Chapter Twenty- Five: Inanimate Objects

"Can I have your car?"

"Again?"

"Please? I want to go see Jo, she is going to get released today." Bonnie looked at her mother with the best bambi-eyes she could do. Bonnie had been using Abby's car do drive to the hospital at least once a day for the past few days. Jo had always been glad to see her and talk to her because she had decided not to tell anyone else of the pregnancy, not even her best friends. So it was Bonnie's duty to make sure Jo was coping with the loss.

"Good, okay. But I'll need it back in the evening. I have the late shift today."

Bonnie jumped off the kitchen stool she had occupied and waved her arms around her mother's neck. "You're the best!"

"Yeah, yeah. I get it." A little laugh escaped her.

Bonnie went back to the table and finished her breakfast in no time. While she ate she looked through the newspaper. It was usually pretty boring, just adverts, traffic news and the top story would always be something about neighbors fighting over some tree that should or shouldn't be planted near their property. But today Bonnie's eyes got stuck on the vacancies.

"Mom? What would you say if I would get my own car?" Bonnie asked eyes still stuck on the paper.

"The same thing I would tell you every time you asked me. If you can afford one half of the prize, I'll be willing to give you the other." Abby looked up and saw her daughter paying close attention to the newspaper. "Why?"

"I was thinking of getting a job. There is this catering firm that's looking for help on the weekends. Sounds like that would be doable."

Abby stepped closer to Bonnie to take a look at the ad. "What kind of catering firm is that?"

"Not sure, but the way it seems it a pretty big one and it would be in different locations, depending on the commission."

"Well, why don't you apply for the job if you're interested?"

"Yeah, maybe I will." Bonnie kept reading. An application should be send to a Mrs. Riddles. Bonnie made a note to herself to remember to update her C.V. later and send the application to the address. "Alright, I should get going."

"Give Jo my best wishes." Abby added before Bonnie could grab her stuff and be out the door.

"I will, love you mom." Bonnie shouted and closed the door behind her. She headed straight for her mom's car and was at the hospital in no time.

Earlier in school she had heard some rumor about Jo's absence from class the last few days. Of course the news would spread like wildfire but at first it was only the fact that she was in an accident. Today Liza had asked her if it was true that the other driver had been drunk and that Jo had nearly lost her arm.

That story was more than bullshit. No matter who told these lies clearly had no idea what had really happened. The other driver was yet to be found so there was no way of telling whether he had been drunk or not. And Jo's arm was perfectly fine, just broken. But no talk about a possible pregnancy, which was a good thing.

Bonnie took the elevator to the third floor and went straight to Jo's room. She had memorized the way form all the times she had walked to the room in the past few days. Over the last visits she had sometime's encountered some other Parkers. Bonnie had been there nearly as often as Evelyn, Briana and the twins. Sometime's Joey would join them and even Ballamy showed his face once. The only ones Bonnie hadn't seen at Jo's side were Joshua Parker and Melinda.

Their excuse was that Melinda had a very important quiz in a few days and she needed to study and Joshua had important business to attend. But Jo had claimed that they had been there to visit her once when Bonnie hadn't been there yet. Bonnie wasn't sure if that was the truth because she had no one to confirm it. Kai had been home that day, because Jo had kicked him out. He wouldn't have left her side if she wouldn't have insisted.

So understandably she was a little surprised when she knocked on Jo's door now and stepped into the room only to find Joshua Parker hovering over his daughter. Kai was sitting in the corner farthest away from his dad with his legs cocked and put on the cushions of the chair, and Jo and Joshua looked up from their conversation as Bonnie stepped inside.

"Bonnie." Jo smiled at her and Bonnie made her way to her other side and hugged her hello.

"Hey Jo." She righted herself and managed a small smile for the Parker patriarch. "Hello Mr. Parker."

"Bonnie!" Joshua only nodded in her direction and Bonnie quickly turned around to make her way to greet Kai. Something about this man made her shiver every time she saw him. Maybe it was his ice cold eyes that sometime's reminded her so much of Kai. Maybe it was just the way he spoke to her, like she was inferior.

"Hey fish face!" Kai smiled at her and she glared at him but still hugged him. When she drew back her eyebrows rose in question. 'What's your father doing here?' she was trying to ask. Kai understood, rolled his eyes and shook his head. Bonnie turned to sit on the armrest of the chair Kai was currently sitting in and turned her attention to the two people in front of her.

"So, I see you are in very capable hands, Jo." Joshua turned to smile at Bonnie and Kai but something in his voice and his eyes made her doubt the truthfulness of his words. "I'll be leaving the three of you then. Call when you are going to get released, I'll come get you then." Joshua leaned down and gave her a kiss on her hair.

