Disclaimer: All characters, etc., belong to their owners...yep...just wrote this story here.
Sorry this chapter's a little short. I had a little trouble writing it, but hopefully you'll like it.
Chapter 5
Josh stared at his phone after Drake abruptly hung up on him. Had he really made Drake feel bad? And what was Drake going to do now? Was he still going to come? Or was he turning around to go home right now? He glanced over at Mindy.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"He hung up on me."
"Is he upset about what we're doing?"
"It had nothing to do with that. He got mad at me for saying he'd never been in love. But, come on, it's Drake. He's never been in love with a girl. Do you think he might not come now?"
"I don't know," Mindy replied. How angry did Drake get when Josh said he had never been in love? "Josh, I'm sure he wouldn't just not come. If he doesn't come, you can call him again. Or you could try calling him back now."
"I don't want to do that. If I do, he might still be angry. I'd hate for him to get in an accident or something because I made him mad."
"Are you going to call him back at all then?"
"Yeah. Maybe tomorrow morning. Hopefully he'll have cooled off by then."
Mindy kept her eyes on the road. Josh had asked her to drive while he called Drake. She had a feeling he wasn't up for driving right now. Why did Drake have to act like such an idiot? He chose the least important thing and made a huge deal about it. Mindy was half surprised that Drake hadn't gotten angry with Josh for doing this. Josh wasn't the irresponsible one, Drake was. Maybe that was it. Maybe Drake just was too irresponsible.
Part of Mindy wished Drake had spoken out against it. She just felt a bit guilty about what they were doing. Of course she loved Josh, but she still had a doubt or two. She didn't want to go back now, though.
Josh sighed. How could Drake choose that and pick at it? It hadn't been Josh's intention to upset Drake with saying that. He just was trying to explain himself. What was Drake's problem?
Maybe Drake really was upset about this. Josh was waiting for an explosion from Drake about marrying "the Creature," and it hadn't come. Was Josh hoping it would come? No, he loved Mindy. They were going to get married.
Josh wanted Drake there, but if he wasn't there, well, then who really needed him there anyway if he was going to be that way about it?
Which brings us to where we left Drake at the beginning of our story. He grumbled for about forty miles until he cooled down enough.
He decided that maybe he couldn't really blame Josh, but he was sick of Josh insulting him and claiming things that weren't true. Yes, Drake had never been in love with a girl, but was anyone ever really in love when they were in high school? Maybe a few, but that was incredibly rare.
He squirmed in the driver's seat. It was time for another coffee. He pulled into a gas station and bought the caffinated swamp water the night manager was trying to pass off as coffee. On his way out, he noticed a young woman standing off to the side. Her car appeared to be broken down.
"Do you need some help?" asked Drake.
The girl smiled.
"Yes," she replied. "Can you help me?"
"I don't know," Drake hesistated. He didn't know a thing about cars, but he could get a date out of this. He glanced under the hood. While he could normally see the problem in a car, he had no idea how to fix it. He recalled Trevor's car and decided he didn't want to leave this girl with a car that could explode into flame at any given moment. He turned around to see her smiling again. He knew what she was expecting. She was expecting more out of him than getting her car fixed.
"I can't help you much," Drake finally said. "Do you have any money? A phone? You could call a tow truck or something. Or maybe the manager will let you use the phone."
"He already said all they have is a pay phone, and I don't have any money. I couldn't pay for a tow unless I got someone to bring me my checkbook, and I don't have a phone, as we've probably established already."
"Oh," said Drake, "right. Well, I can give you some change for the payphone. I really need to get going. If I don't, well, someone might make a huge mistake."
The girl frowned.
"I really wish I could help you more than that," Drake said. "But I have to get going. I'm very short on cash myself, and I have to make it to Las Vegas."
"I see," she said. "All right."
Drake met her blue eyes as she looked over at him. She was gorgeous. Drake Parker turn all that down? He kept his mind focused on his goal. After he made sure she called a tow truck and could get someone to bring her checkbook, he left. He just had to get to Josh and Mindy in time.