Excerpt: Invisible Ink

After a few more boxes, both my car and Waverly’s were carrying what was left of my entire apartment. I signed my name off on all of the paperwork that Mr. Moore needed from me, then opened the door to my Honda Civic and climbed inside. Then, to my surprise, Reese opened the passenger side door and slid into the seat.
“Waverly suggested that I go with you, since she takes a lot of back roads and you’re unfamiliar with the area around there,” he answered before I even had a chance to question him. “If you get lost, we’ll have a hard time finding you again.”
I patted the GPS that was suctioned to the windshield. “If I get lost I always have this trusty little thing.”
Reese laughed and pulled the GPS off the windshield and tucked it below his seat. “Believe me, it’s not gonna know where you are.”
“Okay, if you say so. Now where’re we going?”

I followed Waverly’s Jeep through a long stretch of winding back roads through an abundance of mountains that I didn’t even know were near the city. I almost wished that Reese was driving so that I could take some time to relax and think about anything other than how my world crashed around my head. As I thought about the events that led to this crazy decision, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t even told anyone that I was moving, not even my parents. But for some reason, I seemed fine with it. It was that same feeling I got the first time that I moved out on my own – I was free, able to start a new life from scratch, however I wanted to. There were no restrictions on me anymore. I didn’t have to go into work anymore and hate my boss. Maybe I could even find a job that I really enjoyed and stay in Port Mapleridge forever.
As we passed a breathtaking field of lavender, Reese opened his window and stuck his head out, taking in the warm summer air and filling the car with the fragrance of the plants. I glanced over at Reese, who now had his elbow out the window and was resting his head on his palm, focusing on the acres upon acres of lavender plants. He took a deep breath of it and sighed.
“Amazing, isn’t it? I love these fields. I remember passing them with my family when I was younger.”
I focused my attention back on the road, but smiled. The sunlight bounced around the waving fields of color to my left and right. I lowered my window too and felt the air whisk past my ears. The peace was beginning to sink into me, passing through the brown layers of skin to hit down into my bones. I saw Waverly stick her hand out to feel the wind ahead of us, and Sienna promptly followed by standing up in her seat, hands planted firmly on the bars atop the bright red Jeep Wrangler and turned around towards us. Reese let out a loud “WHOO!!” and Sienna joined in the cheering, as did Waverly. A pang of excitement hit me in the chest and even I joined in, though I wasn’t incredibly sure why.
Sienna sat back down and blasted Waverly’s speakers so loud that Reese and I could hear it too. The four of us belted out the lyrics of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” as loud as we could and swerved through the roads of the lavender-filled countryside. When the song ended, Waverly’s fingers dialed down the volume on the radio and the landscape fell peacefully silent again.