"Okay, see you dad." Jo smiled at her father.

Joshua made his way to the door and while he crossed the room he nodded to Kai and Bonnie once more. But when Bonnie thought that he was about to leave for good Joshua Parker stopped with his hand on the handle and turned around.

"Malachai, there's one more thing." He directed his words to Kai, who looked at his father with boredom but didn't reply anything. So Joshua continued "Since it was your car that was involved in the accident I need you go to the junkyard and sing the paperwork. You need to give your consent so they can wreck it."

"Alright." Kai said and turned his head away from him.

Joshua leaned a little closer to him, just an inch but it had the desirable effect, at least on Bonnie. He looked at his son with… was it repulsion?... and goosebumps formed along Bonnie's arms when he spoke with no emotion in his voice. "Preferably today. I don't want to drag this issue out longer than it needs to." Joshua turned back to the door and opened it. While stepping outside he added. "For once, do as you're told." And then the door fell closed and he was gone.

Kai next to her breathed in heavily, trying to fight back the anger rising inside. Bonnie knew he didn't want to release his anger on either his sister or her but he fought hard to keep himself in check. So Bonnie decided to change the subject.

"So, are you coming back to school immediately or are you staying home for a few more days?"

"I still don't feel like I'm back to my best self. I think I will stay home for a few more days. But everything is better than being here. At least at home it can watch Netflix." Jo joked. She looked way better already. She wasn't so pale anymore and the scratches on her face had started to heal. But of course Bonnie could only guess how she looked on the inside.

"What about you? Are you showing you face again some time soon?" Bonnie turned to Kai, who apparently had himself back under control. The last few days Kai had stayed with Jo in the hospital, not bothering to go to any of his classes. The teachers kind of gave him a free pass on that, given it was his twin sister that had an accident but that excuse wouldn't hold for much longer.

"Not sure yet. Maybe I'd rather spent my time bugging my big sister." He teased and Jo threw a pillow in his direction. But her aim was kind of off and it nearly hit Bonnie in the head.

"Uuups, sorry." Jo had her hands pressed to her mouth but underneath that Bonnie spotted a smile. She started laughing herself and the twins joined in. Kai got up from the chair and went to the tray resting on Jo's left bedside cabinet. There was still an apple and yoghurt on there. He snatched the yoghurt and the spoon and placed himself at the end of the bed.

"Kai, that's mine!" Jo warned him as he was about to open the cup.

"You're not going to eat in anyways." He laughed and went on. Bonnie made her way to join the two and sat on the opposite side of the bed.

"Well, maybe I would want to eat it." Jo insisted. "What if I get hungry?"

"Come on you're gonna be home in a few hours, it's not like mom is gonna let you starve or anything. Plus, there is still an apple if you're hungry." He grinned his cashier- cat grin and ate the first spoonful of yoghurt.

"You are the worst brother in the world." Bonnie commented.

"Pardon me, but I think I am the best!"

"And he's cocky too." Bonnie directed that to Jo.

"That's the first time you noticed?" Jo asked ironically and they laughed. Kai only pouted exaggeratedly but then kept on eating his yoghurt.

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"Hey do you need a ride to the junkyard?" Bonnie asked. The three had been goofing around for a while now and a few minutes ago a nurse had come in to inform Jo the final examination was going to be in a few minutes. Bonnie had taken that as her cue to leave. She had to get her mom's car back soon anyway.

"No, I'm not going there today. Thought I'd get Jo's car from the garage and go there tomorrow."

It was Kai being typical Kai. His father tells him to do something he does the direct opposite.

"Come on Kai, don't be dumb. Do you really want to provoke dad the first night I am back?" Jo asked him, clearly trying to reason with him. "Just go with Bonnie, it will only take a minute. Please."

His jaw clenched but he finally gave in as Bonnie stood up and stretched out her hand for him to take it. "Fine, I'll go to the junkyard BUT just to be clear I'm not doing this for dad."

Jo smiled and hugged Bonnie to say goodbye. Kai gave her a peck on the forehead and said his goodbye until later.

On their way down to the parking lot the two said their goodbye to the nurses they ran into. Even though it had only been a few days they had kind of gotten to know some of them. They had always been happy when Kai and Bonnie had been with Jo because on intense care there weren't too many happy faces and the three were constantly laughing.

While they were getting to the junkyard they were constantly bickering about what way to take. When Bonnie was going left, Kai wanted to go right until Bonnie started the navigation and grinned at him when the device pointed them in the direction Bonnie had suggested.

The closer they got to the junkyard the more silent Kai fell. Bonnie wondered if he was pissed that she had been right, but that would be so unlike him. He could always take it if he had been wrong about something. When Bonnie parked in front of the yard she suddenly realized something.

