Chapter 16

Nita's Secret

A/N: No, it's not what you think, people.

Kit strode angrily through the Connecticut woods, cursing himself, oblivious to the beauty around him. He jumped at the voice that suddenly cut through his head.

Kit?

He almost looked around for the speaker.

Nita?

No, stupid. It's Dairine. What's up?

Kit rubbed his tired eyes with one hand.

Nita and I...

Oh, don't tell me. Another fight?

Yeah.

Boy, is that you twos' favorite thing to do or what?

Shuttup.

Damn, Kit! Bit touchy now...listen to me.

Dairine's 'voice', once poking fun at him, grew grave.

Okay. I want you to sit down.

But...

Shut up and sit down!

Kit sat.

Okay. Close your eyes...

Feeling more than a bit stupid, Kit did as he was told.

Now I want you to think about this. Who blew up at who?

Kit instantly answered, Nita blew up at me.

Why?

I dunno.

Kit, don't give me crap like that. Why?

Kit sighed.

I guess I offended her by saying...something.

'Kay. Now, in past fights, who was the cause of all this?

Dairine...

Okay. Thank you. Most of the time, it was you.

It was not...!

I'm waiting...

Okay, fine. Maybe it WAS me.

Much better. You can be alone now.

Dairine broke the connection.

Kit sat down on a rotting log angrily. Angry at Nita for being an idiot, angry at himself for being an idiot, angry at Dairine for making him see sense...

Kit clapped a hand over his face, feeling even stupider. He chided himself mentally for a few minutes, then, exhausted, sat there listening to the birds sing, to the sound of a running stream behind him, feeling in touch with Mother Nature. He sighed deeply, then stood, lifted his transit spell, and altered the coordinates. He dropped it onto the floor of dead leaves, and, with a crunch and a scattering of leaves, vanished in a brief gust of wind.

Kit pushed his card key into the slot of their room. With a deep breath and a wince, he slowly opened the door, waiting for the explosion of temper from Nita. It never came. He removed the key and cautiously entered the room. Nita was asleep in a chair, her hair messy and tousled, dried tears still showing on her face. He smiled wryly at how she looked, then set the Big Mac and fries he'd been carrying on the table beside her. He hastily jotted down a note, then, slapping it down next to the food, gave Nita's forehead a brief kiss and was gone.

A half hour later, when Nita woke from one of the weirdest dreams of her life, the first thing she saw was the food. Her eyes settled on the slip of paper next to the bag and picked it up, wondering, Did Kit leave his receipt?

Her next thought was Oh...Kit.

Her eyes narrowed and she almost crumpled the paper into a ball when her name caught her attention. She looked at Kit's messy handwriting and couldn't help but to read the note.

Dear Nita,

I know you're really pissed off at me, but do me a favor and read this note. Please don't toss it...

Okay. My first thing I have to say to you is...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the way I hurt you. I'm sorry I'm so insensitive and a dumbass sometimes. I'm sorry...for just being an all-around idiot.

Second thing: I need to make this all up to you. I don't know how, I will. I promise you.

Third thing: Eat.

Fourth Thing: I'm out in Seal Beach if you need me. It's bookmarked in your map.

Love,

Kit

Nita smiled thinly. She folded the note, slipped it into her wallet, and sighed as Dairine's voice came into her head.

Hey Nita. How're things?

Fine, Dair. Now get out of my head.

Not so fast there Nita. I was just talking to Kit...

Well, he left me a note, which was sweet of him.

Awww...

Shut UP, Dairine. Hey, do I tease you about Ethan?

Yeah.

Well, not as much.

Well that's because we've only been together for six days!

Five.

Six.

Whatever. Now get out.

If you say so, sis...

Dairine broke the connection.

" Sisters..." Nita scowled, flopping facedown onto her bed. She sighed loudly into the cotton fluffiness of the pillow, wondering what Kit was doing at the moment.

