party

She’d run out of fingers if she tried to count exactly how many times she tried to run away from home before she was even in middle school.

And then she realized she wouldn’t get very far until she learned to drive, so she made do with long walks down a nearby golf course she heard the highschoolers used to make out.

Most of the people in her life don’t notice this habit, but those close to her do, and they have varying opinions about it.

Sometimes they think it is funny, like when they lose her in the middle of the club and find her across the street at a late-night pizza place.

Sometimes they think it’s cute, like when Baran finds her decompressing in a nearby storage closet staring at the same lavalamp screen Mel uses to calm down. Trinity swears her to secrecy over it. She likes Mel, they’re sort of friends, but she would never hear the end of it from everyone else.

But the people who lover her also constantly challenge her autonomy, because when Trinity needs a break the last thing they want is for her to run away.

Dennis makes her swear that she’ll keep her location on her phone, and refuses to go to bed until he knows Trinity is safe and sound.

Baran goes a step further and “accidentally” leaves an AirTag in her car.

Yolanda threatens to slash her tires if she says she wants to go for a drive and its already past midnight. When Trinity says she’ll just go for a walk then, Yolanda puts her foot down because somehow thats worse.

But she just can’t help it. Her brain doesn’t like to turn off until she’s hightailing it in the opposite direction.

Some people have their best thoughts in the shower, Trinity has her best thoughts flying down the interstate on cruise control.

She drives and drives, never knowing where she’s driving to, but she always knows when she finds it.

After the first couple incidents of running away and royally pissing off the people who love her, Trinity started to at least take pictures when she gets to her destination.

Flowers off the side of the highway, a random ice cream shop in the middle of nowhere, the welcome sign to a national park.

One night she can feel it coming on so she doesn’t go home with Baran or Yolanda in an effort to not have to explain herself.

She waits a reasonable amount of time after Whitaker has gone to bed before slipping out of the apartment and into her car.

The only thing she wasn’t expecting when she got in the car was for Baran and Yolanda to be sleeping in her backseat.

“How’d you even get in here?!” Trinity demanded. Yolanda sleepily holds up her spare key, as if that explains anything.

“Look, we don’t want you going off alone to who knows where. Let us stay with you.”

“We won’t make a sound Azizam,” Baran adds helpfully.

Trinity has half a mind to drive to Baran’s house and kick them out. But she doesn’t do that. Instead she lets them stay on the condition that they do not interrupt.

She drives them out of the city and past all the suburbs. The radio plays through a random shuffle softly and they ride in silence. Trinity tries to put it out of her mind but she can still feel their eyes on her and hear their soft whispers in the back. At some point Trinity pulls off the interstate and directs them to a trailhead with a parking lot.

They get out and start walking the trail, using their phone flashlights to see in the dark.

“Where even are we?” Yolanda breaks through the silence in demand after they’ve walked for almost fifteen minutes. It makes Trinity smile, she knows her girlfriend doesn’t like the suspense of not knowing.

“This random barista told me about this place when I moved here. I missed nature and trees. Apparently he grew up around here and suggested I visit.” Trinity explains.

“So you just walk around the woods in the middle of the night?” Baran asks.

“I don’t always come here,” Trinity says, a little defensive, “and we’re not even at our location yet. You’ll see.”

Baran reaches out to hold Trinity’s hand, “I just worry, I’m sorry.” Trinity squeezes her hand to let her know its okay. She just needs to keep going.

The land grows steep the longer they walk, until their legs are burning with the incline. In the distance a large wooden tower appears and grows closer and closer until their at its base.

They come to a stop at the rickety staircase leading up into the structure and peer upwards.

“I promise the climb isn’t so bad,” Trinity tells them, beginning the climb before Yolanda can say something sarcastic or Baran can worry about their safety.

They climb and climb until they reach the top around 100 ft into the air. She leads them up into the crows nest, and settles along the railing.

All at once Trinity starts to feel better, gazing out into the forest. Baran and Yolanda flank either side of her, their presence comforting.

“Its so beautiful,” Baran breathes, tilting her head to rest it on Trinity’s shoulders. The sun isn’t quite ready to come out yet, but the sky has grown brighter and some birds in the distance have started to chirp.

“It is.” Trinity agrees, cocking her head. “I was always going to take you both here one day.” She clarifies. “I like this spot. It helps me think.”

“When I reach the summit of the mountain, all the other peaks feel small in comparison.” Yolanda quotes beside her, and then flushes, “That’s- uh what my Grandfather used to say.” She says, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly.

Trinity knocks her arm into Yolanda’s, “No.. its.. its true.” she reassures her.

The skies continue to lighten until theres a faint yellow far off in the distance. She’s happy here with her girls.

At the beginning of the drive she’d been sure that they would somehow make the experience worse.