"SAMMY! You're gonna be late if you don't get moving!" Judy Witwicky's voice echoed up the stairs causing Sam to move a bit faster.
"I'm coming!" Moving around she stuffed what she needed in her backpack, cursing the fact that her alarm chose to not work that morning. Hopping around as she tried to put her shoes on and barely missed stepping on Mojo as the small Chihuahua sat watching her. Huffing in annoyance she grabbed her bag and stumbled into the hall and down the stairs. In the kitchen she found her parents in their usual routine with her mother cooking breakfast watching the small TV and her father reading the paper.
"This is just awful." Judy commented as she continued to watch the news. "Did you hear this Ron? Those poor soldiers."
Sam paused to listen catching the last few words from Defense Secretary Keller. "We are dealing with a highly effective weapons system, one we have not come across before. But our thoughts and prayers are with those men who…"
"Judy you shouldn't watch stuff like that you know how it upsets you." Ron interrupted the broadcast breaking Sam's attention.
"Of course it upsets me! This is important! What if we have another terrorist attack coming? What will you do then huh mister?"
Deciding to cut in before her parents could get into another one of their infamous 'arguments' she turned to her father. "So dad, can we go car shopping today?"
Ron turned to his daughter eyebrow cocked. "That confident are we?"
"I have $2000 and two A's, and I know I'll get an A on the genealogy project. I worked very hard on it and I turned it in early." Sam argued. "Besides I'm a Witwicky, of course I'll get an A."
Ron chuckled pleased with that statement. "I see, alright I'll pick you up after school and we can check some places out."
"Thanks dad."
"Honey, are you sure you want to wear that to school?" Turning to her mother Sam frowned. Looking down at her t-shirt and jeans she pouted.
"What's wrong with how I look?"
"It's just so frumpy. You're a cute girl; you should wear things to show off your hot body." Judy wiggled a bit in emphasis. "You're only young once Sammy, flaunt it while you got it!"
"Hey, hey, hey! There will be no flaunting!" Ron stated resolutely. "She's fine the way she is!"
"Oh Ron you're such a party pooper! How's our baby supposed to catch a guy if she doesn't show what she's got?"
"I'm not listening, I'm not listening." Ron covered his ears trying to block such images out.
"Yeah…on that note, I'm going to school." Chuckling Sam grabbed her lunch and kissed both of her parents goodbye before making a break for it.
Thankfully the school was only a twenty-minute walk from her house so she managed to get there before the first bell. On the way to her locker she heard a voice calling out to her causing her to pause. Turning around she found her friend Mikaela Banes making her way over.
Sam sighed mentally as she took in the overly short skirt and skintight tank top that did nothing to hide the other girl's form. Not that Sam blamed her, Mikaela had a great body, one every girl was generally jealous of, including Sam. Where Mikaela had bright blue eyes, long black hair, a perfectly slim and curvy body, Sam had dark brown eyes plain brown hair and a rather average form that one could classify as lean and athletic in comparison. Though they were about the same height Mikaela took the prize on bust size. Sometimes it amazed Sam that they were friends, though not terribly close by any stretch of the imagination, but friends all the same.
"Hey Sam! Thanks for your help with my trig homework Friday."
"No problem Mik. How was your weekend?" The two exchanged pleasantries for a time before the bell rang and they had to split up.
It seemed to be a universal constant that when one wanted time to go fast it inevitably slowed down to a near crawl. By the time History class rolled around Sam was ready to pull her hair out. Thankfully she managed to get through that final block and give her presentation to the class. Personally she thought it went very well, and Mr. Hosney apparently felt the same way considering he gave her an A. Extremely pleased she practically ran out of the classroom and to her locker to get what she needed to leave.
"Hey what's the hurry?" Turning her head she found Mikaela watching her in amusement.
"I just completed my end of the bargain I have with my dad, so he's going to take me car shopping today." It took a lot to keep from jumping up and down in excitement. "Hey, since it's going to be a used car can I get you to check it out for me? I mean you're a guru with cars and I'm pretty much not."
"Yeah, that'd be cool." Mikaela's eyes brightened at the prospect, happy that her friend trusted her knowledge in such things. "Just let me know when."
"Cool! Gotta go or Dad might decide to renege on our deal!" Waving goodbye to the other girl she moved swiftly out of the school dodging other teens that lingered in the halls.
Much to her relief her father sat waiting in his little green convertible. Throwing her books in the back she handed him the confirmation of her grade before sliding into the passenger seat.
