Jessica and I hop into her suburban and pull out of her driveway. She plugs my school into her GPS and soon reaches the ramp onto the highway. She tells me to put on some music from my phone, so after I grab the aux cord and pick the first catchy song I see, Jessica turns up the music and we both begin to belt out the lyrics. Song after song our tone-deaf sounding voices follow the words, and I become increasingly glad I agreed to let her drive me.

Two hours later, and after a heart-felt duet to "Don't Stop Believing," I turn towards my window and watch the street lamps pass quickly by while we zoom down the interstate. The ground below us is a shimmering orange as the lights reflect off of the freshly wet road. The few remaining raindrops slide tediously down my window, and I watch two parallel drops intently to see which will reach the bottom first.

"So," Jessica pipes up, "Earlier today you mentioned how your 'best-friend's' older brother told you where I was; however, that's not exactly how you began describing that person."

I turn my head towards her, "What are you getting at?"

"Oh nothing, nothing...only that you first said 'boyfriend' but corrected yourself before you slipped."

Jessica gives me a quick suspicious glance while the corner of her mouth quirks up into a small half-smile. If I know anything about her so far, I'm not going to be able to wriggle myself out of telling her.

"Oh, that. Well, it's quite simple I suppose: I've fallen for a guy who refuses to commit and just when I think I'm making a breakthrough, I ruin it."

"How long have you guys known each other?"

"Over a year."

"And you guys have been together for that long?"

"It's complicated; we're a weird on-and-off thing. Remember, the commitment problem?"

"Well if he won't commit, he's not worth it. As in the wise words of Shakespeare, 'Her vestal livery is but sick and green, and none but fools do wear it; cast it off.'"

I laugh loudly, "I don't think that's in the same context as this."

Jessica giggles, "Well, I mean, if you translate 'virginity' into 'douchey guy' then it can work!"

I give her a sideways glance, "I suppose so," I say to humor her. I chuckle and turn back towards the window, "No, it's more than just a typical guy wanting to have his cake and eat it too; Damon has a past, he's been badly burned and feels no desire to venture back into that territory. The problem is my whole life has been a string of commitment adjustments and I don't think I'm okay with being the not-so-single, single girl."

"Trust me, I know exactly where you're coming from. Commitment, Trust, and pixie dust am I right?"

I scoff, "You're telling me."

It's silent for a moment, and all I can hear is the faint strum of some song and the consistent patter of the engine.

"If you knew he can't commit, why'd you fall?" Jessica asks.

"I didn't know, not at first anyways. Not until it was too late; I was already too far-long."

"But you did say you made a breakthrough! Doesn't that mean, with some patience, he'll come along?"

"It may have been possible, but I also said that I ruined it. I betrayed his trust without meaning to, and I don't think I'll ever get him back now."

I feel a burning sensation as my eyes begin to well. No, I am not crying over this, especially not in front of Jessica. We're just starting to get to know each other and the last thing I need is for her to think I'm a sappy girl who cries over boys--even if I may be occasionally. I blink rapidly and look out the window trying to distract myself. I feel a sudden warmth on my leg, though, and I look to see Jessica's hand resting atop my thigh. She looks at me warmly and gives me a genuine smile.

"If you were able to break through the unbreakable, you'll be able to fix the damage," she says.

My lips spread as a shy smile peeks through, "Thanks."

I look ahead and turn up the music, and thus continues our not-so-heavenly chorus.

* * * * * * * * * * *

With less than an hour left, we decide to pull over to stretch and grab a snack. I'm in and out of the rest stop in a few minutes so I wait in the car for Jessica to return. Five minutes later, I see her walk out the doors talking to three people probably in their thirties. I don't think anything of it until she gets back into the car and explains to me what they were speaking about.

"Apparently there's been a huge six car pile up wreck just ahead of us and traffic's been at a standstill for the past hour."

I groan in annoyance, "Really?"

"Yeah, that's why I think we should take the alternate route back to your campus! It's just off of the highway; it'll take a little while longer but at least we'll be moving."

"Well, we could just stay here and wait for the road to clear," I respond.

"Nah, that'll take too long, and I'd rather be driving anyways. We're losing valuable time for you to go make up with your man!"

I laugh, "Alright, alright, lets go then!"

We pull back onto the highway, only to exit off of it in a couple minutes and start traveling down the back road route. For fifteen minutes we pass through a small town, but then our path becomes more isolated, more dense, as the foliage engulfs us. Our two-lane road seems small and insignificant against the vast layer of trees, and our road becomes instantly darker with only the light from the car as our guide. I stare into the depth of the forest and shiver.

"This is really creepy," I say.

"Yeah, but it's also quite mysterious, I kind of like it!" Jessica responds.

"Well that makes one of us."

The further into the forest we get, the stranger I feel being in it. There's a sense of solidarity from the dense trees that swallows you. It gives you chills, and the sooner we're out of this the better.

"You know," I hear Jessica quietly start, "Even if Damon has a past, you deserve commitment. You deserve reliability and trust. Don't wait around to see whether or not he'll come through, because as you and I know...men don't."

"Damon's not our father though, Jessica," I say, but she continues on, as if my words were gas.

"Men suck. They always think they're right and hurt you if you try to disagree. They're careless and only seem to have the capability to cause pain."

"Damon is not our father though, and neither are most men Jessica. For the majority--,"

"You know, just forget him! Forget them all, we don't need them. Our father certainly didn't need us! I mean look, he didn't even care enough to introduce us, or even mention to us about each other, so that we could've grown up together! He's such a dirtbag; I hate him."

I feel my side of the car start to rumble and I look up to see that Jessica is swerving over towards he side of the road.

"Calm down, you need to be careful on this road," I try to coax her.

"Literally every memory I have of him is bad!" she turns her head towards me, "Do you have a single good memory of him?"

"No, but that's not important right now, look back towards the--!"

"Exactly!" she throws her arms up into the air.

"Jessica you need to slow down! The ground is still wet!"

"I'm glad you showed up because I haven't had a single person to confide in my whole life about him because my mom defends him constantly," I can see the shimmer of tears rolling down her cheeks, "I've had nobody, all of my life."

I'm frantic now as I look ahead and see an upcoming bend. It's a bridge with a metal guardrail curving along the edge of the drop.

"Jessica, I understand and I'm sorry, but you need to slow down now!"

"I should've figured out you were alive; I should've come to find you. We could've faced him together."

She's violently crying and hysterical. We swerve into the other lane, and all the while the bridge approaches.

"Jessica! Pull over!"

"I hate him."

"Jessica, now!"

"I hate him."

"Jessica! Look out!"

She tries to turn, but we hydroplane into the railing. I hear the crunch of metal against metal before I feel the blow of the impact. My body is flung forward and I hit my head on the dashboard. From there, everything stills; I feel weightless. At first I think it's from my head injury, but I soon realize it's because we're in free fall.