Some 170 miles away, Kit was walking through a Mazda dealer.

Something sporty...nice, little coupe...he thought, walking through the RX section. Two models caught his eye right away: a tiny red hardtop and an equally miniscule steel-gray convertible. He paced over to the red hardtop and looked it over. A salesman, seeing a prospective buyer, came flying over, all mouth.

"Hello there, sir. Ah, our Mazda RX-3. Yes, one of the more popular of our cars, and also one of the older ones. She can be yours for..."

Kit held up a hand.

"I hate to interrupt, sir, but I was looking at this one."

He gestured to the hardtop.

The salesman, embarrassed, cleared his throat a few times before resuming his sales pitch.

"Ah..ahem...oh, the RX-5 Miata. A very good choice. A light, nimble speedster quite capable of tooling along at 120 mph. Very good car."

Kit frowned.

"Uh. Oookay. What about this one?"

He gestured to the convertible.

"Oh, the RX-8. Our newest model, this thing is packed with a 192 horsepower engine, yet is capable of hitting 100 in a mere 6.1 seconds. Very sleek, very sporty. Good choice. Yours for how much, sir?"

"I don't know...you know, I don't think I'll be buying here."

"But..."

"I'm sorry sir."

The salesman blustered a bit before giving a forced smile.

"Very well then. We're open for a long time. Thank you sir."

The salesman turned on his heel and stalked off.

Kit strolled along the sunlit sidewalk, glancing at the cars that passed. An old Camry...a few Fords...a Beetle...

Whoa...what's that? Kit wondered, looking at the blue Audi TT-shaped car with triangular taillights idling at a signal.

He caught a glimpse of the logo on the rear before the car pulled away: Nissan. He looked around for a Nissan dealer, and, to his immense delight insert drum roll, found that the nearest one was a mile and a half away. Pulverize that idea.

Uhh...how 'bout a Ford?.

But I don't like Fords...

An hour and a half later, Kit parked next to Nita's Volvo in a brand new, bright red Mustang Cobra R. He loved it from the minute he set his brown eyes on the car. It handled like a dream, and had, to his shock, been on clearance for $23,084, $10,000 less than its factory price. He shut the car off, got out, and, locking the doors, put a shape-conforming shield spell over both their cars. Anyone who tried swinging anything at their car windows for the next few hours would have it bounce right back in their face.

The first thing that hit Kit when he opened the door was Nita. She hugged him, crying, "Where were you? You got me so worried..."

Kit gently pried Nita's arms from around his neck.

"I was getting a car, for that matter. Took me four hours, but I got it."

"Whatcha get?"

"Mustang. Bright red. Love it."

"Nice."

She plopped down on the bed with a sigh.

"So whaddya want to do now?"

Kit sat down next to her.

"I think we need to talk."

Nita looked at him.

"Huh. There's a change. About what, exactly?"

"About what just happened."

"What, the car?"

Kit rolled his eyes.

"Nita, you're even more clueless than me. No, stupid, about our little...fight."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well, then, let's talk."

"Okay. Uh..."

"..."

"..."

"I'm waiting, Kit."

Embarrassed, he sighed.

"Alright, kill that topic."

"Okay then. So what do you want to do?"

"I dunno. You?"

"I think we need to talk."

"About..."

"Anything, Kit."

"Ooookay. You go first."

"I...don't really have anything to talk about."

"Oh, of course you do."

"Ah, no."

Exasperated, Kit sighed.

"Do you want to go anywhere...do anything..."

"I don't know, Kit."

"Auuugghhh..."

He leaned over and pulled open the nightstand drawer. He found and unfolded The Tourist's Guide to Los Gatos. Scanning it, he remarked, "Hey, there's a park not too far from here. Wanna go?"

"I guess so...it'll give me something to do."

"Alright. When?"

"I dunno. I'm feeling really out of it right now."

Kit sighed.

