better together

well, i am back to finish my story.

as the evening came on of our second day, we were heading through illinois for chicago. i just kept right on driving, and brian and i just kept right on talking. we were having one of those great, honest, best friend conversations and brian declared, "i think i could stay awake for the rest of the trip!" i had my doubts about this claim, and they were confirmed when brian passed out next to me about an hour later, apparently bored to death from my endless rambling. we had already passed through the bright lights of the windy city, and i kept going for as long as i could, eventually stopping for gas at a truck stop in illinois or indiana. "brian..." i whined. "i'm tired." he mumbled something about staying at the truck stop for awhile, so i pulled the car into an emptier section of the parking lot and tried my hand at sleeping with the steering wheel. not pleasant. brian slept on like a baby, undisturbed by the lights and noises and steering wheels that kept waking me up, not to mention the worry that once brian regained consciousness he was going to be pissed that we had stopped for so long. after about four hours, i decided to wake up and keep going. i downed some red bull, chewed on some bubblicious, and drove on until the sun rose and brian finally awoke. he declared that this was the moment of the road trip for which he was most proud of me, for continuing on while he was incapacitated. i only had one reply: "i could stay awake for the rest of the trip!"

we calculated that we should arrive in boston around 7 pm that evening, and soon brian took up driving again for the rest of the journey. road trip nastiness was setting in...we both stank and needed to shave, our tummies hurt from too many snacks...and i was becoming delirious from being trapped in the car for two days and starting to get sad about moving. we passed through indiana, ohio, and pennsylvania, and somewhere in there we had to pay our first toll. brian was still asleep at this point, and i went into the "exact change" lane on accident. well, i didn't have exact change, so i threw what i had into the metal bucket and then roused brian for guidance. he suggested getting out and walking over to the booth to pay the lady, and, despite my doubts, i exited the vehicle. people immediately began honking and shouting, the toll booth lady yelled "get back in your car! just go! get back in your car!" embarrassed and humilated, i ran back to the car and sped off as fast as i could.

we passed the afternoon by driving right through the middle of the beautiful state of new york. i was innocently enjoying the scenery when all of sudden brian struck me in the throat. he didn't hit me that hard, but he scared me and i started gasping for breath and crying and laughing at the same time. a lesser man might have freaked out about this reaction, but brian just pulled over and let me sob for awhile. for the last few years, i seem to need some kind of trigger to actually start crying when i need to cry. apparently, brian smacking me in the throat triggered my sadness about moving and leaving everyone, so i let it all out at a rest stop in new york city, and then we headed onward.

around 8 pm eastern time, approximately 54 hours after starting our journey, we finally located my new home in boston. we had been driving for 2.25 days and shelled out around $300 for gas and $30 for tolls. my wonderful little car, now aptly nicknamed the rhinestone cowboy, made it 3200 miles without incident. brian and i spent two lovely days in boston, and then we said goodbye at the subway station in harvard sqaure. i cried, of course, and watched him descend the stairs into the subway before turning around and walking into my new life, all by myself.