Car Trouble [Dave]

[Layla Montgomery]

Layla hadn’t been planning on doing much today. She was going to head to the grocery store to pick up some stuff for her parents, then maybe do a little grading. She didn’t have anything exciting planned except to have a lazy Sunday afternoon, which was exactly what she needed.

And then on the way home from the grocery store her car started making weird noises. Loud weird noses. When she got home she asked her dad to check it out, but being a dentist and not a mechanic, he really couldn’t give her much input. Maybe it was the muffler? Maybe it was the engine? There’s some oil leaking out of it too. Maybe you should go to the mechanic?

Thanks, dad, you’re a biiiiiiiig help.

Although if anyone knew anything about Layla, it was that she knew absolutely nothing about cars. It was actually pretty bad; she probably should at least learn how to change a tire. But that was what AAA was for. That business made their money off of people like her. But they really couldn’t do anything about her noisy, leaky Jeep so Layla was forced to get a second opinion.

She pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head as walked into James Auto’s small waiting area. She’d parked her Jeep out front, but no one had been outside when she pulled in. “Hello?” She called out, “Is anyone here?” Maybe they were closed today?

[David Reed]

It was a slow day. At least, what passed for slow when whether or not a business kept functioning ultimately came down to you. This meant nearly no traffic through the shop. Which left paperwork. There was always paperwork: customer invoices, parts requests, making sure the staff got paid, balancing the books, and so much more. It still baffled Dave - all the miscellaneous stupid things that had to be kept track of to keep a business running.

But since there were no cars in the bays, no appointments from customers, or anything major that would keep him from taking care of things himself, Dave had given Alice the day and set Jeff to inventorying, cleaning, and the like. Much to his regret. It was a few hours into the day and he was already bored out of his mind. There were things to do, yeah, but he just couldn't focus and the caring thing was getting harder and harder.

Dave sat in the back office with the door shut, swiveling endlessly in his chair, and watching the ceiling spin side to side to side when Layla arrived. He was so zoned out that he didn't even notice until he heard a voice call out. Dave sat up with a sigh and rubbed his face hard with the palms of his hands. "Yeah, one moment!" He called through the door. Hopefully the pause before his response could be written off as just a busy business owner being.... busy, or something.

He stood up, stretched out the kinks in his neck, and opened the office door. Time to play nice.

But before he could take more than a step or two, Dave stopped. "Layla?" he asked, with an eyebrow raised. But there was simply no mistaking her. Somehow he'd just never expected to see her again.

[Layla Montgomery]

Layla was starting to think that maybe the auto shop was closed. Then again, why would the door be open if no one was here? And then she heard someone call out through the back door. That made sense then…they were probably busy. She knew this auto shop was fairly small, and that they didn’t have a huge staff. Most of them were probably off on Sundays.

The last person she expected to step out of that office though was Dave Reed. She hadn’t seen him since she was seventeen, maybe even younger now that she thought about it. Her eyes widened at the sight of him, before he lips curled into a grin. “Dave Reed? I didn’t know you worked here.” Though she shouldn't really be surprised. She did vaguely remember a conversation where he told her that his father owned this shop.

“God, how long has it been? Six…seven years?” She definitely hasn’t seen him since before his graduation. He was a year older than her, but the two of them both grew up in Pilot Ridge and they were friends in high school, since it had always been Layla’s mission to be friends with everyone who crossed her path.

“How have you been? I…didn’t know you were back in Pilot Ridge?” Had he been here all along? She was vaguely aware that he had left at some point, but after Layla graduated she had only been in Pilot Ridge during school breaks.

[David Reed]

Bored and gloomy as he was, Dave couldn't help the soft the smile that came to his lips. Maybe it was the familiarity. Layla was somehow always in a good mood and he'd always found it to be the kind that lifted his spirits too.

"Yeah," he answered. "Something like that." Six years? Seven years? Eight? The more time passed the harder it was to really remember just how long ago high school and Hammel had been. To Dave it was like another lifetime. Maybe even two life times passed, and all of it more irrelevant by the day. Some days that was pretty alright, but there were still those where it sucked to not have anyone who had been there and just "got it," so to speak.

But there was the loaded question, and typical Dave, he shrugged it off like neither the question nor the answer meant a thing. "Eh, you know. Life and work." That about covered it, right? "I guess I got back about a year ago, though." He propped himself up against the chair of a nearby arm. Normally he'd take out a smoke, but instead he lightly rapped his fingers against the chair.

"What about you? Don't tell me you actually chose to come back on purpose." It was a joke of course. He was the one who'd always felt stifled and bored, not her.

[Layla Montgomery]

It had definitely been a while. She wasn’t sure what he’d been doing all these years. Had he gone to school and returned once he graduated like she had? They’d lost touch after graduation, which wasn’t a surprise. Layla only kept in contact with a few of her old classmates from Hammel. Most of them went back to their home states which made it hard. Only a few stayed in Pilot Ridge; even Layla, who had grown up here, left the state for college.

