Inktober 2024 - 29 - Navigator

Hands and forehead on the steering wheel of her pickup truck, eyes wide open, Eva is starting to regret her choice of copilot for this road trip. On the passenger seat next to her, her college room-mate Becca is fumbling with a paper map, one of those that folds like an accordion.

"You did say you could read a map," grumbles the driver.

"I can. These are forested areas, and these are roads, towns,…"

The blonde girl points at various parts of the map with her index finger, completely unembarrassed.

"Anyone can see that, Becca!" snaps Eva.

She straightens herself back up in order to glare at her passenger. Becca just stares back unblinkingly, sure of herself.

"No, they can't. Reading a map is not as simple as it seems. Lots of people get confused by the legend, the orientation, the scale…"

"What good is deciphering a map if you can't tell me where to turn based on what you see on there?"

Becca purses her lips. She is starting to dislike her room-mate's tone.

"In my defence, reading a map usually happens while sitting down at a table or standing up leaning over it, not while cramped up in a moving car."

"That's actually when and where most of the map-reading happens. And besides, we've been parked on the side of the road for twenty minutes!"

"Let's be honest: I figured you'd ask me to plan an itinerary before we left, not to come up with one on the fly, as we were going! Why didn't you do that, huh? Who's really to blame, here?"

To calm herself, Eva takes and lets out a deep breath.

"I'm not blaming anyone. You're right, we both made mistakes. But that doesn't help us go the right way to get to where we're going, does it?"

To that, Becca has no answer. She was excited to go on this trip with Eva. Up until she invited her, she had felt like she only tolerated her. They were assigned to each other by the administration's office, and they didn't have much in common at first glance. Despite both being equally pretty, each in their own way, Eva was a popular cheerleader while Becca was the nerdier type.

"We could ask that guy," she suggested after a while.

"What guy?" asked Eva, confused.

"There's a hitchhiker about a hundred meters from us. He probably knows the area. He can be your navigator, since I'm not doing a good enough job for you."

"Are you crazy? We're two girls travelling alone; we're not picking up a hitchhiker. Especially a grown man."

"He seems nice."

"Famous last words…"

"At the very least we could ask him for directions."

"And then leave him on the side of the road?"

"You're the one who doesn't want to pick him up!"

"So let me get this straight: on top of not being able to navigate a map, you're also just as incapable of navigating social cues?"