AN: Short first chapter in case this story is a bust and no one is interested in seeing it continue. I was inspired by a movie I saw and this wouldn't leave me alone. I know I still have one chapter left of A Means to an End and I will get that up ASAP. Let me know if anyone is interested in seeing this progress.
Bo POV
It was only a week into the summer before senior year and I was already longing for school to start again. The less time I spent at home the better off I was. I felt selfish for escaping into my own little world while my mother couldn't afford such a luxury. Years ago I asked her why she didn't leave my father and take me with her but she quickly shut down that line of questioning. I never asked again. It was impossible to miss the fear in her eyes at the mere thought of it.
My passion was cars. To be more specific my passion was restoring my 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible. I loved anything mechanical. I found peace in figuring out how things worked and fixing them when they didn't. I worked part time for Karl and Roger at their auto repair and body shop in exchange for allowing me to store my Camaro in one of their empty bays and work on it when time permitted. I think they took pity on me considering my situation at home. It wasn't a big secret. My father was the notorious town drunk and everyone knew he raised his hand to my mother and me. It was just one of those things that everyone whispered about yet found relief that their own lives weren't the center of town gossip.
I found the old beat up Camaro at the junk yard last summer as I was desperately trying to find a distraction and Karl helped me tow it back to his shop for safe keeping. Since then I had put all my time and energy into bringing it back to life. It was my goal to have it finished by the end of senior year but I wasn't sure if that was feasible. It never hurt to dream.
This small Podunk town was the only place I knew and I dreamt of leaving and never coming back. It held too many awful things that I needed to get away from. It was your typical little town. It was sort of split up between down on their luck families like mine and the families that were well off and had money to burn with everything else in between.
In my quest to turn my back on this place I started to apply to every college I could find that had a Mechanical engineering department but I had heard nothing back so far. Maybe it was too early to apply. Regardless if I didn't get a scholarship then I probably wouldn't even be able to go to college. I put researching financial aid at the top of my to-do list for the summer. There was no way my father would ever put a single penny towards anything that would benefit me. He didn't work. He sat around all day drinking and gambling while collecting disability checks. My brother Dyson supplemented the income as the towns go to person for weed and pills. He was really no better than my father. Dyson graduated three years before me and had no ambition to be anything but the town's drug dealer funding my father's bad habits along with his own.
I left the house early this morning. I was already out the door before anyone else was awake. Karl and Roger gave me my own key to their shop so I could come and go as I pleased. I had been battling with stripping the paint from the Camaro and I wanted to get an early start. Sanding and scrapping was easy but very time consuming.
Hours later and the afternoon was hot and the air stifling. Karl and Roger opened shop at nine and by one I had run out of 400 grade sandpaper to finish scuffing the paint. I threw on my leather jacket over my tank top despite the heat and headed to town on my '36 Harley Davidson RLD Flathead. I had liberated it from one of my neighbors who had it sitting in their garage dying of old age. The frame was dented, the tires were old and it was not painted but I was able to get it to run reliably. Until I had the Camaro in top running shape the Flathead was my main mode of transportation.
I pulled up in front of Southland Hardware when I spotted Lauren Lewis across the street with her friends. They were sitting outside at one of the tables in front of Grinders Café drinking their iced coffee and enjoying the afternoon sun.
I couldn't help but stare. I thought Lauren was one of the most beautiful girls in our class and I had been hooked on her since freshman year. Both her parents were doctors who commuted to and from the city an hour and half away so they could work in a larger more established hospital compared to the clinic that we had here in town.
Lauren and I did not move in the same social circles. Her family was one of the more influential ones in the county and they lived in the nicer area of town. Despite the money and the pull her parents had in the community – Lauren saw past it all. I had never heard her say a negative thing to or about anyone. She looked past family social standing and money and saw each person for who they were individually. Her parents were not the same from what I had experienced. The few times I had been around them at a school function they turned their nose up at anyone who wasn't in their tight knit circle.
Lauren was extremely intelligent. If she continued as she was she would graduate as our class valedictorian. She took all AP courses and was on a fast track to Yale through connections from her parents. I knew she wanted to be a doctor or a researcher of some kind. She certainly had the drive to achieve her goals. I always saw her in school studying in the library or loaded down with books. Her education seemed to come before social activities.
She was kind to me. She greeted me when our paths crossed and smiled at me whenever she caught me staring – never bringing it to attention that I had my eyes on her. In the almost four years we had been going to school together I never had the nerve to start an actual conversation with her. I was content with admiring her from afar. To be honest I was too scared to attempt to approach her. I wasn't sure if I could handle the rejection if there was any and I didn't feel I was worthy enough to try and form a friendship. With my brother's illegal activities and my father's abusive, drunken rage – I didn't want her to pity me. Worse yet I didn't want to drag her into the hell that was my family.
