A drive at night

Cedric is a lonely drifter reflecting on life in his car as he rolls down dusty byways and unlit back roads.

Cedric liked driving at night. Everything felt, kind of upside down. Not really any people, no cars, no beeps or honks or yelling, just crickets and cicadas. Of course there was also the hum of the engine and the clattering of the loose air vent, but that was ok, it had been that way for a while and to him it was nice to have that familiarity. Sometimes he'd have the radio on, playing classical music could soothe the heart, but would make his eyes drift lazily shut after an unspecified amount of time.
When exhaustion hit, he'd crank up the sound and play some punk rock or some other heart racing track to jarr his senses awake. Coffee and energy drinks helped as well, a simple vanilla latte was all he needed to keep his head up behind the wheel as he drove down winding roads and barely lit highways. Sometimes a little whiskey or some such alcoholic beverage would find its way into said coffee and or energy drink, just to pick up the night a little bit. Alcohol doesn't solve many problems, but then again neither does milk, and both were in good quantity at many local convenience stores. It still wasn't often that he drank, as he was aware of his family's bad habits and new that addiction was in his blood. No drugs, at least not many, and a tight rein on any type of thing entering his body was common practice for him. Luckily he liked to eat healthy, paired as well with his fit body and fast metabolism, he was never too worried about being out of shape. About 150 pounds at 6 feet, he was on the leaner side of the line when it came to bulk, but he made up for it with raw athletic talent.
Track and soccer had been good to him in high school, just about the only things that were good to him there other than the occasional friendly teacher or student. Being more empathetic than most kids at the time, as well as being smaller, it was no wonder he was a target for many a bully. He learned to stand up for himself, although not without his share of lost fights and bruises. Eventually he became a competent fighter, he found that if you lose enough you learn how to not lose. But fights didn't help reputation, and the more you fight the more others come looking for one.
But he wasn't in high school now, he was 25 fresh out of college and traveling to his heart's content, but his heart wasn't content. He had a hard time making friends, he was lonely and he missed having a group to feel apart of.