The vibe is awkward. The air isn’t fresh anymore; it’s stale, and it is bothersome for both of them. For Maddie, it is Sunny’s need for socialization that bothers her, and for Sunny, it’s the awkward vibe and utter silence. The radio had become a tuned-out drone of sound, adding to the car a claustrophobic feel that built to the tension, making the silence between them even more pronounced.

Maddie sighs. She can’t stand this. “What?” Maddie asks bluntly. Sunny turns his head quickly to the side and then brings his eyes back to the road. “Oh, just wanted to ask, why the mountains?”

Maddie side eyes him before quickly answering, “Why not? I have an aunt who lives up there, and she’s quite lonely, so having me around will surely cheer her up. Like, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but instead I end up staying with the mama bear in a cottage.” Maddie chuckles before continuing, “Plus, I’ll be out of my parents' hair, while they figure out their work issues.”

“Work issues, hm.” Sunny hums. Sunny observes that, besides Maddie's backhanded comments about her aunt, she has something about her that clearly suggests she bites. Which he knew. “Yea…” Maddie casts her glance away; that was enough talking for her today. Sunny thinks otherwise; while he knows Maddie, he really doesn’t know Maddie. They used to be friends- well, more like acquaintances than anything- when he was dating Sarah, who’s his ex now. She used to sit in the back of the car and stay just as quiet, but he never really noticed because of all the chatter from Sarah's girlfriends.

He quickly realizes that asking personal questions wouldn’t make her talk, so he shifts his approach. “When you come to the mountains or when you're driving, do you ever stick your arm out and let it glide in the air?” He pauses, a chuckle rolling out as if testing the breeze, unsure if the idea sounds foolish. “You know what I mean, right?” Sunny asks, his voice smooth but laced with hesitation. “Like this?” Maddie stretches her arm out the window, riding the currents, hand dipping and soaring with the wind, up and down, up and doooown.

“Yeah! Gosh, I thought I was the only one who did that.” Sunny says excitedly, glad that he managed to make Maddie talk, well sorta.

As they approach the mountain’s base. It emerges before them, blocking out everything but its towering peaks. A bird calls. Maddie sees it sitting upon the shoulder of one of the soldiers on the side of the road, a Carolina wren. She gets a quick glance at the tiny bird and its reddish-brown upper parts before it is out of sight. Sunny misses it, focused on the road ahead rather than the mountain whose road he is traveling.

The last strands of the moonlight slip behind the mountain peaks. It leaves everything in darkness, except for the few street lights hanging overhead that actually work, the truck headlights, and the soft rays of the slowly rising sun stretching across the sky. Sunlight illuminates the rims of leaves, making them glow in the hushed morning. Maddie wonders what type of creatures are lurking in the forest. Hidden by undergrowth, it is a mystery.

After a while, a humming tune that came from Sunny starts to play in the background, and the closer they get to the sun rays, the more the humming dies down until, “Hey, have you ever seen the sunrise before?” Sunny asks, filling the silence once more. “No?” Maddie replies- she assumes it is the same as a sunset. “Well, now you get the chance to see one! It’s really beautiful, really.”

“Isn’t it just like a sunset?” Maddie buds in, Sunny chuckles nervously, but shakes his head in disagreement. “No, you’ll see that the patterns of the sky are different, and it’s a lot more peaceful than the evening. No people, or nosy cars, just you and the wind. It’s that first light treatment.” He explains. That's nice, but I could never risk losing my beauty sleep. Maddie thinks. She looks back afront, the road clear and peaceful, just like Sunny mentioned. “Yeah, that does sound- WHAT THE FUCK WATCH OUT!”

Immediately, Sunny stomps on the brakes, and a screeching sound covers their ears. A white-tailed deer storms out onto the road in front of them. As the car jerks forward, Maddie and Sunny lurch with it. The seat belt attacks Maddie’s stomach; it pushes back on her collarbone— hard. That will surely leave a mark. Quickly after the car jerked back, landing roughly, which made their heads snap against the headrest, there, in front of them, was a white-tailed deer that decided to cross their path on the road. “Ah…shit,” Sunny whispers under his breath. His eyes dart to the passenger seat, checking if everything is okay, and it isn’t.

Maddie is curled up, her head covered by her hands; she is desperately trying to cover up the tears that somehow escape from her eyes, and the traumatized expression she has. Sunny reaches out to her, “Hey, is-” but quickly pulls back- “no, of course not…” Sunny retracts his question. Hearing her hyperventilating is just terrible for both of them. “Why don’t we calm ourselves and pull over to the side of the road?” He asks. Maddie gives him a small nod.

