Finally tried writing again, focusing on description this time

Instructions

— There were three of them, in the back of that car. Calypso and Luca had taken over the front, the two talking quietly in the way they always would. Whispers and secret jabs, the occasional silence that only they seemed to understand. Nari had claimed the right window instantly, which was where she was now, currently scrolling through mind-numbing social media as she waited for the road trip to end. She had always hated long drives, but she hadn’t had much choice. The car had been silent for some time, the only noise being the wind passing by an open window or the hushed chatter of the two up front. Honestly, that was odd. At the very least, James would have interrupted by now. Whether it was the idle drumming of his fingers on his lap, humming under his breath to the music in his earbuds, or the quiet clink of nails on metal as he fidgeted with that necklace he always wore, the boy seemed to radiate energy. Except for now. The hum of the engine was quiet, a steady, consistent presence. The summer heat was combatted by the AC, thankfully, and Nari could feel that weird sort of sleepiness—the kind where your eyes and mind feel tired but not your body—begin to set in. How long had it been by now? Her mind was getting bored of this routine—of switching between looking at her phone and watching trees and cars and mountains that she swore were the same thing over and over again go by in an endless cycle of boredom and nothingness. However, it wasn’t like she had anything to talk about, or any will to awkwardly break the silence herself, so it looked like her fate was to stare at literally nothing for the next few hours. The feeling of a shoulder nudging hers (thankfully) shook Nari from her road trip induced trance, and she glanced over at Sereia in the middle seat, who was smiling slightly, her eyes sparkling with a mix of affection and amusement. Nari tilted her head, slightly confused, before Sereia gestured to her other side, and— Oh. There was James. And he was…asleep? His head was lightly resting on Sereia’s shoulder, breathing soft and even. For once, he seemed oddly relaxed, a few walnut-colored waves hanging in his eyes. Nari blinked, gaze flitting from him to Sereia and back to James again. When was the last time she had seen him so… free? Happy, even? “You know,” she murmured after a long moment, voice low like a whisper afraid to be any more than a whisper, a sleepy passing thought, as she shifted to lean against Sereia’s free side, resting her head on the other girl’s shoulder with a familiar ease, “sometimes…” she trailed off, trying to find the right words. “Sometimes…?” She felt Sereia look at her expectantly, but Nari didn’t meet her gaze. She didn’t want to show the guilt in her expression, didn’t want to fully admit to what felt like a crime in her mind. “Sometimes…” Nari began, closing her eyes to try and sleep, but not before looking back at James one more time, searching her memory for a time he looked similarly happy. She couldn’t find anything. “Sometimes I forget he’s not some sort of heroic being. Sometimes—“ another breath. It was hard to stay focused when she was already exhausted and overwhelmed with second hand guilt and sympathy. “Sometimes I forget he’s just a kid like us.” —