I tore my eyes from Lauren and headed into the hardware store. I wanted to finish scuffing the paint before it got too dark to work. I quickly located the 400 grade sandpaper that I needed and made my purchase.
After I exited the store I saw that Lauren had the hood up on her BMW M3 while her friends sat in the car. Lauren had both hands shoved in her pockets while she just stared at the engine. As I put my purchase away in the saddlebag on my bike I debated walking across the street to see what the problem was.
If it was engine related then I knew I would be able to help or at least diagnose the problem. I took a deep breath and pushed myself forward. I looked both ways before crossing the street and made my way to Lauren's side.
She looked up at me startled that I was standing there. She must have been so deep in thought she didn't see me make my way to her.
I cleared my throat and asked, "What seems to be the problem?"
She huffed a little and pulled her hands from her pockets, "It won't start."
I nodded and motioned towards the driver's door, "Get in and try to turn the engine over. Let me hear what it is doing."
She gave me a skeptical look. There weren't many people that really knew about my passion for all things mechanical. The high school didn't offer shop class and I did all my work alone. It was a wonderful escape from my life at home.
I smiled at her and said, "Trust me."
She walked around me and got back into the car. I could hear her friends asking her what I was doing and why she hadn't called a tow truck.
I pulled in a deep breath trying to ignore her friends and listened as Lauren tried to start the car.
I soon as I heard it I had an idea of what the issues was. Lauren came back to where I was standing and asked, "Do you know what it is?"
I could hear the desperation in her voice and I felt a knot form in my stomach at her distress.
"Did you hear the faint click or chatter? Lack of power is preventing the starter motor from working but there is just enough current to work the solenoid. I think it might just be a loose battery lead. Give me a sec."
I leaned in and checked the clamps that were fitted around the battery posts. One of the clamps that was secured by a bolt was loose causing the battery lead to lose contact with the terminal.
I straightened back up and smiled, "I can fixed this. Let me just grab some stuff from my bike."
I jogged back across the street and dug around in one of the saddlebags. I always carried some basic tools with me incase my bike decided to become temperamental and break down on me.
I grabbed what I needed and joined Lauren again at her car. I pulled out one of the screw drivers and proceeded to tighten the bolt. I could feel Lauren's eyes on me as she watched me intently.
When I was done I put my tools away and asked her to try again, "Try to start it now."
She did as I asked and the engine turned over immediately. She left the car running when she came back to where I was standing, "What was it?"
I focused on the car so I could answer her without making a fool of myself, "The bolt was loose on the clamp that holds the lead to the battery. Just needed to tighten it back up."
I replaced the hood of the car back to its resting position as she commented more to herself than me, "I didn't know you were mechanically inclined."
I picked up tools from the ground and winked at her as I wondered where my sudden bravery came from when I said, "There's a lot you don't know about me."
Her voice took on a more flirtatious tone as she responded, "Is that so?"
I felt like a deer caught in headlights. I made this bold statement but had no idea how to follow through, "Yeah." I answered awkwardly.
She laughed and grabbed my jacket sleeve, "Aren't you hot?"
I was happy for the subject change, "I always where a jacket when I ride my motorcycle. If I ever have to lay it down on the road the jacket will at least provide some protection between skin and concrete."
I could hear Lauren's friends yelling for her to hurry back. She glanced over at them before returning her attention to me, "What are you doing this summer? Anything special?"
My eyebrows shot up at her question. I could feel my stomach turn at her curiosity, "I am restoring a 1969 Camaro SS Convertible over at Karl and Roger's auto shop. That is where I spend most of my time if I can help it. Not anything special really." I looked down at the ground as I kicked the tip of my boot against the right front tire of her car.
She frowned as she heard her friends yelling louder and banging on the sides of the doors to get her attention, "I wouldn't say that. Sounds pretty special to me. At least I know where I can find you now. You know, in case I need your expertise again. I really have to go. As you can hear my friends are beyond impatient but thank you so much for the help."
I stepped up on the sidewalk and said, "Any time."
I stood there and watched her get back into the car while her friends were asking her what our conversation was all about. She gave me a little wave as she pulled away from the curb and left me standing there in her wake.
I shook my head a little trying to clear the haze I was in while I returned to my bike and put my tools away. I fastened my helmet and started the bike so I could head back to the shop. The entire ride there I had a little smile on my face that I couldn't get rid of no matter how hard I tried. I couldn't stop thinking about the short but sweet conversation I had with Lauren in front of Grinders Café after fixing her car. I felt like I was her hero for the day. I wondered how things would have gone if her friends weren't vying for her attention. She seemed genuinely impressed with my help as well as with my current restoration project. As I pulled up into the parking lot of the auto shop I knew without a doubt I had feelings for Lauren Lewis. If I ever had any doubt about my feelings – today shredded those doubts until nothing was left of them. We didn't really know each other but I wanted that to change – even when I had the gnawing voice in the back of my head telling me I wasn't good enough for her.