5 minutes later…

From coming out of a near car crash experience, to sitting on a nice rocky fence facing the rising sun, isn’t so bad. The cool air refreshes them, and dries Maddie’s loose tears. In her hands is a cherry soda that Sunny gave her from the trunk of the truck. Sunny holds a similar one.

“Just like last time…” Maddie mumbles.

After a while, Sunny’s voice cracks the air. “Soo...What do you believe in?” Sunny asks, and Maddie hums a little bit, shrugging her shoulders. “Me? Nothing.” A plain reply that doesn’t satisfy him. “WHAT! So you don't believe in Bigfoot, or uh, scrolls were meant to hold important information and not books. You're telling me you don't believe in anything.” Sunny dramatically exclaims, wide-eyed as he stares at the world, with his extended arm holding the soda can right in front of him. “Oh! Umm, well, I think banana splits are healthier than ice cream on a waffle cone,” Maddie responds awkwardly, taken aback by his theatrics.

“Really, with the hot fudge and everything?” Sunny asks, baffled. “Yeah, but I don’t get them with the whipped cream and cherries— I don’t like the taste of them,” she responds, sticking her tongue out by just thinking about it. “So what, you just get pure vanilla for a healthier option? Or do you get your favorite flavors? Wait…Don’t tell me you have no favorites!” Sunny questions. Maddie rolls her eyes. “Oh yesss … mmm, pure vanilla,” Maddie replies sarcastically. “Nah, I’m not psycho, nor plain.”

“Oh, okay, let me guess your favorite ice cream flavor then! Ummm…Chocolate peanut butter!” Sunny exclaims. “Ew, what? That exists? I mean, you got the chocolate part right, but not the peanut butter,” Maddie cringes at the pure existence of chocolate peanut butter ice cream. “I like mint chocolate chip, dark chocolate, and guava; sometimes I get lychee if they have it at the ice cream parlor."

“Interesting,” Sunny says, tapping his soda can. The rhythm is the old 90s song that was playing on the radio before. “Oh, okay, now let me guess yours!” Maddie says, cynically enthusiastic. “Umm, vanilla.”

“You’re just saying that because I’m white,” Sunny quips. “What! No. I truly believe that your favorite flavor is vanilla,” Maddie retorts. “Well, you’re wrong. Guess again,” Sunny says, with a playful smile on his face, amusing to see Maddie, the grumpy girl who could dress up as the grumpy cat for Halloween, easily, not be so grumpy. It made him- “Peanut butter!?” Maddie calls out. Sunny shakes his head, “Nope! It’s almond brittle!” he answers, with a TV show host's voice. At the end of his sentence, he makes a ding-ding noise, signaling a losing point for Maddie in this pretend game show.

“What the heck is that?” Maddie asks, her expression confused and kind of irritated that she lost to a blonde. “I’ve never heard of that flavor before.”

“It’s just a special flavor from my favorite ice cream place. Jeni’s,” Sunny replies happily. Maddie snorts in reply and looks away from him.

Of course, he cheated.

“Like J, E, N, N, Y, S?” Maddie spells out. “J, E, N, I, S.” Sunny respells. He winks at her, and Maddie just rolls her eyes. “Show off,” she mumbles. "What's that?” Sunny questions, leaning to her, his blue shining eyes trying desperately in a sort of way to meet hers, but they don’t. Maddie turns her head and straightens her back. “Talk about trying to be different,” she chuckles. “Well, they serve hella good ice cream, so I’m not complaining,” Sunny replies, shrugging his shoulders and taking another sip from his cherry soda.

From here, in this moment, the rising sun’s rays hit his face, lighting him up— angelic, almost unreal. Something twists in Maddie’s stomach: jealousy, sharp and twisting, followed by a wave of shame for feeling it. Why now? Why him? She thinks. It’s because at this moment she realizes that her life is different. His life is normal, or at least the life of someone who is normal. The life of no worry, loving family, and actual friends. He has a life, but not her; no, for some reason, she is left with rotten scraps in life. She always has to worry about the next step she takes, and she doesn't have friends nor a loving family.

“Not fair…” She whispers, barely audible.

Sunny’s round eyes meet Maddie’s hunched form, her hands crushing the empty soda can, one she was drinking earlier. Sunny tilts his head, “Um, what was that?” He asks, his voice gentle, one used by mothers to speak to their child.

“It’s not fair.” Maddie hissed. Her words rip out easily, raw. She rolls up, her body fully facing the mountains, “That this piece of Shit—” Maddie winds back her arm and throws the soda can to the mountain stage, “—decided to fuck me over and force me to do this!” She screams, and then her strength gives way; she collapses to her knees. “This life-” she hiccups, “r-really wants a show… And that’s fucked up.” She chokes up, through pitiful tears, she laughs to herself. Finally showcasing her pain to the mountains, to the world, to Sunny.