Middle Of The Road

Bags packed and ready to go, Lizzie McAdams cast one last glance at her dorm room. Her half is neatly cleaned, no Twix wrappers or shredded pieces of paper that normally litter her desk and the floor. She had cleaned up the day before because she doesn’t want to leave her roommate with her trash. Bonnie had always been nice to her.

Lizzie can admit to herself that she’s going to miss living here. Summers on campus had been fun with soap slides in the hallway and parties were Lizzie has drunk her weight on alcohol. She’d even hooked up once or twice, both of them had brown hair and blue eyes.
Her ex, who just happened to have brown hair and blue eyes as well, asked or rather taunted her if she was trying to find an substitute for him. It had made her think for a second about satisfying her hormones after the consumption of alcohol. But then she decided, fuck him.

Her ex is one of the things Lizzie isn’t going to miss about this place and also the reason why she’s leaving in the first place. The idea of never having to face her ex ever again had made the choice even easier.

The phone she keeps in her pocket suddenly starts to fibrate, producing a buzzing sound. Lizzie tears her eyes away from the clock on the wall and diverts them to the phone she’s trying to produce from her jeans pocket. It isn’t an easy feat, seeing as she decided to wear skinny jeans today.

It’s Jean calling, Lizzie’s best friend and fellow student. She’s probably calling to try to talk Lizzie out of following through with her plan. Jean had been trying to so this past few weeks, ever since she found out about it. If it were anyone else Lizzie would have ignored the call but she knows her friend means well, she accepts.

Anticipating Jean to ask her if she’s really sure, Lizzie is surprised to hear her friend ask instead, “Did you leave already?”

“I’m just about to,” Lizzie tells the other girl. “I’m just checking if I’ve packed everything. Are you coming to say goodbye?”

Two vodkas in, Jean had promised to see Lizzie off the night before. They had gone out as a sort of farewell party for Lizzie, just the two of them. Jean had sort of come to terms with her best friend dropping out of college after she had drunk three bottles of beer. Because of the alcohol she had forgotten she had mandatory lectures that day but when she had sobered up the next day she had told Lizzie she would try find a way to say goodbye anyway.

“I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to,” Jean reluctantly admits. “I don’t think I can get away.”
“That’s alright. We sort of said goodbye yesterday anyway,” Lizzie replies. She doesn’t have to try too hard to mask her disappointment because she’s become a master at masking her emotions. She has had practice her whole life.

“Are you going to be alright?” Jean ask hesitantly. Lizzie knows her friend well enough to know she’s pouting. The people sitting next to her are probably looking at her weirdly right now.

“Of course. It’s not as if I’m going to be doing something difficult,” Lizzie says dismissively. She grabs the rucksack that’s lying on her bed and straps it on her back. The big dark bag and her guitar are next. She starts carrying it to the door as she continues the phone conversation.

“Aren’t you nervous, then?”

“Nah,” Lizzie lies. She doesn’t want her friend to think she isn’t sure of her decision. If Jean gets as much as a whiff of uncertainty from Lizzie she’s going to be on her like a hungry lioness on a gazelle. Lizzie would very much like to leave as soon as possible, thank you very much, and not have to endure another attempt of Jean to make her stay. “But I really have to go now. I’m going to call you as soon as I’ve arrived at the first bar.”

“Alright, but drive save,” Jean replies. The concern is clearly audible in her voice which doesn’t surprise Lizzie. Jean’s parents have died in a car crash.

“I always do,” Lizzie exclaims with a chuckle. “You don’t have to worry about me. You just pay attention to your lecture.”

“I will. Goodbye, Lizzie.”

“Goodbye, Jean.”

Lizzie puts her phone back on her pocket as a feeling of nostalgia starts to fester in the bottom of her belly. She tries her best to suppress it as she walks across the room and out unto the hallway. There are almost no students about because most of them are attending lectures.

The car isn’t parked too far away from the complex, which is fortunate for Lizzie because the bag turns out to be heavier than she had anticipated. Her hand is red and chaffed when she reaches the vehicle.

“Oh bullocks,” Lizzie curses when she drops the bag before she’s able to open the trunk properly. She opens the trunk a little bit further before bending down to grab the bag. When the black bag is safely inside the trunk it’s joined by the rucksack and the guitar. The loud bang of the trunk closing echoes against the concrete walls of the parking lot.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Lizzie immediately gets into her car. She doesn’t stop to take a breather as she turns the key and starts the engine. She wants to be on the road as soon as possible. With the radio on full blast, she puts the car in reverse.

Half an hour later she has left the campus and is on her way to the highway. Finally, she’s free. She doesn’t have any more boring lectures or assignments that keep her up all night. The only thing in front of her is going to be the miles and miles of pure, unbridled freedom.
All the choices from now on are going to be hers. Only hers, no one else’s. It’s a freedom she has never experienced and she can’t wait to taste if for the very first time.

Notes

Please let me know what you thought of the chapter. I will add characters at a later date.