Chapter 4- reuploaded

Chapter 4

Sherry Is Dead

Chloe's P.O.V.

Monday morning I put on a black coat, despite the scorching weather, and drove Sherry towards Williamsville, hoping to get as far away as I could from the town to buy a pregnancy test. I stopped at a gas-station on 90. I put on my Ray-Bans and wrapped a scarf around my neck. I got out of the car and walked in the store. A girl my age, maybe a little older, but definitely someone I had never seen before, stood by the counter. I walked up to her. "A pregnancy test, thank you," I said and put 50 dollars on the counter. She chewed her gum and made a bobble while glaring at me.

"What kind?" she asked.

I panicked. There were different kinds?

"Ehm, the one that takes the shortest time, but can be trusted?" I giggled nervously. She gave me another glare and blew another bubble.

It popped.

She stuck her hand under the counter and took out three boxes. "Look, this one is for if ya' fucked him under a week ago," she said and pointed at the first one, "this one is if ya' fucked him over a week ago," she pointed at the middle one, "and this one if ya' fucked him over three weeks ago. So which is it?" I was a little shocked by her sudden 'help', although in actuality I really appreciated it.

"Ehm, the first one," I said. The girl nodded. She had a slight Brooklyn accent, now that I came to think of it.

"Okay, so watcha do is you pee on the stick and wait 20-30 minutes, okay?" she said and chewed her gum. I nodded. "And then you dry it and if it's one stripe, then you're lucky, and if it's two stripes, then you're fucked, got it?" I nodded again.

"That'll be $24.95, ma'am," she said and blew another bubble. I moved the 50 dollar closer. She grabbed it and put it in the cash register. She took out the change and gave it to me.

"Thanks." I said and took the little box and rushed out of the store.

I put the box on the passenger seat and started Sherry. I put her in gear and headed home.

Then on route 190 something happened. She began to scratch and she made odd noises that was clearly a bad sign.

"What the..." I mumbled and pulled her over. She turned off. Turned back on. Then she made this sad little sound, almost like a sigh. Prrrr. And then she was dead.

"No. No, no, no, no! This is not happening!" I punched the steering wheel in frustration and got out of the car. It was smoking from underneath the hood pad; the smoke thick and black. I opened the pad and it blew all over me.

I coughed a couple of times and felt the tears behind my eyelids.

"Sherry..." I whined.

Okay, pull yourself together. I had to call someone.

"Jefferson & Son's, Matt Jefferson speaking, what can I help you with?"

"Matt? Hey, it's me, Chloe. Saunders." I pause.

"Oh, hi! You're in my english class, right?"

"Yes, yes, that's me. Listen, my car broke down at 190 and it looks really bad."

Another pause.

Some noise in the background. "I'll come pick you up, okay? When we get back at the workshop I'll get one of the guys to look at it."

I sighed with relief. "Thank you so much, Matt. I'm right behind,"I looked around, "the 62 bridge."

"I'll be there in 10." He hung up and I sighed. I opened the passenger seat and took out the pregnancy test and put it in my purse.

10 minutes later Matt hooked old Sherry to his truck and opened the passenger seat for me. I got in and closed the door.

"Did you color your hair?" he asked as we began to drive towards the shop.

"What? Oh, yeah, I did," I said and brushed my hair.

"What's with the outfit. Aren't you hot?" I gave him a smirk.

"No, not really," I said. We talked some more, about school and such and soon we were at the workshop.

"Okay, we're here," he said and turned off the car. He jumped out of the seat and yelled into the open shop, "Aye, Derek! Come here, I got a job for ya'!"

Did he say Derek?

And there he was, in his own 6'2 feet tall person with dirty hands, hair up in a knot and a blue coveralls, looking all mandy and auto mechanicy. He had his sleeves rolled up and his overarms showing.

"Derek? Since when do you work here?" I asked as I got out and shut the door.

"Oh, you know each other?" Matt asked.

"He's my best friends brother," I said, still looking at Derek. He tilted his head and looked confused.

"Who are you?" he asked. I pulled my glasses up on my forehead and looked at him.

"Seriously?" I said and, just to make it easier for him, put a hand on my hip. His eyes widened as he recognized me.

