Shock and Disbelief

Chapter 3: The Chase

"I guess we may as well give up now," sighed Kate as Tasha's car pulled up in the parking lot. She slumped down onto the curb.

"Whyse ya wan' ta give up now?" asked Spot, "Did ya forget whoes ya's wit?" He grabbed Kate by the wrist pulling her up to her feet. The two them took off running behind the store followed closely by the others.

"Hey, Turtle!" Kate called from her position at the front, "Think we could make it to your house from here?"

"Sure! My 'rents are out of town today!" She yelled back, "We can hide out there for a few hours." Kate nodded and pulled Spot in the direction of Turtle's house. They ran for a few minutes and made it past the high school when they ran into the creek.

"Jump!" Spot yelled back at them. Turtle was the last to jump. She let out a yelp as she landed down on her ankle.

"Go on without me," she said. "I'll get there."

"Don't be ridiculous," David told her. He picked her up in his arms. "I'll carry you the rest of the way."

By the time they got to Turtle's house, Kate was completely out of breath. She collapsed in an armchair as David set Turtle on the couch.

"I think," Kate gasped, "that was the most fun I've had in awhile." Bethany came back in the room with a bag of ice to Turtle's ankle.

"Umm… Kate?" Bethany said. Kate looked up at her, "Your wonderful plan to hide here didn't work so well." Just then the doorbell rang announcing the arrival of Tasha and Sarah.

"I'll get it," said Kate. She opened the door a crack.

"Why are you running from us?" asked Tasha. Kate looked back at Beth. Bethany shrugged.

"I don't remember," Kate told Tasha, "It seemed like a good idea at the time." Turtle nodded. Kate opened the door all the way and let the two girls in.

"What happened to Turtle?" Sarah asked. She was already surveying the room in her mind.

"I sprained my ankle," Turtle told her.

"We have crutches at home from when Kate hurt her knee." Turtle nodded, "So, Racecar, you want to teach me to play poker?"

"Racetrack. Nawt Racecahr." He stood up. Sarah shrugged. She pulled a deck of cards out of her purse.

"Play downstairs," Turtle told them, "I'm starting to get a headache."

"Did you hear about the dance?" Tasha asked them after Sarah, Racetrack, and Blink had gone downstairs.

"A dance? What dance?" Kate jumped up knocking Spot off the arm of her chair.

"There's one at the memorial center on Saturday night. Are you guys coming?" Kate was jumping up and down in excitement.

"Wouldn't miss it," said Beth. "Now if you guys don't mind. I'm gonna go play me some poker."

A/N: It's a pretty short chapter, but I want to do a poker game in the next chapter. Btw, for this story we have switched Turtle's 'rents with a couple who let their children attend dances. We also moved her house so that we could jump over the creek and not have to walk so far afterward.