7 Shotgun

Morning came and the dawn broke into a beautiful cold and cloudy Tuesday. It was a bit peculiar, the weather today isn't the summer weather I thought it would be.

Everybody packed their own bags and slowly arranged the gears back into the truck. Levi said in a few miles up west, there was a family restaurant that we could get a good hot cup of coffee and maybe some pancakes to pair.

The girls were the first to rise and wiped their faces with some 'wet tissues'. I've only been recently aware that after coming into this new world, my memories tend to get all mixed up. Sometimes there were things and words that seemed foreign but at the same time familiar.

Becky and Suzy proceeded to redo a little bit of make-up while Ali just tied up her medium length blonde waves into a messy bun. She had a very small stature, like that of a child, and her blue eyes made a beautiful contrast to her dark liner and eye-shadow.

'Punk princess'. That was the term that perfectly described Ali.

Suzy on the other hand, she was tall and has a well-toned body. Her tight leather jeans and furry boots matched her black tube which she paired off with a beige trench coat.

I don't know what this mash-up style is but she looks absolutely gorgeous.

Becky had gone off to latch herself onto Zeke who had been groggy. Perhaps he wasn't a morning person. He reached out to Becky half-awake and hugged her tight.

Becky's back was all I could see, but I'd bet everything that her face right now is painted with a smile from ear to ear.

Okay. Time to mind my own business.

I looked into my bag of clothes and tried to find anything that would leave more coverage of my body. My reincarnated self definitely has some weird fashion sense with all the skin displayed, it's like everyone could see through my soul.

After some time, I finally found something decent enough for my 1600s colonial taste. It was an over-sized sweater and a pair of tattered denim jeans. Would have preferred the one without holes but I had no choice actually. I had also found some sneakers and socks to pair and I hurriedly changed inside the tent from all the ungodly things I wore yesterday.

By the time I was done and got out of our tent, everybody had cleared up their belongings and Bash offered to help me with dismantling the camping gears. I accepted his help but immediately made excuses to leave him and go back up the truck.

"To arrange other stuffs." I told him.

He just shrugged and proceeded to skillfully fold in the frames of the tent and rolled the canvas into its bag. It didn't take him about ten minutes to finish up and we all went on towards wherever we were headed to.

Ah, right. Coachella it was.

I had seated shotgun again. Even with my protests to sit at the front, my pleas weren't accepted by Levi. He just waved his hand in front of my face then wiggled a finger and tutted.

Levi does have a bit of a funny side to him despite his scary big frame and tattooed arm.

"We ain't risking it this time Lizzie. It took us almost an hour to clean off the stench yesterday and had to camp out since we didn't reach our planned stop." He told me.

I felt embarrassed that he had to say that. Come to think of it, what was more embarrassing was how I had spouted things that they didn't understand.

The girls and Zeke agreed with Levi and pushed me off to seat at the front. They had laughed and sang and talked at the back while Bash and I had been silent the whole journey since we had left behind dust when the truck's tires hit the road once more.

Bash turned on some music and he fumbled with the buttons as he tried to search for the song he wanted to listen to. Buttons and knobs and just about everything we didn't have back then. All these contraptions are so magical to be honest.

Music in Shalem used to be just people singing and dancing to someone's harmonica or any instrument at that. There were no instant play buttons. If you wanted songs, you got to sing it yourself.

Finally, Bash had found his choice of music and proceeded to tap on the wheels with his fingers while he nodded his head to the beat. He clearly enjoyed the song that played and I just sat there awkwardly staring at his every movement.

'Carry on my wayward son,

There'll be peace when you are gone.

Lay your weary head to rest,

Don't you cry no more.'

"You haven't answered my question yesterday Lizzie." He spoke out of the blue. His eyes were fixated towards the wide road, careful not to over-speed and hit stray animals that were known to mysteriously cross out of nowhere.

I gulped and tucked in some stray hair that bothered me. What am I supposed to say to this guy? That he was the spitting image of the lover that left me to burn on the stake back in 1692? Or that maybe that I loathed him because his past self was a traitor?

"I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me yesterday." I finally said. I knew that there was no merit if I told him all of those. People didn't believe me back then, how much more now?

William didn't believe me back then, how much more this guy who my reincarnated self barely met?

"Hmmm… it seemed so real Lizzie. Like I felt your hurt. Heck, I was hurt. Only I don't understand why." He mumbled. "Bad dream?"

"Yes. Yes… bad dream. Yes. Pardon my attitude back then, I wasn't myself." I told him.

I will have to find another way to get my revenge. This William I am talking to now, he seems... so different. My head is now filled with more confusion more than ever.

The song went on full blast instrumental and Bash smiled. His facial muscles bore into that tiny cheeky signature dimpled smile that I knew as William's grin of satisfaction. He quickly turned his attention to me and said,

"Good then. I guess we are friends now! Nice to meet you again Elizabeth Jennings."