Noah was leaning against the Impala with his eyes closed, thinking about the time when he and Logan fetched it out of the junkyard less than a year ago. A cool breeze ran across his face, bringing with it the foul smell of gasoline, snapping him out of his daydream. The nozzle clicked, letting him know that that the tank was full. It was time for their trip. He stood there for a moment longer, waiting for the pump to spit out his receipt. He thought about what they went through over this past year and knew that without Logan’s help, he wouldn’t have been able to fix this car. He climbed into the driver seat. “Well Logan, it is time for us to hit the road.” He checked his watch, “The sunrise is in about ten hours, we should be good for time.”
Within a few minutes, they were on the highway heading east. Logan was the one who always came up with these elaborate schemes. Logan was always the one talking about going to college on the east coast. He wondered what he was doing, sitting in his car, heading out of his state for the first time. Thinking of this only brought back more memories of Logan and what they went through to get this car up and running. “Remember what you said when I got this car into my garage?” Noah paused, waiting on a reply that would never come.
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Noah stood in his driveway alongside of the tow-truck driver, Frank, shaking his hand. “Thanks Frank, I don’t think we could have got this out of the junkyard without you.”
“No prob man. It was just sitting there doing nothing for years.” He turned and started back towards his tow-truck, but stopped before he reached it. “When you decide to give it a paint job, let me know.”
Noah looked at him for a moment before replying. “Will do, but that will be months away.” He walked into his garage and stood there, admiring the Impala that took up most of the room. The driver’s door was sitting in the back seat. The front bumper was completely smashed. “What have I got myself into?” He thought as he walked to the front of the car and got ready to open the hood. Logan walked in, holding two bottles of water.
“I guess that the car was dropped off.” Logan tossed one of the bottles to Noah.
Noah caught the bottle. “Thanks man, I needed this.”
“You’re welcome.” Logan walked around the car. “Do you think we can really fix this rust bucket up?” Logan opened his bottle and sat on the work bench.
“She is not a rust bucket.” He looked back at the car. “She is just a little dirty, but come on man, this isn’t any old car, it’s a ’69 Chevy Impala! The frame is made out of solid steel. The most popular color was gold. When we fix it up, it’ll be a bitch magnet.”
Logan burst into laughter. He laughed so hard that he almost fell off of the bench. “And here you chastise me for acting like a goof to attract a girl. Here you…” He laughed so hard that he couldn’t finish his sentence.
“Yeah yeah, laugh it up.”
“Sorry man, I am just saying that you should have saved up for a convertible if you wanted a girl.”
“Yeah, well maybe if you didn’t act like an idiot all the time, you would get a girl.”
Logan stopped laughing. “Hey, that’s uncalled for.” He got up and walked over to Noah. “You know I only act like this because people are too serious.”
“But you act like an idiot, and yet you are one of the smartest people I know.”
Logan shrugged. “That’s why I am going to college. I want to test myself. It brings enjoyment to my life and those around me, including you.” It was true, Noah had counted on Logan’s foolishness to survive more than one history class.
“I don’t know if this town will be the same once you’re gone.” Noah leaned against the car. “It might go back to being the same old boring place that it was before you came.”
“There is a simple solution to that.” Logan saw his opening and charged right in. “The college is still accepting applications and you are not that bad of a student yourself.”
“We’ll see.” Noah took another drink of his water. “I bet you that the girls will love this car once they see it. I wonder how many I will have to turn down for a ride.”
“That might be true, but first things first.” Logan walked to the front of the car. “We need to see what’s wrong with this so called bitch magnet. Hopefully it’s not something too severe.” He motioned for Noah to open the hood.
End of Part 2