"I know what you mean. I know what you mean."

Nita rubbed her eyes, yawning.

"Yeah. I'm really out of it today," she groaned.

Kit put his arms around her, drawing her close.

"Feel better?"

Nita sighed and tucked her head under his chin.

"A bit..."

Kit smiled.

"Great."

They sat there for a while, enjoying one another's company, Nita's head on Kit's chest, their arms wrapped around one another. Their lips somehow met, and their display was not short. Neither of them bothered to hide their emotions from the other, neither of them shy about expressing their love. Nita's cell phone chose that moment to belt out a monotonic version of Elvis's 'Burning Love'. She sighed, held the kiss for just a while longer, then, after another second, broke the kiss and slipped an arm out from around Kit. She groped around in her purse for the annoying device, found it, and hit the talk button.

"Hello, Nita Callahan speaking."

"Hey, Nita. Is Kit there?"

"Oh, hi Mrs. Rodriguez. Wait a sec..."

Nita placed the phone facedown on the bed and smiled wryly at Kit.

"It's for you."

He rolled his eyes and slipped out of Nita's headlock, which had been tightening on him.

He picked the phone up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Kit."

"Hi, mom. Whatcha need?"

"Carl just called me. He needs you to leave California as soon as possible. Both of you. He says Tom picked up a trace of the Lone One being in your area, and you need to get out soon."

"Oh. Okay. Where does he want us to go?"

"Somewhere big or far away. He said somewhere like Texas or Germany."

"Oookay. By when?"

"Two days from now. Kit, I want you to get out of there this instant. I want to make sure you're in Texas or Germany by tomorrow at noon, or I'm having Carl come and get you both."

"Mom, we'll be fine. As long as Nita's keeping me in line..." He smiled at her, and she punched him lightly in the shoulder to hide her embarrassment. "...I'll be okay."

"Kit...I don't know. I'm worried with you out there..."

"Mom, I'll be in Texas by then. Trust me. Oh, and can you take care of Nita's wagon for us?"

"What?"

"Ni-ta's wagon."

"Oh. You got a car?"

"Both of us did."

"Oh. Alright. I guess so. Well...better not waste your minutes. See you soon, Kit."

"Yeah. Love you."

"Love you too. And say congrats to Nita for me, will you?"

"Huh?"

"Say Congratulations to Nita for me, will you?"

"Oh...okay. Why?"

"Wait a minute. Oop, gotta go. Bye."

"Bye..." the confused Kit coughed.

He shut the phone off and tossed it into Nita's purse.

"Mom said to tell you Congratulations."

Nita blushed. "Oh. Okay," she said breezily.

"Nita...?"

"Huh?"

"What is it?"

"Uh...oh, crap..."

Nita blushed even more, winced, and slipped around Kit into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Kit blinked, shook his head, and sat down, planning out what he had to do. In mere minutes, Nita's Volvo was sitting on his front lawn 1,500 miles away, and their bags had been packed. Kit jotted down one final note as Nita came out, tucking her hair back behind her ears. She caught Kit's casual glance at her and frowned.

"What?"

"Nothing," Kit replied hastily, folding a sock and tossing it into his claudiation. He realized what he had done and scrambled in after it with what Nita caught as a muttered swearword. He came up with it blushing, found its mate and rolled them together, then tossed it into his duffel bag. Nita shook her head smilingly and, grabbing her purse, went into the bathroom and scooped a few things into it. She came out with the purse over one shoulder, winced as she banged her elbow on the doorframe, then helped Kit pack.

The final sock pair sailed into Kit's claudication with a swoosh and a whoop of triumph from Nita. Kit grinned as he 'zipped' up his otherspace pocket, folded it, and stuffed it inside his duffel bag.

"Alright," he sighed, getting up off his knees and dusting his hands off. "Are we done?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Well..." Kit groaned. "Let's hit the road."