His next statement answered her questions…well, sort of. He had left and come back, probably around the same time Layla had. Though he didn’t look exceptionally thrilled about it. Somehow, she’s not surprised.

She laughed when he asked if she’d come back here on her own accord. Of course she had. Layla loved her hometown and all the people in it. She knew he was only teasing though; she could hear it in his voice. “I was at school in Connecticut for a while.” She was quite fond of Fairfield and had gotten a teaching position at the local public middle school, but had rejected it to take a gap year and travel.

“I got back about a year ago too. I’m teaching English at Hammel now.” She added, with a grin. She was thrilled to be back and even more thrilled to be moving out of her parents house at the beginning of the summer.

[David Reed]

Dave smirked at her laugh. He should have figured that if she left it wouldn't have been for long. It was actually a surprise to him that she'd even gone away for school. Though, now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen her at the community college or run into her anywhere around town before he'd left himself. That must have been when she was in Connecticut.

His eyes widened when she said she was teaching at Hammel now. "Hammel?! No way!" Dave couldn't help but laugh. It had nothing to do with her, her aspirations, or how happy she seemed to be with it all. He'd just never taken the whole meta/high-school thing seriously and now he had this crazy picture in his head of his younger self in a class taught by Layla. It was practically absurd.

"I hope there's no younger-me's around that place now. Or better yet, if there are, just kick 'em out of the classroom." Not that Dave had been one to cause trouble, but he'd certainly put up a fight when effort or care had been required... which wasn't exactly infrequent when it came school. Somehow he just couldn't imagine anyone actually wanting to put themselves in a situation to handle that.

Though maybe he wasn't giving her enough credit. Layla had managed to wrangle him into being friends after all. That, in itself, said a lot. The only reason they hadn't stayed in contact was because of him. His life after high school had been little more than a downhill spiral of growing more and more discontent, trapped, and unhappy. Dave had pushed a lot of people away during that time, and shut himself off from a lot of new connections. Even now he couldn't really say he was doing better.

[Layla Montgomery]

Layla wasn’t sure if she wanted to stay in Pilot Ridge forever. But she’d gotten a taste of the rest of the world, which had sated her wanderlust for the time being. Maybe in a few years she’d go back and teach in Europe again, or maybe someplace a little less familiar and a little more exotic. But for now she was perfectly happy teaching at her old high school in her hometown.

She nodded, her grin broadening at his disbelief. Layla had always pictured herself as a teacher, but she didn’t expect herself to end up back at Hammel until she came back to the US. “Yep, I’ve got my own classroom and everything.” She was definitely happy that all the students she’d gone to high school with were already long-since graduated. It would be a little awkward if she had to teach the same kids that she’d walked the halls with at one point, though she did have a few siblings of her old classmates.

She laughed, shaking her head. “Oh, you know there’s always at least one in every grade.” She had a few tough students, but she loved all her kids and she knew that they were all great when it came down to it. “No, they’re all amazing kids. I haven’t had to kick anyone out of my class yet.” And she didn’t really plan on kicking anyone out unless they were being really disrupting. But they’d been great all year so far, so she wasn’t really expecting too much trouble toward the end of the semester.

“But what about you?” Layla asked. She didn’t like to hog the spotlight all the time. “You said you got back last year, where did you go? Did you go to school?”

[David Reed]

Dave laughed. Of course Layla would think they were all amazing kids. And they probably were at their core. He certainly had never set out to be a problem himself. The system just wasn't built for people like him. Even in the adult world, where there was so much more flexibility, Dave constantly found himself butting up against societal expectations.

If Dave'd had his way, he would have left Pilot Ridge and never stopped moving. Life on the road was unstable and tough, but it was so much more free. It had never mattered where he was or where he was going. The scenery was a nice decoration, the local culture little more than passing amusement, but the best part was the movement; the endless possibilities.

But how do you really explain that?

"Eh, I went to community for a couple of years and worked local." Some dead-end desk job his mom had gotten him, but Layla didn't really need to know that. "Then, I don't know. I just left."

Dave shrugged as if that was a proper answer. He hadn't really gone anywhere anyways.

[Layla Montgomery]

Layla did think that all her students were amazing, even the ones who would consistently give her problems in class. She just hoped that her students thought she was amazing as well. Layla was always trying new and different ways to reach them. English wasn’t always the most interesting subject for everyone, so Layla was constantly having to go out of her way to make it interesting. And she hoped it was working, since she would hate to be the boring teacher who’s class everyone dreaded going to.

Layla didn’t really ever recall seeing Dave after he graduated around town or anything like that. She thought if he went to Greenview and worked in Pilot Ridge she would have run into him at least once. Although Layla’s senior year was spent busily looking at and applying to colleges and hanging out with friends who she thought she’d probably never see again. And then when she left for school she was only around on breaks, so that could explain why they never ran into each other while he was still here.

