Need a Ride?
Cloe was singing along an old song playing on the radio and Emily was going through her routine on the parallel bars in her mind, when they heard a loud burst and the car started to skid.
"Oh God!" Cloe yelled, tightening her grip on the steering wheel trying to get the car under control. She pressed on the brakes and the car came to a stop just before hitting the trashcans of a house. "Emily, you ok?" she asked, turning to her daughter.
The girl nodded before sighing. "Why something has to happen everyday?" she asked, exasperated before opening the door and get outside of the car. She looked at the back tire and then the one on the front of her side of the car and ended up kicking the last one. "Damn it!" she exclaimed, putting her hands on her slim waist.
Cloe opened her door and came to stand next to the her daughter, sighing heavily when she saw the flat tire. "We're already late on our schedule."
Emily glared at her before walking over to the trunk and opening it so she could retrieve her bag. "We don't have a schedule, Mom," she said, walking over to her mother. "It's the reason why we're always late. Sasha is going to kill me if..."
"C'mon, Em, you're second best at the Rock. He's not going to get mad at you." Cloe waved her hand up in the air trying to minimize the situation and tranquillize her daughter. After a few seconds, she frowned. "Why did you get your bag?"
"I'm walking to the gym. We don't know how to change a tire and while we call for someone that knows how do it, I'll be irreparably late." Emily adjusted her bag on her shoulder and took a deep breath. She knew that it wasn't her mother's fault if they had a flat tire, but she didn't want to get late to the gym once again. "I walk quickly; I'll get there in no time."
"Emily," Cloe sighed and started glancing around. "Let's go knock on that door," she said, pointing towards the house of the owner of the trashcans they had almost hit. "What do you think? We will find someone that will know how to change a tire and we will get to the Rock on time, or as much on time as we can."
Emily did appreciate the way her mother never stopped in front of anything, but, at the same time, that was one of the reasons why more than once, she had been obliged to act like an adult. "Mom," she said, stepping on the sidewalk. "Walking there will take less time. You can wait here and get help, but I really have to go."
After a few moments of battling with their gazes like only mother and daughter could ever do, Cloe finally nodded. "Alright," she waved impatiently starting to walk up the driveway of the house. "I will go and try to find a man able to do his job, you go. But," she turned around pointing a finger at her face. "As soon as I have the car fixed, I will come to the gym to make sure that you got there in one piece. Ok?"
Emily nodded smiling. "Ok. I'll see you later," she waved her mother goodbye and turned around starting to walk to the gym. She took her MP3 out of her bag and put the earphones on, letting Damon's new song, the one she had heard him singing in Paris, fill her mind.
She knew all the words by now and was starting to be able to find comfort in his voice and not just be sad because she knew that it was going to be a long time before she'd be able to see her boyfriend once again... or who had once been her boyfriend. She was so engrossed into the music that she didn't ear a motorcycle getting closer.
That morning Austin Tucker had decided to change his usual route with a longer one so he could be fashionably late. From his motorcycle, he saw a car parked strangely and briefly wondered what had happened. His usual smug smirk crept on his face when he spotted a girl walking on the sideway. He would have recognized her anywhere; his dear Emily Kmetko that he was still trying to decipher. Because no matter how cold and sarcastic she could be, she had been able to make a guy like Damon Young to fall in love with her, and he wanted to know why she was so special.
He slowed down until he was driving next to her. He pushed up the visor of his helmet and called her name but Emily, with her earphones on, didn't ear him and kept on walking.
Austin honked and shook his head laughing; he was pretty sure that if anyone saw them in that moment, they would have thought that they looked like a couple fighting: she, the typical girl hurt and angry that was ignoring her boyfriend and he, the boy that just can't give up and would follow his girl everywhere.
In the end, he parked his bike just as Emily stopped to cross the road, finally turning the MP3 off. When she turned to the left, she found herself face to face with Austin, who got his helmet off smirking at her.
"Kmetko! I've been following you for the last ten minutes shouting your name."
Typical of him to exaggerate everything, Emily told herself. "Tucker," she said in a way of greeting before starting walking once again.
"Wait," he said quickly. "Do you need a ride?" he asked, while getting off of his bike before lifting the saddle so he could retrieve the spare helmet.
"Thank you, but I'm ok," the gymnastic told him looking between the helmet he was offering and his face.
"Was it your car the one "parked"," he made air-quote making Emily smile. "At the beginning of the street?"
"My mother's actually," she answered while putting her MP3 back in her bag. "A tire blew up and I'm already late."
"Then you're not ok." Austin sarcastic tone made Emily stop smiling. "You need a ride, and me, Austin Tucker, I'm ready to help you..." he trailed off looking straight into her blue eyes. "Do you feel a deja-vù? Because I know I do, Ms. Kmetko."
Emily rolled her eyes but grabbed the helmet nonetheless. "Obviously," she answered, with the same tone the boy had used. "I'm the damsel in distress and you're my knight in shiny armor."
Austin laughed before putting his helmet back on, got back on his bike and turned it on. He made the bike roar and Emily looked at him with a I'm-so-not-impressed look before getting on the saddle behind him. "Hold on tight, Kmetko, we will be there in no time," he told her.
Emily grabbed him around his waist weakly but, when the boy accelereted, she found herself tightening her hold. She had never been on a bike before, and she was surprised to feel the adrenaline pumping in her veins every time Austin would acceleret. She was pretty sure that if they were in another place and she wasn't wearing a helmet, she would have laughed out loud. She felt incredibily happy for those few minutes she passed on the bike with the boy.
Every time Austin would accelerate and Emily would tighten her hold, he would smile broadly. He would have liked to take her on one of those highways running along the Ocean, so he could have her without a helmet on and hear her laugh because he was absolutely sure that she was having just as much fun as he was.
The bike turned in the gym's street and decelerated gradually. Emily loosed her hold a little and Austin shook his head for a moment. Getting close to the Rock, mean that Emily was getting back in her gymnastic mode and he knew that. When they finally spotted Lauren, Payson and Kaylie, they both stopped smiling and found themselves thinking:
The Party is over.