Heartlines

[ D A Y 1 ] PRT 2

"WHO ARE YOU?!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY CAR?!" Amalia shouted

This time Amalia focused on the girl's appearance, getting a better look at her. Through the golden streetlights that softly lit the car, she saw a long straight black mane that falls neatly on the girl's shoulders and back. With a lock of grey hair, as if she died it. Her face had elegant features and sharp angles, top with a pair of piercing emerald eyes. When she smiled, two dimples formed at the corners of her tiny mouth with cupid's bow-like lips.

The girl in the back smirked. "I'm Morgan. Nice car, by the way." She said with confidence as if she hadn't been caught sleeping in a stranger's car.

"How did you get in?!" said Amalia in an agitated tone.

"I picked the lock. Look, I'm sorry for scaring you. I didn't mean to. I had no right breaking into your car. I'll get off here." Her eyes flicker with guilt as she exited Amalia's car.

As Morgan was speaking, Amalia realized that the girl had an accent. – Could she be British? Scottish? -

Amalia's brows pulled together in a mournful face as she saw Morgan got out of the car.

Amalia adjusted herself in the driver's seat, took her foot off the gas, and let the car roll slowly next to Morgan while she was walking and said through the open window, "Are you hungry?" In what she intended to be an impassive tone, but her better judgment failed her, making it come out as joyful. Morgan looked at Amalia, eyes glimmering, nodding her head enthusiastically with a huge smile showing her perfectly aligned white teeth, "I'm starving."

Amalia chuckled. "Hop on, then. There's an In&Out a couple of miles from here." she stopped the car so Morgan could get in.

Once she was inside, Amalia set course to In&Out. After a minute of driving in complete silence, Amalia finally said without taking her eyes off the road, "So are we going to address the elephant in the room?"

Morgan shifted in her seat and scratched her neck before turning to look at Amalia. "And what would that be?" Morgan asked.

"Well, are you already convinced that grey would look good on the rest of your hair after doing that test drive of dying just a strand of your hair? What else," said Amalia expectantly. Morgan couldn't help the smile forming on her face and let out a laugh. "It wasn't a 'test drive' to see if grey hair would fit me," Morgan explained. "It's call Poliosis. I was born with it, but some people aren't born with it; they develop a white or grey patch in their hair over time. It's a genetic condition in which a specific part of the roots has a, which in my case, decreased level of melatonin or not at all. So, yeah." Morgan finished shrugging her shoulders.

Amalia looked at Morgan marveled, "So cool! It gives you an edge. A mysterious look."

Morgan smirked, raising one of her eyebrows. "Not mysterious enough, since you thought it was only just a 'test drive.'" Amalia nod enthusiastically. "Yeah, but a cool, test dive. So, do you know what you're going to order? We're almost there."

"I have to admit, I've never been to In&Out. So I wouldn't know what to order." Morgan answers, slightly embarrassed. "I'm not from around here."

Amalia laughed. "No s**t Sherlock! I can tell by your accent. I want to say Scottish, but it doesn't feel right. So, before I keep guessing and missing because I suck at accents..." and before Amalia could finish, Morgan said, "Irish. I'm from Ireland." For a moment, Amalia took her eyes off the road to glance at Morgan. "You just keep getting cooler and cooler by the minute." They pulled into the In&Out drive-thru, and Amalia rolled down her window. "Welcome to In&Out Burgers! Can I take your order?" a woman said while Amalia approached her car to the window. Amalia was sticking her head slightly, "Hey! Could you give us a moment, please?" she said. "Sure thing, no problem." answered the girl from the drive thru. "Okay, so the menu is pretty simple, burgers and fries as you can see, but I promise you they are delicious. So how about I order first while you decide what you want?" said Amalia. "Sure! Go ahead. I'll let you know in a moment." Morgan answered.

Turning herself to the woman of the drive-thru, Amalia stuck her head out to order "hi! so we'll be having a cheeseburger with some fries and a chocolate shake..." and just after Amalia finished her order, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to Morgan to see if she was ready. "I'll have a hamburger, some fries, and a medium root beer, please." Amalia nods with a smile and once again turned to the window and sticks out her head to finish ordering "and a hamburger with fries and a medium root beer, please. That would be all, thank you," The girl from the drive-thru answer, "Ok, it would be thirteen dollars." Amalia opened a compartment at the left side of the stirring wheel and took out 20 dollars to hand them out to the girl in the ordering window. A moment later, she was handed in return two paper bags of food, a milkshake, and a root beer.

Morgan started to shift in her seat, and patting the pockets of her jeans, she took out five bucks and offered them to Amalia. "I know this barely covers my part, but it's the only money I have on me right now," Morgan said apologetically. "Oh no! There is no need..." Amalia started to say but stopped when Morgan's hand didn't move an inch, and her emerald eyes darkened with determination. Without more protesting, Amalia took the money and saved it in the side compartment. "Ok, so I know a place where we can eat with a better view than a parking lot." - We drove in silence, surrounded by the smell of french fries and hamburgers for 15 minutes until we arrived at the football field. -

"Wow, this amazing" Morgan's eyes widened, sparkling with amusement, "the stars look perfect here. It's like we were at the planetarium. And the mountains in the back paint the perfect picture." Amalia smiled at Morgan, "yeah, I discovered that, in some cloudless nights, at the football field of all places, you can have this perfect scene."

- We spoke for hours, late into the night. Neither of us mentioned anything related to our personal lives. I sensed that asking questions about how she ended up where I found her might scare away the moment. Morgan refrained from asking why I chose to spend my night this way too, so I guess she felt the same. We spoke about ourselves instead. Of crazy conspiracy theories and impossible things. I pointed to the windshield and told her what originated the different stains that tainted the sidelines. She told me Irish folklore stories I’ve never heard before.

My eyes were always returning to Morgan. As she sat beside me, with one leg curl on at her side on top of the seat and her right leg on top of the dashboard, as I realized that I have been staring at her, saying nothing for an absurd amount of time. Lost in my thoughts...lost in...h...but she didn’t seem bothered or confused. If anything I think she was tracing the lines of my face with her eyes. -

Amalia felt a cold breeze through her arms, one she didn't feel last night, not even when she had her window open and was cruising through the streets. As she rubbed her hands through her arms to try to warm herself, she felt a piercing brightness even with her eyes closed. She snapped her eyes open and straightened herself up suddenly. - It's already morning! I don't even remember falling asleep! Morgan! - She looked at the passenger side, and there was nobody there. She had to get out of there because she was in the middle of the University's football field. Confused as to where Morgan was, she started the car and set off to her apartment.

- Did I imagine everything that happened last night? Could it be possible that at Sigma Pi, they spiked my drink, or I drank from somebody else’s drink that might have had something? Ugh! Could it be? That all this time that girl never existed. Does this mean that I ate all of this food by myself? The only thing that I have as a proof of her being here is the 5 bucks she gave me and her name. Ugh! Could it be? No number, no last name, no address, only the country she’s from, and that doesn’t narrow it down to nobody. Plus, that five dollars could easily be the change from yesterday’s food. I could have paid with more than 20 dollars. At this point, it could make perfect sense -

Amalia arrived at her apartment, check her cellphone for any messages or maybe a note or something that Morgan could have left to contact her or at least prove that she was real. But there was nothing. Trying to forget everything that happened last night, she decided to go and take a bath and let the warm water wash every recollection of that night and never speak of it again.