Kit checked out of the hotel, thanked the receptionist, and walked out to the Mustang. Stepping over the unconscious would-be carjacker and kicking the crowbar aside, Kit disabled the shield spell, but left it in what he called a 'hibernation' mode, up but not in use.

"Just in case," he told Nita, who was suddenly very apprehensive about getting in the car.

"You're not making me feel any better about your driving skills, Kit," she remarked, sliding in next to him and buckling her seatbelt. Kit rolled his eyes and, reaching across and slamming her door, started the Mustang. The V8 roared, then purred in content as the car rolled forward, leaving behind one very dazed criminal and a police cruiser that pulled into the lot after a brief confirmation chat with Kit.

The Mustang popped into the solid spectrum with a noise of complaint from the suspension as the car bounced on the dirt shoulder of the Eastbound Route 20. Kit glanced behind him, then pulled out onto the two-lane highway. He grimaced at the weather. Strong winds gusted sand and dust into the highway, cutting Kit's visibility to about zero. Nita could see the worried look on his face as he slowed to three-quarters of the speed limit.

"Oh, god, Nita, I don't like this. This is sending up about twenty red flags in my head. Oh, god, Nita..."

Nita grimaced, looking out the windshield at the scenic view of what the 1930s Dust Bowl must have looked like when you were stuck inside your house with a 30-mile an hour wind blowing all kinds of grit into your windows. Nita shook her head.

"I dunno...I really don't know."

How Kit chose that moment to look in the rearview mirror, he had no idea, but he did, and it ended up saving both their lives. A fully loaded Mack tractor and trailer bore down on the small sedan at 90 mph, horn blaring, lights on. Kit smashed the accelerator flat on the floor, but the tires spun and threw up grit and sand as they spun through it, seeking the asphalt. Nita screamed out a number of syllables at the same moment Kit yelled the syllable to activate the shield spell. A loud whomph sounded, and Kit and Nita were pushed against the back of their seats by something invisible and very cushiony. At the same moment, the truck hit the back of the Mustang. The car was rocketed forward by the impact and immense momentum of the 20-ton truck and trailer, and Kit watched in horror as a concrete light pole loomed in their immediate path. The Mustang slammed into the pole at 86 mph, flipped, and rolled twice before coming to rest on the shoulder of the road. The truck that had hit them pulled over, and the driver leaped out and came dashing over, expecting to find dead bodies in a ripped apart car. Instead, he was amazed to be greeted by two very polite teenagers without a bruise on their bodies, and a red Mustang in one piece without even a scratch in the paint job. He stammered uncertainly, "H-h-how'd you do that?"

Kit shook his head, somewhat shaken by the event.

"If you'd pardon me, sir, that is not the important thing. Sir, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, sonny. I'd like to see me truck, though."

Kit muttered a syllable as they walked toward the truck, and the large dent in the truck front grille popped out, leaving no trace of an accident. Looking at the front of his truck, the trucker scratched his head uncertainly.

"Well, that's mighty funny. Oh, well, I guess I was wrong."

Nita smiled.

"Sir, if you don't mind my asking, have you had any accidents like this before?"

"No, missie, never. Today's a bad dust storm, I couldn't see you. If you're alright..."

"We're fine, sir. May I know your name?"

"Oh...Edward H. Mallows."

"Well, Mr. Mallows. I beg your pardon for this inconvenience. I hope you'll reach your destination in time?"

"Oh...yes, missie. I-I'm sure I will."

Kit and Nita shook hands with the friendly trucker.

"Well, then, sir. We'd best be on our way."

"Pardon me, sonny. Your name, your friends' name?"

"I'm Kit Rodriguez, and this is Nita Callahan."

"Alright. Thank you, Mr. Rodriguez, Miss Callahan. I hope you'll fare as best on the rest of your trip."

"Thank you, sir. We will."

As the red Mustang pulled away, the trucker pulled out his log. Under the date, he scratched down the following:

1:27 PM: Got into minor accident. No injuries, no damage to either vehicle.

