For a little while, the only sound in the car was the Christian music my dad listened to. Instrumental only. My panic slowly ebbed and I looked out the window again, watching the farms that dotted the land pass by. Jeez, there were a lot of them. I sighed and resigned myself to a day of boredom. Until my mom spoke up.
“Aaron, did I tell you your cousin, Jason, will be there?”
My eyes widened at the news and I swiveled my head to see her. “He will? That’s great!” Now I was excited. Jason was only one year older than me and we had been practically inseparable for years, until his family moved to California when his dad got a new job. I hadn’t seen him in over a year and had really missed him. We were actually second cousins, twice removed or something like that, and not even blood-related because his mom already had him when she’d married into the family. But it didn’t matter, we had always felt more like brothers. Suddenly, the day was looking up.