"Ok, I guess we're getting you a car." The declaration brought a cheer from Sam as they headed down the road. They had stopped at a few places yet couldn't find a vehicle either of them liked in the price range they wanted. At one point Ron pulled into a Porsche dealership just to tease her earning a light smack to the arm for his trouble.
Their final stop for the day was Bolivia's Car Lot, a rather run down looking place with the usual balloons and flags that such dealerships employed to catch peoples attention. At the rather pathetic looking man in a clown suite Sam raised a brow ready to question her father's sanity for choosing such a place but she let it go and got out of the vehicle. Following her father over to a small grouping of vehicles she looked them over with a critical eye.
"Here's a good one." Ron smiled as he took in the look on Sam's face.
"I don't know dad…it doesn't look…"
"It's your first car; it doesn't need to look pretty."
"I was going to say safe."
"Oh." Ron paused to consider the car again, noting the rusty parts and slightly worn down tires. "Ok I'll give you that…"
"Welcome to Bolivia's." They turned to find a tall black man with a colorful shirt walking towards them, his 'sales' smile at 100 watts. "Like the country only without the runs." His chuckles died off as the joke fell flat. He looked to say more when his eye caught something and he turned to yell at another man sitting in the shade of the building. "Hey Manny!"
"What?"
"Get your cousin outta that clown costume. Havin' that heat stroke again. Scarin' the white folks."
Sam exchanged a look with her father, both questioning the sanity of these people. In the background they could hear the clown remarking that his makeup was melting. The owner smiled winningly at them again. "I am Bobby B. How may I help you this fine day?"
"My daughter's looking to buy her first car." Ron motioned towards Sam.
"So you came to see me?" The man pointed at himself importantly.
"Kinda had to."
"That practically makes us family. Uncle Bobby B, baby, Uncle Bobby B." He shook her hand vigorously. "Now as you are looking for your first vehicle let Uncle Bobby B give you some advice. A driver don't pick the car. Mmm-mm. Cars pick the driver. It's a mystical bond between man and machine…or in this case woman and machine." He waited for them to nod in understanding before starting to lead them to another part of the car lot.
As she moved to follow Bobby B and her father one of the cars caught her eye. She paused in confusion, sure that the vehicle had not been there prior. Shaking it off she stepped towards it, taking in the faded yellow paint and black racing stripes up the center of the hood. There were dents and dings and a few rust spots spread along the body, but otherwise it looked rather sturdy. Peering inside via the rolled down window she noted the tan leather interior, somewhat worn but still adequate. A small air freshener in the shape of a bumblebee with the word 'bee-otch" written on it had her chuckling.
"What year is this one?" Her father's voice startled her as it was closer than before. She looked up noting that Bobby looked slightly confused but played it off well.
"Oh uh…I think it's a 75 or 76. Manny! What year is this car?"
Sam ignored them and opened the door sliding easily into the driver seat, surprised at how comfortable it felt. Looking around she noted a basic radio and heating/cooling system on the car. Raising her hands to the steering wheel she let them run along the edge testing the feel of it. A slight glimmer on the wheel had her running her thumb along the center of it to wipe away the grime. It revealed a symbol she had not seen before which looked kind of like a face.
"I'll let you have it for $5000." Bobby's voice caught her attention once more.
"No, no." Ron argued back. "I'm not going over $4000."
"And the door just closed." Bobby stated dryly before leaning down through the passenger window. "Get out of the car."
"Wait a minute." Sam looked at him incredulously. "I thought you said "the car chooses the driver"." She moved when he started to shoo her from the vehicle.
"Yeah well sometimes they pick a driver with a cheap ass father." He informed her curtly before turning to the Volkswagen beetle sitting next to the Camaro. "Now this car over here…"
Sam sighed at the obvious change in the conversation and closed the driver's door of the Camaro. This in turn had the passenger side door of the Camaro opening and smacking against the driver door of the Volkswagen. The three of them stared silently for a moment before Bobby closed the door cautiously.
"See door closed. Now this car…"
Suddenly the radio in the Camaro blasted a shrill noise blowing out the windshields of just about every car in the lot around them. Sam slowly lowered her arms, eyes wide in disbelief as she looked to her father then Bobby. The latter stared in horror at the damage surrounding them as if unable to comprehend the incident.
He swallowed hard before holding one hand up showing four fingers, his voice cracking. "$4000!"