“Oh? Where’d you go? Any specific destination?” Layla had done her fair share of roaming when she was in Europe, but she always had a specific location in mind whenever she left France. She was spontaneous, sure, but the thought of her just wandering across Europe with no plan or place to stay would have sent her parents into a tizzy. Plus, Layla always had at least a vague idea of the things she wants to do.

[David Reed]

It was true, one might have expected Dave and Layla to have run into each other at least once or twice before she left for college. But Dave had started to shut himself off from people around that time. It had been just the beginning of the spiral that drove him to drop everything, but even then it was clear that he wasn't taking well to the life he was expected to live. He locked down and pushed people away. He tried to power through it, find a groove, but everything just made him feel more and more trapped.

"No, not really." Dave had to pause and think about just where he'd gone. There hadn't been a destination in mind, at least not often. Even then he'd often found himself somewhere else instead. "I went west for a while and just kind of wandered." The thought made him laugh a bit. When he said it like that there was an absurdity to it. Perhaps the most absurd part was how relieving the notion was to him.

Even now he felt more relaxed just thinking about how free it was. Although that never really lasted any more. It was nice to think of it, but sooner or later reality set in and Dave remembered where he was now. He was back and now he had responsibilities. There was no returning to that life. Not while he stilled owed it to his father to look after this place and his mother.

[Layla Montgomery]

Layla had never had a problem with her small little town. She’d never once felt trapped, but that might have to do with the fact that she wasn’t. She had family in other states, whom she, her siblings, and parents would visit frequently. And she’d also left Pilot Ridge for almost five years and went off on her own. Granted, she had returned frequently during breaks and summers while she was away at college, but she had not returned once while she was away in France. So, if she had never left her small town, perhaps she would have eventually felt stifled and smothered.

And she envied his ability to travel with no specific destination in mind. Not only would her parents have had a conniption fit if they knew she was just wandering around Europe with no place to go or stay, but she didn’t think she’d be able make that kind of journey either. Especially alone.

“I hear that’s the best way to travel.” She smiled, and she meant that. She’d met a lot of people while she was traveling Europe who wandered in the exact same way, and none of them seemed to regret it. Layla just thought that it wasn’t meant for everyone.

“So…” Layla started, leaning on the arm of one of the chairs. “What brought you back to Pilot Ridge. Couldn’t stay away?” She teased. Obviously Layla couldn’t, since she was back in town and teaching at her old school. There must be something that drew her back aside from nostalgia and her family.

[David Reed]

He couldn't help but grin at that. "Definitely. You should do it some time." It definitely wasn't easy to travel that way and maybe it did take a certain kind of person. Dave had honestly never really stopped to think about that. It just came naturally to him. He didn't have to worry about where he was going or how he was getting there. He just slept in his car and kept the few things he actually did need. When he ran short on money there was always some work that needed to get done. Then, once he got FI he wasn't ever alone really.

Dave was about to mention her. There weren't many people he went out of his way to introduce FI to, but Layla was one he wanted to. But she switched the conversation a half-step before he could. For a moment he was caught in his tracks. It wasn't a subject he addressed often. Actually, as little as possible was preferred. Still, Dave chucked a little at her tease as he shook his head a moment.

"I, uh... kind of own the business now." Dave shrugged a moment as he ran his hand through his hair, scratching the side of his head. "My dad passed... about a year or so ago, I guess. I don't know WHY he left the place to me, but... I mean, it meant so much to him." At least he knew that was a question that deserved a decent answer. Exactly why Dave was still here? He couldn't sell the place or leave his mom alone. It just wasn't right.

Although, maybe that was why his father had left the shop to him... to bring him home.

"But, your car? I don't take it you stopped in just to say hi."

[Layla Montgomery]

“Hmm…maybe I’ll try traveling without a destination, but I think I’d need a buddy or something. Who would take my picture?” Layla laughed. She was only teasing about the second part, but she did think that she would get lonely traveling for days or even weeks on end all by herself. That definitely took a certain kind of person, and Layla knew she didn’t have the qualifications. Although, she’d really talk to just about anyone, so she’d probably rope some random people in along the way.

Layla was surprised to hear that Dave owned the auto shop, since she didn’t think his dad was old enough to retire yet, but her face fell when she heard why. “Dave, I’m so sorry.” She said. She would have reached out to give him a hug or something, but she didn’t remember him to necessarily be a fan of psychical affection. “Well, I’m sure he’d be happy that you’re doing a good job with it.” She couldn’t imagine if anything like that happened to one of her parents. Layla had never experienced anything like that in her family, aside from two of her grandparents dying when she was young. Was there anything you could say to make something like easier? Layla didn’t think so.

After a moment of silence, Dave had brought to her attention why she’d actually come here. “Oh right, my car.” Layla had been so caught up in their reunion that she’d almost forgotten that there was actually something wrong with her car. “I honestly have no idea what’s wrong with it. It’s leaking some kind of fluid everywhere, and it’s making this noise that sounds like…I can’t even describe it. You just have to listen.” She held out her keys for him to take. He’d clearly be a better judge of what was wrong with it since the only thing Layla knew about cars was how to drive one.