Chapter 3

MPOV

"C'mon you stupid thing, c'mon!" I shouted at my bike. The back wheel was practically destroyed. I couldn't ride it anymore without a new wheel or a completely new bike. There was no way I was going to buy a new one though, the bike I had was a gift from Charlie, my grandfather, right before he died of a heart attack. There was no way it wasn't going anywhere.

"I told you, just take it to the shop and try to get it fixed. I have some extra cash lying around, we might be able to get it done really soon." I knew that last part was a lie, she barley had the money to keep the two of us fed. My mom said brightly. She looked down on me from our porch steps. In reality, I stood actually about a head taller than she did.

"No, I've got the money in my award fund remember, you don't have to pay for anything." I made a lot of money via scientific competitions and robotics expositions.

"The award fund is for college expenses. You don't need to pay for it yourself." She smiled at me and pulled out her wallet but I pushed it away and told her to put it away, I didn't need the money.

"Really mom, it's fine. I've got more than enough and I've got another robotics exhibition this summer, it'll make up for the cost of my bike." She laughed at me.

"You're way too sure of yourself. I'm sure Jasper knows a good auto shop somewhere, you could go and ask him." she blew me a kiss and disappeared back into the house.

Jasper was our Texan next door neighbor. He'd lived next door to us for three years but he was already one of my mother's best friends. I was cool with him, he never crossed me.

I ran across our front yard and hopped the fence surrounding it. After three quick knocks on his front door, he opened it.

"Hello Masen, what brings you here, I never took you as one for boy scouts."

"I don't have the time or the patience for something as stupid as badges. I did however come over to ask if you know a decent auto shop in town."

"Mom finally broke down and bought you a car? Never thought I'd see the day."

"You probably won't. Actually, the back wheel on my bike got smashed when I was hit by a car the other day." His eyes rose at the mention of me being ht by a car but said nothing. "I need to get it fixed, money's no object."

"You're in luck then, a good friend of mine owns an auto shop, it's not that far. I'm sure he'd that wheel fixed in a matter of minuets for ya." He retreated back into the house to get a pad of paper and a pen. He brought it back and gave me the slip of paper. "Em's great, he can fix pretty much anything. So can Rose, she might be there as well."

"That's good, I don't feel like buying a new bike. That would mean breaking it in and I don't have time for that." I waved my hand around dismissively.

"I don't understand that. That thing is ancient, but hey, it's your little death trap, keep it if you want."

"It has it's quirks but it's a good way to get around." I shrugged and looked over the address, it wasn't all that far.

"Thanks Jasper, I'll take my bike there today."

"Tell Em I said hi." I nodded yes.

"I'll head over around four, that'll give me time to get back by the time you get home." I told my mom.

"Who do you expect to drive you there if I'm not home, I'll be at work until at least eight o'clock, I'm working the late shift, remember?" she asked, genuinely curious and concerned.

"I can walk, it isn't that far and I could use the exercise and some vitamin D. Going outside and walking for a little while could do me some good. Really, look at my skin, people are going to think I'm a vampire or something, look." She looked confusedly at me and then smiled.

"Masen, you're a child still, you shouldn't be walking around alone. I'll drive you there and drop you off, we'll just have to leave early. You can ride back can't you?"

"Sure, let's do that then, it doesn't make any sense but okay." I nodded to her.

Within the hour, we were loaded up into the car and ready to go. Mom was already in one of suits that she wore for work. She was ready to head to the publishing company where she worked, I knew she hated reading other people's work when she could be writing her own.

"Got your wallet? Got you're debit card, your license? Make sure your card hasn't reached it's expiration date, you know you never use it." she asked as we pulled up to the front of the garage.

"Yes. I've got everything I need, don't worry." I assured her.

"Oh look, we can talk to him." she pointed to a tall man with russet skin and long black hair.

"Mom, we don't need to talk to anyone, we're fine."

"Hush." She climbed out of the car and waved to get the man's attention. He looked up from his work. She waved again, this time with a smile.

"Hello ma'am, what brings a pretty young thing like you to this side of the tracks?" he asked, looking her up and down, taking in her small but curvaceous form.

"My son's bike needs fixing," she said not missing a beat. Mom was pretty, she was used the being hit on by many different men.

"So you brought it here, very smart choice missy. We do good work for good prices. I'm sure you're interested." He winked at her. My mother looked as if she was trying to keep from throwing up.

"It's my son's bike, it's also his money. If you want to do business dealings, you'll have to do them with him. Don't think that just because he's a kid, you can outsmart him, you'll be lucky if he doesn't outsmart you first." she kissed my cheek.

