Six reviews? Sweet. Ok, most of you know who saved Bloom, so let see how it's going.

BTW: If you got a message saying that Chapter 2 was up, too, it's only because I was editing. Sorry!


Ok, recap. I'm knocked out in an alley, money gone, and none of my friends know. Even to this day I don't know every detail of what happened from when I was knocked out to when I woke up. I do know that the car had been fairly new. The company in the car? Not so much.


Chapter 3: A New Car and an Old Enemy


Bloom

I slowly blinked my eyes open. For a second I forgot what happened. But then the memories hit me. The guys, the beating…my head started throbbing again, and I was immediately disappointed in myself for letting them intimidate me. Then I remembered something else. When I blacked out, I had been in the alley. Looking around now, I realized I was in the passenger seat of a car. What the heck happened? Silently, I turned my head to make sure the driver wasn't one of those goons who attacked me. Who I found myself staring at was even more shocking.

His hair was back in a ponytail, different from how it looked the last time I saw him. His coat was shorter, only going to his lower back. And instead of dark pants, he was wearing jeans. But besides the minor appearance change, Baltor still looked like his old self.

I saw him glance over at me. I quickly closed my eyes, hoping he hadn't seen me. I heard him chuckle.

"I saw that." I shivered involuntarily. I hadn't heard his voice in so long. Giving up pretending to be asleep, I opened my eyes and sat up straight in the seat, trying to distance myself from him. But considering I was in a car, there wasn't much room to distance. "How do you feel?" Baltor asked me.

"Fine." That was a lie. My head hurt, the cut on my arm was throbbing, and my ankle was swollen. I could tell it wasn't broken or anything (I broke my arm when I was 9, so believe me I know when something's broken.), but it still hurt. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he replied, "I moved here about a year ago. You?"

"Two years ago," I said cautiously. "Mike and Vanessa let me move in with…"

"…With?"

My eyes narrowed. "A friend."

"Someone we know from back home?" he asked

"Someone I know," I replied coldly, "That I met in Gardenia."

Baltor raised his eyebrows but said nothing back. "Well with that attitude I'm guessing your ok. Considering how I found you," he paused, "You seem to still be…you."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"It means," Baltor replied with a slightly irritated tone, "That you probably don't need to get checked out."

I was silent for a minute, "You mean like get checked out at a hospital?" He nodded. "I don't need to go to the hospital. I'm fine."

"If your sure. I mean you're pretty beaten up…"

"I'm fine! For the third time!" I snapped. Baltor cast a look at me but said nothing.

"Excuse me for trying to help."

"Define help. Help as in being nice, or the way you 'helped' my parents?" The car screeched to a halt. I panicked until I realized Baltor got caught at a red light. He was staring at the road, his golden eyes absolutely unreadable.

"Don't start with me on that, Bloom. I've told you a thousand times, it wasn't my fault."

"Right," I scoffed as the light turned green and we started moving, "That's not how I remember it."

"If I recall," Baltor said, his eyes had a hint of amusement, "You found out about it from your sister. You weren't with your parents when it happened."

I glared at him and slumped back in my seat. I hate it when he's right. "I still don't believe you," I said under my breath. Baltor apparently didn't hear me, or at least didn't respond. It was a few minutes before he spoke to me again.

"So where do you want me drop you?" I raised an eyebrow. Baltor gave a small laugh, shaking his head. "Where's your house?"

"The apartment building on 42nd street." I replied, "Why?"

"Why do you think? I'm driving you home."

"I wish you'd let me walk."

"Not happening." Baltor replied.

"But-"

"You look older," Baltor said, changing the subject. He does that a lot. "What are you now, seventeen, eighteen?"

"Twenty-one." I snapped. To say I was ticked right now was probably an understatement.

Baltor's eyes widened for a fraction of a second. "You look young for your age."

I glared at him, ignoring the compliment. Now, Baltor was three years older than me, so that put him at…twenty-four. I knew because when the whole 'incident' happened, Baltor had been fifteen, and I was 12. Three years. But looking at Baltor now, he looked my age. In fact, he was kind off…handsome. Wait, what did I just say? Get a hold of yourself Bloom…

"Bloom?"

"Huh? What?" I snapped out of my thoughts to find Baltor smirking at me.