She touched his arm. "You want me to come along?" He probably hadn't seen the car yet and even though he had loved it immensely it was probably the fact that Jo had been hurt in this car and that she had lost her baby in it that made him uncomfortable. She could only guess the thoughts running through his head right now. He didn't answer her but only smiled sadly and they both stepped outside the car.

It took them forever to find someone that knew what they were talking about. The man sitting in the small container-office at the entrance of the yard directed him to someone else, because he was new to the job and didn't know his way around yet. But the man that he had pointed to was only the one to operate the machinery and he pointed to a man in blue all the way across the junkyard. Bonnie hadn't known that a junkyard could be this big.

When they finally found the man in blue he took them back to the entrance and looked up the location of the car in the small office. Kai grew more annoyed by the second because A he didn't want to be here, B the people working here were incompetent in his eyes and C it already took them forever.

The man led the way to a section of the yard where a lot of cars were placed. Some of them were old, some still looked okay and others were demolished. Like the one they were standing in front of now. The black Audi A1 standing there was a wreck. The passenger side was dented, so much so, that the back axle wasn't in line with the front one anymore. The trunk was nearly unrecognizable and the back window and the passenger windows were either broken or splintered. The sight of the wreck made Bonnie realize what a horrible crash Jo had been in and she silently thanked whatever was out there and protected her friend so she had gotten away with her life. Anyone sitting on the passenger seat would have been dead, for sure.

Bonnie suddenly reached for Kai's hand, looking for some comfort there. His steady posture and warmth calmed Bonnie down a bit.

"This you're car?" The man in blue asked with a heavy southern accent.

"Yeah. I mean it was." Kai answered.

The man in blue got out some paperwork and handed it to Kai. Bonnie let go of his hand so he could take the paper.
"Need you to sign here and here." The man pointed at two spots on the document handed Kai a pen and Kai followed his instructions and handed everything back to the man.

"A'right. Wanna stay around for the spectacle?" he asked.

"Eh, don't know." Kai answered confused.

"Your's goona be next." The man said and made his way back to the machines and pointed back at the Audi to his colleague from earlier. "Should search for a better spot." The man told them and Bonnie pulled lightly on Kai's arm so they could watch the destruction of the car in safety.

The crane moved the car up in the air and placed it between the metal presses. It only took a few minutes and then slowly the two ends of the press moved in on each other, wrecking the car in between. Bonnie looked up at Kai the moment the car was impacted and saw pain cross his face.

"Man, I loved that car." He said sadly and Bonnie laughed.

"You're gonna get over it. There is always a next." She leaned onto his shoulder and watched the remains of Kai's car being moved out of the press. "By the way, I was thinking about applying for a catering job so I can buy my own car."

Kai turned around and watched her skeptically. "Really?"

Bonnie was confused. "Yeah, thought it was about time. I have an arrangement with my mom that I have to come up with half the money and then she's gonna give me the other half. You think it's a bad idea?"

"I think it is a pretty good idea, it's just that I have to be worried for another person then. Or maybe everyone else if you are going to drive around town bumping into everyone and everything. Ouch! Hey!"

Bonnie had interrupted him by punching him as hard as she could on the side of his arm. "That's not true I am a good driver." She shouted in his face and he started to grin. He was making fun of her. When she realized he had fooled her once more her expression must have been hilarious because Kai broke into laughter, holding his stomach after a minute.

"Uuuh, Bonnster, you are just the best!" He laughed.

"And you are an ass." But Bonnie had to push back a grin herself. When Kai finally got himself back under control his eyes were- for the first time in days- full of glee. Bonnie's stomach felt like it was turned upside down but not in a bad way. Warmth flooded through her system, starting from the heart that was beating faster than usual. She was happy for her skin color because now he wouldn't see her blushing.

Gosh, this laugh and his smile in the combination with these eyes. That was her undoing and she really had to be careful not to revel in the feeling spreading through her because she was on the direct way of going too far. He had snuck up on her in the first place and now she was afraid that he would manage to sneak in even further into her heard.

"Come on asshole, I'll get you home." She said turning away from his appealing look and trying to calm her voice down so he wouldn't notice how much it fluttered.

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"Hey stranger!"

Bonnie walked up to Kai in school a few days later. It was Friday and Kai had finally decided to come back to school. Probably because Jo forced him to check out the general mood in school or just to have him out of her face.

Bonnie had paid Jo a visit the day after she had been released. She had settled in fine, everyone was treating her with kid gloves and at first she found that flattering but Bonnie imagined a girl like Jo wouldn't let her family treat her like an invalid for long. Kai had gone back to treating her like he always did the second she had arrived at home, or at least that's what Jo had told her.