"You're on your own kiddo, Jazz said he'll be watching for you to get back. Call me when you get back to the house okay?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, I'll be just fine." I promised her. If only I'd known how wrong I really was.

"Okay, just stay safe." She left me standing there as she got back into the car.

I waved goodbye to her and watched her disappear into the distance, damn, I already felt lonely.

"So, a bike huh, what happened to it?"

"Back wheel got ran over when I got hit by a car. No big thing."

"Really, sounds pretty big to me, you got hit by a car?" he actually started laughing at me.

"Let's get my bike fixed. I have the money, so that's not the problem. Just come on." I crossed my arm and tapped my foot impatiently. I was already angry with him for hitting on my mom.

"Alright, I'll go get Emmett. He'll take a look and we'll get you back to mommy." I glared at him. "Yo Em, we got a kid with a hot mom, c'mon." he yelled.

"Shut up Jake, Rose might hear!" a booming voice shouted back.

"Your call. The kid has money though and it's a quick job." The one named Jake shouted back.

"Hey kid!" a big burly man with thick dark curls, matted with sweat (gross) came out of one of the back rooms. "I'm Emmett, what brings you here?"

"Wow, this is only the thirtieth time I've said this but my back wheel is broken and I need it fixed. My next door neighbor said that you were the man to go to. Oh right, Jasper tells me to tell you hi."

"Should've known it was Jazz, so you're the smartass who lives next door to him. He says good things about you and your mum though."

"Good to know, so about my bike. I would really like it done by today, it's kind of my ride home." I griped at him. His eyebrows rose at my tone but he didn't say anything about it.

"Alright, we'll get it done in at least an hour, we just have to look at the damage, you know, assess what we need to do to fix it and all. It's a lot of mechanical stuff." Jacob grabbed my bike up and they wheeled it into the garage.

"What did you do? Go head to head with a truck."

"Limousine."

"Ouch, that's really horrible. How in the world did that happen?"

"Some asshole was having his driver take a shortcut through my neighborhood, he didn't know the roads, and now, my bike suffers for it."

I was still upset about the whole ordeal.

"Wow, some people can be really inconsiderate, sorry to hear about it though, you alright?" he asked, running his hands over my bike.

"Yeah, I'm aright, they weren't going all that fast."

"EMMETT!" a woman's voice shouted. I looked up from my lap to see her. "Edward, what in the world are you doing here, I thought you were heading back to L.A. today." She said, I looked around to see whom she was talking to,

"Um, my name isn't Edward, it's Masen." I looked her over and then gasped. She was a woman in one of the pictures, the blonde one. She already connected me to Edward, we looked dead up the same.

"I'm just fixing his bike real quick, don't worry, we'll be on time." he grinned lovingly at her.

"It's not you I'm worried about right now, who are you, you look exactly like my friend Edward. Like, exactly. Doesn't he look like Edward Emmett, doesn't he?" she exclaimed. Emmett looked at me closely.

"I guess he does, the hair and the eyes are like his, but hey, a lot of people are auburn with green eyes." He shrugged and disappeared back into one of the rooms again.

"No, no one but Edward has hair that color, just him…and now you. Plus your name is Masen?" she took a step back to look at me again. "Weird…."

"Yes it's very weird." I squirmed under her gaze, she wasn't stupid like the other one, if I stayed around her long enough, she would figure me out and Edward would be able to get to my mother. "Will you please leave me alone, I can sue for harassment you know."

"Shut up," she cupped my face in her hands and turned it back in forth. "The face shape is different, rounder. Then again, you are still just a child. There must be some baby fat still around there."

"Get off me you psychopath." I shouted at her, pushing her away. I grabbed my bike and tried to wheel it out of the shop.

"Hey, I haven't finished fixing it up yet, there's no way you're riding that back." Emmett shouted after me.

"I'll catch a cab, leave me alone!" I picked my phone out of my pocket and dialed her number, it went straight to her voicemail. "C'mon, why couldn't I just get a dang car?" I tried her phone again just as a red convertible pulled up next to me.

"Hey, want me to drive you home, we can talk then." It was the woman.

"No. I can walk, you're crazy."

"Don't be stupid; just get in the car so I can get you home. We want to help you, really, I mean it. you're taller than me, and you could probably overpower me if I tried anything, I won't hurt you, I just have a few questions." I contemplated her offer. Walk myself home and maybe get there by nightfall or accept a ride with a stranger and end up in god knows where.

"No." I kept on walking. She didn't like that.

"Just get in the car!" she yanked me into the convertible and I fell in the backseat, my bike on top of me.

"HELP, THIS WOMAN IS NOT MY MOTHER!" I shouted.

"Shut up, really, I don't like shouting." She hit the gas we were off.