"I said how did you end up knocked out in that alley anyway?"

"Why do you even care?" I asked suspiciously.

Baltor rolled his eyes. "For someone who's getting a free lift home, you sure don't show a lot of respect."

"I respect those who deserve to be respected." I said, giving a smirk.

"Ouch," he replied sarcastically, "So how's your sister?" Again, changes the subject often.

"Daphne moved after graduation."

"Where to?"

"Florida." Again, a lie. Daphne lives in California, Long Beach to be exact. But I had a feeling if I told the truth, Daphne would hang me. I'm not even kidding. "She still hates you, you know."

He laughed, "I'm sure she does. But it's not like I care."

I had been staring out the car window, watching the street signs flash by, counting how many blocks until home (fourteen, in case your wondering.). When he said that however, I snapped my head around to look at him. "You don't care?"

"No. Why should I?"

"Well, you guys were best friends. You would hang out all the time. And last time I checked, friends care about other friends opinions."

"She hates me, remember?" Baltor said as though it were nothing. I opened my mouth to protest, but I found that I couldn't say anything. Now, I hated it when Baltor won in a fight, ever since I was little. It always seemed like I had the upper hand, but then Baltor would whip something out and I'd look like an idiot. It was bad enough when we were friends, but now, hating him, losing the argument felt even worse. Glancing back at Baltor, I saw that his face was emotionless, but I could tell in his eyes he had gotten a kick out of proving me wrong. Now I'd have to do my part of the deal. Dang it… "Ok," I said finally, "Maybe she doesn't hate you."

"Really?" Baltor had an amused look on his face.

"But that doesn't mean she'll ever talk to you again." I quickly added. Baltor looked at me in surprise. Then she slowly cracked a smile, a small one, but still a smile, and laughed. "Looks like I taught you well."

I laughed too. "Yeah, I guess you did." Realizing what I just said, I clamped a hand over my mouth. Baltor let out another laugh.

"I'm sorry, who won that little argument?"

"Boasting will get you nowhere in life." I said in a matter-of-fact tone. And though I knew I was supposed to be mad, I knew I was smiling.

"Point," he agreed with a smile, "So before I boast anymore, do me a favor. Get out of my car." I looked out my window. I was in front of my apartment complex.

"So let me review. I need to start showing respect to people who give me free rides, I need to learn how to win arguments, and I need to get out of your car. Will there be anything else?"

"Two things, actually," he said. I turned around to look at him. "One, you failed to answer my previous question."

"Which one?" I asked with a playful smirk

"The one where you tell me what a twenty-one year old girl was doing knocked out in alley looking like she came out of a wrestling match."

I sighed and started opening the car door. "I was robbed, ok? I was trying to find a cab home, and I ran into a couple of thugs."

"I see. And that brings me to number two. Don't let it happen again. I don't need to be out looking though every alley in New York City every night for an unconscious redhead, ok?"

"Oh, ok, Dad. I'll be more careful next time." I said in sarcastic tone. He laughed, and I stepped out of the car.

"One more thing Bloom." I stuck my head back in the car.

"Yeah?"

"You look good. You know, considering how long it's been and what's happened."

That triggered it. I remembered at that moment that I was supposed to be mad at him. "Well, considering you've been giving me advice all night let me give you some: Your flirting skills need obvious work." I shut the car door. I thought I heard Baltor call my name again, but I was obviously wrong because a second later his car sped down the street. Only one word popped into my head about what just happened. One single word. Jerk. It looked like Baltor was still Baltor. Oh well, at least I wouldn't be seeing him again. I hoped.

I entered the building. In the main lobby of the complex, I glanced up at the clock. 1:15a.m. Great. My friends were going to kill me. And after that, yet another though dashed into me head. September 19. Two days to go.

Well, there you are. Now if any of you are thinking: 'Two days? What?' Don't worry, you'll get it later. Now before you go, you see that little green button that says Review on it? Go and click that, and tell me how you're liking the story. Just follow one rule when you hit that button: Reviews are welcome, flaming is not. Other than that, it should be fine. Bye!

Sneak Peek at Chapter4:

Bloom thinks that the whole deal with Baltor is over, and she can just move on. But with new technology, she'll find out just how hard it is to try and stay away from people. Especially when they have your phone number.