Making an Exit

I sat on a stool at the kitchen counter, eating all the remaining potato chips. The walls of the dark, empty room flashed with different colors of light emitted from the television in the living room. I heard a chorus of “Awww” in the other room as the person playing the dancing video game must have missed a step on the mat. I reached over and opened the pizza box. There was one cold breadstick left. I stuffed it in my mouth. I heard a whistling noise as the wind blew the trees to a frightening angle. I peered at the window and saw nothing but thick frost.

Soon, Jen stumbled in from the living room, escorted by a round of applause. Her face was flushed red and she was gasping for breath, but she held a grin of triumph on her face. She must have gotten the high score. A group of partygoers followed her, all conversing with one another. Kyle came over and sat next to me. He grabbed a handful of chips and asked, “Having fun?” He crunched the entire handful.

“I guess,” I said. He stared at me for a few moments. “Do you want to go home?”
“Kinda,” I replied. He sat with me for a few minutes, finishing off the bag with me. Finally, he stood up, brushed his hands on his pants and said, “Well, let’s go.”

As I got my coat and boots on to leave, Kyle said his goodbyes to his friends, gave everyone hugs and bid a final “Happy Birthday” to Sarah, although it was technically the next day.
Kyle drove down the road over the speed limit. I noticed the road looked pretty slick and snow was blowing across the road with enough force to sway the car a bit. I maintained the look of being relaxed, while my heart was secretly beating out of my chest. For a few miles, the only sound was of the blizzard. Then, he spoke. “You should have seen me on that game. I got like 200 perfects in a row!” I smiled at him and simply said, “Wow.” Then I looked away, at nothing in particular.

I caught a glimpse of something darting out in front of the car. “Deer!” I announced urgently, and Kyle stood on the brake and I braced myself. The tires couldn’t grip the dark, cold ice and the car began to spin. Fear curled Kyle’s face as he struggled to control the vehicle. The car stopped perpendicular to the road after spinning 270 degrees. Both of us, the deer, and the car were intact. Kyle didn’t move for about a minute, regaining his breath. He looked at me and simply said, “Jeez, what was that all about?” He drove the rest of the way home well under the speed limit.