Evan and Lily loaded the Civic and

Started back

Evan put in his parent's address

And felt wistful as the TomTom

Showed them the red line once again

Tennessee to Michigan

They pulled out of the Motel 6

Parking lot, Evan taking note of

The lobby, the balcony, the distant

skyscrapers, the haze, the devil horn

Skyscraper, knowing he'd likely

Never have a reason to

see any of it again

Lily was quiet, didn't text

As much, didn't talk much

Either

Did you do a line? Evan asked her

When they pulled out

Yeah, I did, she said, looking out

Her window.

I finished the rest of it,

Actually

But stop asking me that. It's none

Of your business

You're the one who told me about

It.

It's still none of your business,

So quit asking me every time

I do a line if I've done a line

Don't be a buzzkill

Evan didn't respond

He put in a mix CD

The first song was

Girl by Beck

Lily was asleep

for the first half

Of the drive

Evan watched the city of

Nashville go by to his left

Farewell, he thought

He set his eyes to the road ahead,

let the highway hypnotize him

He listened to three mix CDs,

Then Them Crooked Vultures, then

The Pixies, then a mix CD, then another

Mix CD, then he put in My Mother's

Hymn Book again but took it out

Before Do Lord played

Louisville was in the rear view

Mirror before Evan even realized

They'd passed it

Lily awoke soon after, blinked,

Rubbed her eyes, pulled out

Her phone, looked at it for a moment

Then put it away

Let's listen to U2, she said

What?

Show me a U2 song you think

I'll like

I thought you hated Bono

I do, but you should show me

A song

Evan knew exactly which one

He'd show her

He pulled out his burned

copy of All That You Can't

Leave Behind from his book

and put it in

He skipped to Track 6

And from the speakers

came the opening riff of

In A Little While

Lily listened to the whole

Thing without saying a word

That was nice, she said when it

Was over

What's that called?

In A Little While, Evan said

Joey Ramone, or the singer

From the Ramones, I can't

Remember which one he was-

You're right, Joey was the singer,

said Lily

Yeah, well, he was listening to that

song

when he died

Huh. How poetic

Yeah

Yeah, that wasn't bad

Want to hear more?

Sure.

Evan tried to start the album from

The beginning but Lily shut him

Down once the opening synth

Chords of Beautiful Day sounded

Ugh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no

She said, hitting the volume knob

I hate that song, that's

The song I hate

Evan ejected the CD

You pick something then, he said

Lily pulled a CD out of her own case

And inserted it

It was loud, expansive alternative punk

Music. Evan didn't recognize it

What is this?

Rise Against

Which album?

It's a mix. I don't really know

Song titles

Evan listened. The song was loud and

Exultant, the chorus about running away

and outgrowing the things you love