The Time He Couldn't Buy

When Carter was 17 he totaled his best friend's car. It was the car that his friend, Will, had worked hard for. Three years Will spent saving his money and dreaming about this car. It was worth it, too. The car was cherry red with black rims. The screen inside was huge. It was like a laptop was propped up on his dash. Will was obsessed with the car, which Carter found obnoxious. It wasn't like Carter understood, though. He had never had to work for the things that he got.

Will's parents wanted to go away for the weekend to have a family bonding experience. Will agreed to let Carter borrow and use the car for the weekend. Will constantly reminded Carter to be careful up to the day that he left. Carter only half listened to the reminders. He thought that will was just being paranoid and all would be fine. The day after Will had left, there was a huge party. Carter drove Will's car because he found it important to look important. He didn't actually care if he was significant to anyone. He showed up to the party 45 minutes late because it couldn't look like he actually cared. He walked through the party as if he was a lion walking through a pack of gazelles. He whole-heartedly believed that he was better than everyone there. He stayed a while, looking uninterested and then decided to leave.

On his way out, a girl approached him. Not just any girl, Elle. Everyone knew that no one actually liked her. They were either scared of her or thought she was hot. Carter fell into the latter. She asked Carter if he could drive her around in his pretty car. He, of course, agreed, failing to mention that it was Will's car. They were driving through back roads when Elle announced that she was going to change and then she took her shirt off. Carter could not believe that she was changing right there in his car, he meant to think Will's car. He stared, his eyes completely off the road. When he finally did look back to the road a deer was in the middle and he swerved. He went into a ditch but not before hitting a lamp post first. The tail lights were shattered, the mirrors had fallen off the sides, and the front was smashed into itself. Elle and Carter where fine, the car most definitely was not.

When he finally got home he told his mom what happened, leaving out the parts about Elle being shirtless. His mom, being the CEO of an important company, was able to pay for the exact same car in full. When Will came home the next day and Carter told him about the car he was able to present the new one with it so Will wasn't as upset. Carter was able to avoid conflict and problems. This wasn't the first or last time Carter had used his mom's money to get out of negative events. His mom's money turned into his money when he took over her position 10 years later. He was unhappy, but at least he had the money to buy himself whatever he wanted. Others described him as arrogant and glib.

Then he met someone. A guy named Noah. Noah had the position right under Carter. Even though Noah made a decent amount of money, Carter acted as if Noah was less than him. He treated him horribly but Noah continued to be kind and patient with him. One day after a meeting, Noah stayed back to talk about a new idea for the company. Carter was horrid towards Noah. Noah smiled the whole time and said nothing close to rude to Carter. After Noah left, Carter replayed their conversations and couldn't comprehend how Noah could be so sweet and unbothered by Carters actions. Carter spent the next few weeks watching Noah. He analyzed everything from his posture to his tone. Carter asked Noah to go out for a few drink with hopes to apologize for how he had been. They talked and laughed the whole time. That night Carter realized that while he had been interested in Noah, he became interested in Noah romantically.

They continued to hangout until Christmas when Carter asked Noah to be his boyfriend and Noah agreed. A few months later Carter was on the phone with his mom when she expressed how happy she was that he was acting different. Carter asked her what she meant and her mom explained how she felt scared for her son's character but since he had been with Noah she saw how compassionate and kind her son could be. After saying goodbye to his mom, Carter laid awake thinking about how he had changed. Carter was ecstatic that he could finally make his mom proud. Carter finally felt happy and he didn't feel lonely anymore. He saw the opportunity there was to change how he used to be and to be a better person. He thought back to his image obsessed self and realized that there was finally something he couldn't buy. Time. He couldn't go back and fix the way he acted so he decided to live the rest of his life the way he thought he should have been. He knew where he had to start so he got in his car and went to Noah's house. He got on one knee and explained that Noah had changed him for the better. He asked Noah to marry him. Noah said yes.

Carter switched to part time at the office and gave Noah his old position who he felt deserved it more than anybody else, so that he could spend more time volunteering and helping others who needed him. He was happy and was able to make friends who now described him as selfless and kind. After getting rid of his fancy car and downsizing his house, Carter found what he really needed and that was love.