"So, Nita, what, exactly, were you being congratulated on?" Kit asked, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes.

Nita covered her head with the pillow, going red.

"Why?" she asked, her voice muffled by the pillow over her head.

The two sat on a bed in a rural Vermont hotel, Nita going deep red under her protective pillow, Kit laughing above it.

"Oh, c'mon Nita. You can tell me."

She shook her head stubbornly.

"Tell you what. I'll tickle you until you reveal all."

That brought Nita out.

"You wouldn't dare..." she started.

Kit leaped.

Nita squeaked as he landed on her back, pinning her to the bed as he tickled her in her sensitive spot just behind her ear. She instantly bent double laughing, thrashing around helplessly as Kit tickled her relentlessly. He stopped, let her breathe, then tousled her hair affectionately as she swatted at him.

"Stoppit!" she laughed.

Kit raised an eyebrow.

"Talk?"

Nita raised one hand for protection.

"Maybe."

Kit lightly buffeted her with a pillow.

"Talk."

Nita playfully got him in a headlock and rubbed his head with her fist.

"No, you talk."

Kit struggled to get out of her headlock, failed, and managed to tickle her with his left hand, which was pinned beneath him. She recoiled in amusement, and Kit, with a deft twist, pinned her down with a pillow again.

"Talk."

Nita flushed and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, fine. I...I entered that poetry contest that Kielsy kept going on about."

"You what?"

Nita blushed even more.

"It was a poetry contest. I...oookay. Lemme start over. This was right after that huge fight over Ronan and me. That second to last week of school. Well...I wrote a poem about how...how I felt...I guess I won."

Kit's jaw hit the ground, and his shocked attempt at a laugh failed pathetically. He stammered over a few nonsense words as Nita lowered her eyes.

"You're not mad, are you?" she inquired, sounding like a resentful toddler talking to her father.

Kit swept her off her feet and kissed her. Nita let out a noise of surprise, then laughed nervously and responded to his kiss. When he broke it, she was surprised to find that his eyes were shining with tears.

"Nita," he laughed quietly. "That's probably the best thing that's come out of our fights so far. Wow. Congratulations to you!"

Nita smiled shyly back at him.

"Thanks. I...I feel so bad now..."

"Why?" Kit asked. "You won. Be proud."

"I...I guess because we're back together now, the fight seems stupid and old... I dunno. It's hard to place."

Kit hugged her again.

"Oh, c'mon, Nita. Don't spoil your good day. It's only 3 PM, I've been up for 12 hours, we've fought and made up already, we've had a great day. Be happy."

Nita sighed, and, with a playful grin, said, "You know, a walk might be in order here."

Kit kissed her lips once more.

"Okay, then. C'mon, let's go."

Nita hurriedly pulled on sweatpants, a pair of wool socks, and a poncho to go over her two layers of sweaters. Kit merely slipped into a windbreaker and raised an eyebrow. "Oookay, Nita. If you really want to wear that..."

"Okay. Kit, I can't take this any longer. Lemme take, like, four of these layers off."

Kit sighed. This was the third time they'd stopped so far, and Nita had had to remove her poncho, gloves, knit wool hat, and one sweater. Now, she stripped down to her T-shirt, jeans, socks and pair of running shoes and stuffed all her extra clothes into her claudication. She caught up to Kit and they continued their stroll along the dirt path. Snow was all around them, but the sun peered through the trees on either side of the path, placing spots of gold on the path and creating a scene that any postcard would be proud to have grace its front. The beauty of it all amazed both teens: the cardinals and bluebirds bouncing from limb to limb like overgrown fleas on caffeine, the deer sliding in and out of visibility in the cover of the trees...

Nita sighed, slipping her hand into Kit's as she listened to two squirrels arguing in their high-pitched, mile-a-minute voices. To quote:

'I didn't touch the acorn! If anyone stole the acorn, it was you!'