"Chloe? Since when do you have... black, short hair? And it looks like you're on you're way to a funeral..." I rolled my eyes slightly hurt by his comment.

I fake sobbed, for dramatic effect.

"Haven't you heard? Sherry's dead!" I pulled out a handkerchief from my pocket and dried the invisible tears off.

He gave me a weird look, I wasn't sure if he took me seriously. "Okay...and who is Sherry?" I gestured to the car.

"The car! My car! And she is deaad," I sobbed again.

"Is that so? Well, I am sure I can do something about it." he said and looked at the car. "Come on, Matt, let's get it to the workshop." They got the car off the truck and got it into the shop.

As Derek was trying to save Sherry, I sat on a chair by the phone, watching him working. Not that I understood what he was doing, but no matter what it was, it looked very complicated. Not to sound like a cliché damsel in distress, god I hate those- woman can save themselves, for God's sake!- but when it came to cars, I was completely clueless. So, thank God I had Derek.I never thought I'd say that.

A couple of times he almost started her, exclaiming, "I think I got it!", but then she'd die again and the other men at the shop would giggle at him while working at their own cars. After an hour and a half, he stopped trying and came over over to me. As he was drying his dirty hands off in a dish-towel, he gave me the update on the resurrection of Sherry.

"Okay so I got good news and bad news. The good news is that I finally found out what was wrong with your car. The engine is completly dead and we would have to order a new one. And the bad news? It will take a couple of days for it to get here and then another day to install it and..." he looked at me with a sad smirk, "I think she will be as good as new in under a week," he said.

I sighed. "Well, I am glad you tried," I said and got up.

"Chloe, wait," he said. I turned around and looked at him. "I have lunch now. Want me to drive you home?" I hesitated.

"I don't know if that's a..." He cut me off.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," he said with an irritated tone.

"Okay, okay, you drive me," I said, a little scared.

"Great. I'll just have to change, then I'll be right back, okay? Stay here." he said and rushed away.

I waited.

After 10 minutes a guy came up to me. He must have been around 20 or so. He had blonde, greasy hair and a disgusting smile on his face. "Hey sweetcakes, are you lost?" he asked. His voice had a slight southern accent to it and he was speaking very slowly. I saw some of his buddies standing in the back and staring at me. Ew.

"No. I am here with my car. She's dead and I needed someone to fix her." I smiled innocently.

"Oh I can fix it for ya' alright. And then I can fix ya' too, if you know what I mean." he brushed his nose with his thumb.

"No thanks. I don't do drugs." I said calmly, although I was internally screaming inside for Derek to hurry the fuck up.

"Well, it doesn't have to be drugs, honey. I have a whole lot of other stuff too, ya' know?" He stepped closer to me and whispered. "I know a lot of fun things we can do together..." I was just about to kick him between his legs when…

"Malloy! You back the fuck off from her!" Derek came rushing towards the scene and stepped in front of me, blocking the guy.

"Oh, sorry Souza. I didn't know this was your girl..." I cut in.

"I am not his girl!" Which only made the guys friends laugh.

"Ugh, and a feisty one too. Good luck with that one." he said.

"Fuck off, Malloy," Derek said. That somehow worked.

"Okay, fine. I was just trying to have a little fun..." He walked to his friends who were already so done, that they were crying.

Derek turned around and took my shoulders. "Are you okay? Did he do something to you?"

I glared at him. "I'm fine. What the hell took you that long?"

He sighed. "I couldn't find my keys, sorry. But at least I got here in time to save you..." I lifted my eyebrow.

"Save me? Oh sorry, do I look like a helpless little girl to you? I had the situation perfectly under control!" I said and crossed my arms.

His eyes grew colder.

"Is that so? 'Cause it didn't look like that to me." he said and his eyes sent a shiver down my spine.

"Well, I did," I said. "And if you would stop treating me like a child all the time, maybe you would see it." I said and tried to stare back at him.

"Maybe if you didn't act like one, I wouldn't have to."

I gave him a bitter-sweet smile. "Fuck. You," I said and began to walk away.

With my back turned to him, I put my sunglasses on again and kept walking. Behind me I heard him yell, "Chloe, don't be ridiculous!" I just put a middle finger in the air.

I could hear the man from before telling Derek, "Looks like your girl's leaving you, Souza."

She is indeed.