Now he was standing in the school hallways, searching his locker for something and looking at Bonnie with a bright smile that made her heart miss a beat. She ignored it.

"Hey there." Kai greeted her when she was within his reach and pecked her cheek, he turned back to his locker and luckily didn't see the way Bonnie had to blink several times to calm her thoughts. This was getting worse.

"See you decided to come back to school on the very last school day of the week. How smart." She scoffed.

"Right? Always told you I am a smart cookie." He didn't turn to her but kept searching for something in his locker.

"Can I help you with that?" Bonnie pointed to the inside of the locker.

"Nope, already got it." He turned to her with a triumphant smile and presented a flash drive to her. "Jo is turning crazy at home. She wanted to convince mom to let her go to school with me today but mom refused, which is vise, I think. But now that she basically binge watched every original Netflix series there is, she need new entertainment." Kai explained.

"And she is going to find that entertainment on there?"

"Probably not. Brian once gave it to me, it's full of films, the kind Brian recommended so I don't think she'll find a lot of things on here that she will actually want to see. If she is lucky he put the sharknado films on here and that's saying something if those are the best ones on this thing."

Kai closed his locker and Bonnie scared herself nearly to death. Hidden behind the locker door stood a boy. He was their age, had blonde hair. He was one of the football players Bonnie had seen in the cafeteria a few times. He was wearing a college jacket in the school colors and shyly looked at Kai. "Hey Kai."

Kai turned around to face the guy but his expression had already darkened when he heard his voice. "Laughlin." Kai greeted the boy who looked more and more uncomfortable in his own skin. Kai could do that to people.

"Eh, I heard about Jo's accident. Just wanted to make sure she is okay." The blonde said. He seemingly took all his courage to come here and talk to Kai.

"The accident happened a week ago and you only want to make sure she is okay now? Could have given her a call, oh wait, you couldn't because you lost her number the second you ditched her." Kai spoke to him in his best bitch voice.

"Look, man I just want to know if she is alright. I am no monster. Just because I broke up with her doesn't mean I don't care about her anymore." The guy called Laughlin tried to reason.

Kai only disparagingly laughed at the guy and shook his head. "You have some nerve, Laughlin."

"Please, can you just tell her that I tried to reach out to her?"

Kai's face turned serious, his eyes ice-cold. He stepped closer to Laughlin and looked straight into the man's eyes. "You really think I will do anything for you? Wrong. If you are lucky, I'm not going to tell Jo anything about your stupid little try to reach out, because I can't imagine any situation in which she would be happy about that. And now do me favor and get out of my view." His voice was threatening and held no trace of mercy. For a second Bonnie was afraid that Laughlin wouldn't take the hint and would try his luck in a stare down with Kai, which would ultimately turn into a fist fight. But luckily for his and Kai's sake he backed off.

"Alright, alright. I had to try." He had his hands raised to indicate he meant no harm and turned around to walk away. Kai spend a few more moments glaring at the back of the guy while he disappeared in the crowd.

"Was that-?" Bonnie tried to organize the thoughts in her mind.

"Timothy Laughlin, Jo's douche ex-boyfriend aka baby daddy? Yeah." The last part he said leaning down to her ear and whispering so no one could hear. Bonnie remembered seeing Jo with him a few months ago. So apparently her boyfriend had gotten her pregnant and had ditched her. What an ass. She could totally understand Kai reaction to him, even though she couldn't approve.

"Wow, kinda pictured him differently." Bonnie admitted.

"Like what?" They were now pacing the hallway to their next classroom. Bonnie kept bumping into other people because she was distracted from his closeness a few moments ago. She was desperately trying to get her mind to start working again when he was around.

"I don't know, actually. Maybe taller?"

Kai laughed and Bonnie wanted to punch herself in the face for this stupid comment.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you." He mocked her. "Hey, what are you doing after school?"

Bonnie's phone buzzed from an incoming call. She frowned at the screen when she saw that the caller was Jeremy. That completely took her off guard.

"Eeh, nothing I guess." Bonnie said distractedly. She quickly declined the call, not wanting to talk to Jeremy and not knowing what to talk to him about.

"I wanted to take Jo to the ice cream parlor near our home. Get her out the house for the first time. Wanna come along?"

"Sounds nice, why not." Bonnie's mind went on a rollercoaster again. What could Jeremy possibly want? And then she took Kai's word in. She imagined, under different circumstances, that his question had sounded a little like he wanted to invite her on a date. Bonnie shook her head. 'Get a grip, girl.' She spent the next hour tying not to stare at Kai sitting next to her or think about Jeremy and what he could want from her.

Author's note: Managed to update. I'm so super busy right now but I promise to do my very best to update as regularly as possible.