'What do you mean 'I stole the acorn' when you really mean 'You stole the acorn!' you fool?'

All of which took about 3 seconds.

A/N: Most of you are probably thinking, HUH? Well, hey, I dunno. I took the idea from Chip 'N Dale. Good ole Disney...

Nita looked at Kit, then burst out laughing. Kit nudged Nita gently.

"Hey, sounds like us."

Nita sighed and laid her head on Kit's shoulder, letting her auburn hair drift in the cool breeze.

"Probably does," she said dreamily.

Kit suddenly seemed very uncomfortable.

"Hey, uh, Nita? Could you...take your head off my shoulder? I mean, it's nice and all, but we can't exactly walk like that..."

Nita rolled her eyes good-naturedly and obligingly lifted her head.

"Thanks," Kit sighed.

They moved on, hand in hand, Nita's hair blowing back behind her in the crisp air. Kit looked at her and smiled to himself. She looked so cute like this...Kit placed a hand into his sweater pocket and remembered the digital camera he'd brought with him. He took it out and turned it on. With a smile, he aimed at Nita, who was walking with her head down, unaware of what was going on three feet from her face. The camera clicked, and Nita looked up at Kit.

"What was that?" she inquired uncertainly.

Kit turned the camera so she was looking at a 2 by 1-inch photo of herself on the camera's LCD screen. Nita looked up, a smile on her face.

"Do I really look that good?"

Kit smiled and replied softly, "I think you can answer that."

Nita punched him lightly.

"C'mon, Romeo. Let's keep going."

Kit smiled and put an arm around her as they moved on.

Nita sat down to a bowl of warm soup and apple cider in front of their room's fireplace, in which a large pile of logs was burning brightly. Kit sat next to her, looking around.

"Wow. They sure like making their visitors feel at home, don't they?"

Their hotel room had been transformed into what appeared to be a typical family living room: three couches, a table in the center, a fireplace, and a large TV on the mantle. Nita took a sip of her chicken noodle soup.

"Mmmm. This is really good. Yeah, they do, Kit. Taste the soup. It's like it's homemade."

"Really?"

Kit dipped a spoon into his own soup and, blowing on it, gulped it down.

"Wow. Yeah, you're right, Nita. This is probably the best hotel I've stayed in so far."

Fred made an appearance out of nowhere, his usual style now.

Hey Nita, Kit. Had a good time?

Kit glanced at Nita, who grinned and nodded.

"Yeah, thanks, Fred. It was a really good experience for both of us."

Kit frowned and swatted his right ear a few times. A small amount of snow fell out and was instantly vaporized by the heat of the room. Nita smiled at the recollection: A snowball fight had ensued, and she'd smacked Kit in the ear more than once. She, on the other hand, had been hit in the forehead more that once as well, thanks to Kit's amazing accuracy. He smiled back at her for a few moments, then turned his attention to his food.

Kit slid into bed without worries, the night peaceful, the fire still going. Nita lay in the bed next to him, breathing gently. (Next to meaning a completely different bed than him, a one-person bed!) Kit sighed, watching the flames dance and flicker. A sense of peace crept over him, and he touched Nita's hand gently.

"Hey, Nita?" he whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah...I feel different, though. Like I can actually get to bed without stress."

"Same here. It's so peaceful up here. I love it..."

"Yeah."

"You know..."

"What?"

"It's almost as beautiful up here as you."

Nita clicked her light off so Kit wouldn't see her blush.

"I love you too, Kit."

Kit sighed, overcome by the amount of courage he'd put into that last remark, and pressed a button. The fire hissed and went out, and the room was quiet. Nita's gentle breathing told him she was asleep, and he sighed, looking up at the ceiling. Fred bobbed in a corner, his light dimmed slightly, but still acting like a living nightlight. Kit sighed again, and, before he knew it, was asleep.