Tap, tap. Matt awoke. Someone was tapping on his car window. He jumped up. He had forgotten where he was. A feeling of dread filled him when he thought of his mother and getting home again. The clock told him it was nine o'clock. Tap, tap. Matt remembered the tapping person. A silhouette stood at his window. Matt's heart skipped a beat. Could it be? "Mimi?!?!" he squeaked. "MIMI?!?!?!" There were a pair of hazel eyes staring at him. His hand shot at the door. He flung it open and was faced with.....
It was that girl again. Matt was severely disappointed, but was grateful at his chance to see her again. He straightened his hair, and she returned the dark sunglasses to her face.
"Uh...." Matt stammered.
"Tai??? Is that you?? Wow, twice in one day, it's so great to see you!"
"Actually about that whole Tai thing....."
"Is something wrong with your car? Oh, that was a stupid question. Of course there's something wrong, why else would you be sitting out here. I mean sometimes I like to be alone, but not sitting in a car on the side of the highway."
Matt smiled at the girl while she rambled. Man, she looked familiar. He really wished he had given her his own name. He didn't even remember why he hadn't. He saw the girl's car behind her. It was gorgeous, just like her, and glamorous. It looked brand new.
"Uh...Tai...are you there?"
"What? Yeah!" Matt realized that he was staring right at her with a stupid grin on his face. Or at least what he thought was stupid. He turned away, embarrassed.
"Um, I ran out of gas," He said quietly.
"Oh...well I can take you to a gas station, if you have a container for it."
Soon enough they were on the road. Matt sat in the front seat next to the girl. They were quiet for a while. Finally Matt spoke up.
"Thanks for taking me to get gas. I'm going to be in so much trouble. My friends were being jerks and took my car."
Soon enough he had told her the whole story, leaving out the part about the bus; she already knew about that.
"Well, I hate to say it, but it sounds like you need new friends. I mean, if my friends treated me like that, I wouldn't be friends with them." the girl said softly.
"Yeah, I have some really good friends, though. Those guys just used to be my friends and I don't have the heart to....well break it off, I guess."
"Hmm," she replied, "Well, I guess we're here."
Matt hadn't realized that they were sitting in front of a gas station, next to a pump. He got out and walked over to the pump. Before he lifted it, he remember that he didn't have any money.
"Oh, shit!" Matt slapped himself on the forehead.
"What's the matter?" The girl was standing next to him.
"I, uh, um, just remember that I......don'thaveanymoney" he said really fast.
"That's not a problem. I know you would help me the same way if you could."
It only took a few minutes to get the gas and get back on the road. As they neared his car, Matt spoke up again.
"Will I get to see you again, Em?" he asked.
"Why did you just call me that?"
"It's your name isn't it?" Matt stammered.
"Ye-yeah."
Matt was surprised to see her embarrassed. She always seemed comfortable, but suddenly she looked on edge.
"I'm sorry. I know you didn't tell me, but I heard that kid call you it and...."
"It's okay. Um, I'll see you around Tai."
Matt flinched as he got out of the car. He had meant to set her straight on the name thing, but now she seemed so uncomfortable. He walked over to his car. He heard her door open.
"I'm going to follow you home to make sure you make it." she yelled to him.
Before he could protest, she slammed her door shut again.
He got in and started up the engine. He thought about how he was going to explain this to his mother. She was going to be pissed.
A half an hour later, he pulled into his parking spot next to his mother's car. The girl parked next to him. He was about to tell her that he was okay, when he heard his mom yelling angrily. He had never heard her this angry.
"You get your butt in this house immediately!"
Matt gulped. He felt a presence beside him.
"Wow, she sounds mad!" Em whispered.
Matt nodded, and walked with his head down to the house. He turned to say good- bye to Em, but she was still walking beside him.
"I'm not letting you face certain danger alone." she said laughingly, squeezing his hand.
They walked up the stair to the apartment. Matt flung the door open. His mom stood in the doorway, looking completely steamed.
"I want an explanation and I want it fast!"
Matt opened his mouth, but was interrupted.
"Well, it's like this. Stupid me ran out of gas outside of town, and I didn't know what to do. I was way worried, because, you know, horror stories about girls on the highway all alone, so I called my good buddy, your son. I can always count on him, you've done a good job raising him. But, anyway, back to my story. He knew he would get in trouble, I guess he's grounded or something, but he didn't hesitate to come help. He forgot to leave a note when he left the house, and he was so worried the entire time that you would be worried. I know he's really sorry about the note thing, but I am truly grateful to him for helping me like that. I couldn't get ahold of anyone else."
The girl took a deep breath. A smile lit up her face and there was no trace of deception from the humongous lie she just told. Matt looked at his mother. Her grave face quickly broke into a smile. Her whole attitude changed.
"My dear, you must be so cold and wet," she said, putting her arm around Em, "I'll make us some tea. Matt, under the circumstances, I'm un-grounding you. You did the right thing. I still wish you would have left a note, but we're all human and make mistakes. Your wretched friend, Neito called a little while ago. Tai called, too. You should call them back." She returned her attention to Em. "Come, darling, let's go get some tea."
Matt knew it was better to let his mom and Em go. He would be likely to slip and uncover their lie. He was glad that his mom liked Em. Matt went to his room and called Tai.
"Yeah, and she's in the kitchen with my mom right now," Matt finished, after telling Tsai about his afternoon. He left out the part about using Tai's name. It seemed stupider by the minute.
"Well, she sounds cool to me," Tai replied, "And I keep telling you to ditch those friends of yours."
"I know, this is the last straw." Matt said, before saying good bye and hanging up.
Matt found his mother and Em in the kitchen, cleaning up after their tea. Once they were done, he walked Em to her car.
"Your mom is great, although she was scary at first," Em said with a laugh.
Matt laughed, too.
"I'll see you around," she said with a smile.
"Yeah," Matt said. As she drove off he added, "I hope so."