been too engrossed in her biology lesson to notice, but this really wasn’t something he wanted to discuss with her. Remaining silent, he dug into his ice cream.

  “I thought you had a girlfriend, but whatever happens on the road trip stays on the road trip. Amiright? Huh?” She wagged her eyebrows at him again. “Huh? I could be your wing-man. Chat her up for you, ask her if she’s single.”

  If he had a girlfriend, he certainly wouldn’t be gawking at another woman. He didn’t know what made her believe he did, but he felt no need to correct her. He did, however, need her to get that stupid idea out of her head. Bella was cute, but that didn’t mean he wanted to chat her up. He was merely appreciating the view.

  “I don’t need a wing-man,” he stated firmly.

  Without asking, she reached over the table, scooped a dollop of his ice cream and smeared it over her waffle. She had absolutely no social etiquette and he had to bite his tongue to not make a comment about it.

  “Oh, wow,” she said, taking a bite. “I see why you like the chocolate sauce so much and it tastes amazing with these waffles.” She reached over again and took a bigger spoonful from his bowl. “This has just become my new favorite thing to eat. I love it!”

  Bella came back to the table. “Can I get you guys anything else?”

  “No, we’re fine,” Jasmin replied with a wide smile. “Bella, do you have five minutes to chat with us? We’re not from around here and we just want to find out a few things.”

  “Oh, yeah. Sure. What do you want to know?”
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  “Well, firstly, is it safe here?”

  Bella shrugged flippantly. “I guess. I mean, it’s a city. There’s crime in every city, but I haven’t had any trouble. I walk home every night after my shift and it’s been fine for me.”

  “Oh, so you walk home?” Jasmin gave him a smug smile before turning back to Bella. “And you’re a girl, right?”

  “You’re a jackass,” Kevin said. He looked up at Bella and noticed the confused expression on her face. “Don’t mind her. She’s just trying to prove a point.”

  “What time does your shift end?” Jasmin asked, but it didn’t sound like she was genuinely interested in the answer.

  “Midnight.”

  “Shame. It sounds like a strenuous job. So, Bella…don’t you think Kevin is super-hot?”

  Kevin kicked her shoe under the table to discreetly let her know that he did not need a wing-man.

  Bella’s cheeks turned pink and he smiled at her apologetically. “You don’t have to answer that.”

  “Well, you are…you are pretty hot.”

  Another smug smile was thrown in his direction. “See, Kevin? It’s not just me.”

  “Two opinions don’t make it a fact,” he pointed out.

  The situation was becoming unbearably uncomfortable and the only person who didn’t feel an ounce of embarrassment was Jasmin. She really didn’t see anything wrong with her behavior.

  “Are you single?” Jasmin asked and that’s when he decided he’d had enough.