“We’re not gonna make it. There’s no way.” The roads were pitch black, the temperature was dropping, and I could feel my heart racing. “This is stupid. Of all the stupid decisions we could have made, this was the worst.” Shivering from my head to my toes, I wondered what would happen to us. Who would we call for help? How would we handle being stranded at night? AT NIGHT! Things happen to people at night.
I gazed over at the fuel gauge and my heart sank even further. “It went down again! There’s only one line left, and the gas light has already been on for 20 minutes. There’s no way we’ll make it another 15 miles. Omg, omg, omg.” I told myself that I would never forgive my boyfriend for convincing me that he could get us to our destination with only an eighth of a tank. Not even a quarter, but an eighth! My breathing slowed, almost as if breathing less would make the gas last longer.
It was freezing that night, but I didn’t dare turn on the heat. I stared at the fuel gauge, willing it to keep hanging on. I glared at the GPS, wondering why the miles felt so long. Between the cold and my nerves, my bladder was about to explode. I expected the car to give out at any second. It didn’t. When we pulled up to the first open gas station, I felt like I was in Heaven. I could finally breathe again. Seeing the fuel gauge completely full was like a little miracle. I wanted to kiss the gas pump. Don’t worry, I contained myself.
Trying to sound dramatic is exhausting, so enough of that. There’s a gas shortage in New Jersey (ever since Hurricane Sandy), so we drove to Pennsylvania to get gas. Lines are super long in NJ, and you can only get a few gallons of gas anyway. PLUS, Governor Christie thought it would be cute to attempt to make shorter gas lines by creating an odd/even gas rule, effective this past Saturday. If the last number in your license plate is odd, you fill up on the odd days, and if that number is even, you fill up on the even days. Seriously, Governor Christie, didn’t you realize that many people don’t even know the difference between odd and even numbers? There was much confusion after that announcement was made.
They are taking this rule very seriously. Cops are at every gas station, sending people away if they disregard the new rule. My boyfriend refused to wait 2 or 3 hours in line during the week, so last night we were very low on gas. And of course, yesterday was an even day and we’re odd so the only way to get gas was to go to leave NJ. Five or ten minutes after we started driving, the gas light came on and I freaked. We drove in silence the whole way. All I did was pray that we wouldn’t be stranded on the highway at night. I’m so glad we made it. At this moment, there is nothing more beautiful than a full tank of gas. If people in this area are willing to wait a few hours in line for 5 gallons of gas, they should be willing to drive 40 minutes to Pennsylvania. It’s so worth it. Just don’t do it on an empty tank of gas. That shit was terrifying.
~Lily~
~Don't Quote Lily~ 