Chapter Two

Two-Bit

When I woke up it was cold and dark outside. My head still hurt, I was groggy, and I still couldn't remember where I lived. I sat up and looked around. The pharmacy was dark and I could see the girl that gave me the Aspirin walking around inside, maybe she could help me. I watched her walk toward the door and flip the sign on it to 'Closed'. Then she left the pharmacy and locked the door behind her. Then she saw me.

"Hey," she said as she walked over to the bench. "What are you still doing here?"

"I…" I started, but I didn't finish. What was I supposed to say? I couldn't remember where I live because I have a hangover? I fell asleep on the bench, and I don't feel up to walking home? None of those sounded like very good things to say, so I did the best I could, "I don't feel very good."

"Do you want me to take you home?" The girl asked. "Where do you live?"

I couldn't say that I didn't remember where I lived, so I lied, "I don't have anywhere to go. Mom couldn't pay the rent, so they kicked us out."

"I'm so sorry," the girl said. "Is there anything I can do?"

"I dunno," I replied sleepily. I was tired.

The girl looked at me for a while and then said, "You look pretty harmless. Do you want to come home with me? I have a spare room that you can stay in."

I nodded absently, I hadn't even heard her; I was starting to doze off.

"OK. My car is over here. My name's Savannah." The girl said.

"Two-Bit," I said as I got into her car.

"What?" The girl asked.

"I'm Two-Bit," I said. "What's your name again?"

"Savannah," Savannah said as she started the car.

We drove through all the neighborhoods on the East Side, and then we started toward the West Side. I was starting to get a bad feeling about this. What if Savannah was a Soc and she was going to kill me? I decided that Savannah probably wasn't going to kill me. In fact, she almost looked afraid of me; she would glance at me every couple of seconds. But then, maybe she wasn't afraid of me. Maybe she thought that I was going to just suddenly die and it would look like she had murdered me. If I looked as bad as I felt, then me dying wouldn't be completely out of the question.

After a while, Savannah's car slowed down and stopped. I had been half-asleep with my head leaned against the window. By then it was almost a sure thing that I was sick, I had never felt this bad with a hangover. Savannah reached over and gently shook me; she probably thought that I was asleep.

"Here we are," Savannah said once she realized that I was awake. "You'll have to walk a bit; this was the closest place I could get."

I realized that we were in front of an apartment complex, and a really nice one; it had a lobby and everything. I didn't like the idea of having to walk, but I knew that I would have to. I couldn't just live in Savannah's car for the rest of my life.

I slowly got out of the car and stood up. I instantly started feeling dizzy, my knees buckled but Savannah was there and she caught me before I could fall too much. I leaned against Savannah as we walked through the lobby and into the elevator that would take us to her apartment. I had no idea what floor it was on, but I hoped we would get there soon.