Chapter 4

Brandon's POV

As soon as we started driving to the park, my mom's phone began to ring.

"What's up Mike?" Mom says as she puts the phone on speaker so that Lena could listen in.

"Well…the dad just showed up and went ballistic. He was demanding to know what his son was being arrested for and started flipping out. Now, I have no choice but to take them both in."

Mom sighs, "Okay, that's fine. Do you need me?"

"No, my back up just arrived. But the dad keeps rambling on about some girl who tricked him. I'm guessing it was Christina?"

"Did he say what happened? Where she went?"

"He says she lured him out of his house and told him that her car battery died. And when he went to go help her, she realized she locked her keys in the car. When he tried to pry open the door, she grabbed his car keys from the ignition and took off running."

"What the hell?" she asked. Callie and I couldn't help but crack up in the backseat.

That girl IS crazy!

"He said that he had to walk six blocks just to get back here."

I could see my mom shaking her head in the front seat and looking at Lena, who also had this look of disbelief on her face. "All right. Thanks Mike," my mom replied and hung up the phone. "You two are not going to make this easy on me are you?"

"I'm sorry," I repeat. "…Wait, this is the park we said we'd meet her at," I say and my mom stops the car immediately. We all try to scan the park with our eyes but the darkness barely lets us see anything.

"Where is she?" Lena asks as if she didn't believe us.

"I can go look for her," I answer.

My mom nods, "Go."

I walk over toward the playground and yell for her.

"What the hell are you so loud for?" I hear her say and I finally see that she's lying on a long slide. "And what the hell took you so long? I've been waiting here for ages! …Running from a grown man, yeah, not as easy as it looks. Hey, where's Callie? And her brother?"

"They're in the car," I answer. "Come on, let's go.

"Whoah, seriously? Whose car did you steal?" she asks me with a smile on her face.

"What? No ones. They're in my mom's car."

Christina crosses her arms over her chest, "Are you for real? Did you seriously call your moms on us?"

"No," I answer as I glare at her. "My moms tracked my phone and found us there."

"Oh. My. God. What does that mean?"

"It means get in the car."

"I'm not getting in the car!" She yells back, and I can already tell she's getting ready to pounce.

I see my mom standing in back of her and I know the chances of her getting away are slim to none. "Oh, yes, you are," my mom says which causes Christina's face to flash with fear before she turns around.

"Uh… I was just…"

"About to get in the car before you get into more trouble?" my mom finishes.

"Yup," Christina answers as she begins to walk toward the car.

Christina's POV

I cannot believe that this freakin' kid is on that much of a tight leash, that he can't even think for himself. And his moms practically have a GPS tracking device sticking out of his ass to make matters worse. What the hell is that? You would think that he would've mentioned it, before following us to commit a crime. But of course, he's an idiot. This is the last time I hang out with a cop's kid, that's for sure.

They're completely clueless.

The second I open the car door, Stef stops me from going in, "Can I talk to you and Callie for a second?"

"What, now?" I ask her.

First she tells me to get in the car, and now she tells me to stay out of it. This woman really needs to make up her mind already…

Callie gets out of the car too and stands next to me, while Brandon gets in without a problem. Of course he wouldn't get in trouble…

The look on Stef's face shows that she is trying hard not to lose her patience, but the look on mine's shows that I don't care whether she flips out or not.

We both face Stef and she starts talking after a few seconds of calming down, "…I would really like you to understand how this, tonight, could have ended very badly..."

Uh, ya think? I want to answer but practically seal my lips together. I knew that our plan was risky, which is exactly why I did it. There was something about putting myself in dangerous situations that always attracted me. I don't know why. It's a sickness. But I knew that I couldn't give that explanation to her, so I just nod and pretend to understand where she's coming from.

Callie finally speaks up, "Look if you wanna send us back to juvie… than you just promise me that Jude will be somewhere safe."

Bitch, speak for yourself! I want to say, but I refrain from doing so. I know that she only cares about her brother, but did she have to throw me under the bus too. I wouldn't mind going to another foster-home, but back to juvie? Is she serious? All I did was try to help her out, and she recommends to a cop that we both get thrown back in there. For what? Planning to steal her brother? And it's only been like what, 5 seconds since we did the crime?

Stef's voice softens after listening to her, "You're not disposable, Callie. You're not worthless." She tries to offer Callie a smile, but Callie doesn't budge at all.

I just stare at them, wondering if I should keep my mouth shut. But there's something about awkward silences that I absolutely hate, "Sooo…What does this mean then?"

"Come on you two. Let's go," she says as she ushers us both into the car.

I'm surprised when I see Callie's brother and offer him a smile, "Hey, you made it out, kid."