Passage 3 of a Prologue in 6 Parts

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Cops and Confessions
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"License and registration, please."

Okay. Maybe in retrospect, racing through town in a stolen vehicle at over twice the speed limit in an area packed full of pedestrians had not been the brightest idea. No one was hurt, mind you, but how was I supposed to know a cop would be lying in wait for the first hapless driver to pass by at two or three (or forty) measly miles per hour faster than was permitted by law? Fucking speed traps.

Snow observed in silence as I reached for my wallet. I had told her not to worry and to let me do all the talking as I had pulled over to the side of the road not a minute before. Actually, she seemed surprisingly unconcerned, given our current predicament. Girl knew how to keep her cool.

Then again, she didn't know she was an accessory to the theft of this lovely luxury motor vehicle she was currently riding in style in.

I handed the cop my license and graced him with a million-watt smile. "Listen, I-"

"Registration?" he repeated gruffly as he began to jot something down on his pad.

I scratched the back of my neck. "Well, you see-"

"Here it is," Snow piped up. I whipped my head around and watched as she pulled the registration paper out of the glove box. Seeing as how that little piece of paper would clearly show that this was not my Ferrari - something I'm sure Officer Chuckles over here was already seriously doubting just by taking one look at me - I tried to furtively shake my head at her. Not taking the hint, she leaned over me to hand him the registration.

I had to resist the urge to facepalm.

He narrowed his eyes at the paper. "And would you be… Elsa Fryse, Miss?"

Not good. Not good at all. It was time to take charge of situation. "She-"

"Yes, that's me. Here's my ID." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a card that she passed along to the officer as well.

Woah. She had a fake ID that just so happened to match the registration for the car I stole? What are the odds?

Wait a minute…

Oh.

Oh.

Crap.

The policeman scribbled down a few more things. "You kids realize you were going 83 miles per hour in a 35 zone?"

Oh snap, I'd actually been doing closer to fifty over the speed limit? Go me!

Snow - or rather, Elsa, apparently - spoke up again. "That's actually my fault, officer," she smiled sheepishly. It was the first time I had actually seen a full blown, honest-to-god smile on the girl's face. It was kind of cute. "You see, we were at his place and I was helping him study. He's failing math."

Excuse me? Do I look like the kind of guy who flunks math? Shit, I know math. One plus one equals two. See? Suck it.

"Anyway, we lost track of time and my parents expected me home thirty minutes ago. So he was just speeding because he wanted to get me back before I got into too much trouble."

Hey, that story wasn't half bad. Who knew she had it in her?

The cop shifted his eyes from her to me, then back. "Care to explain why he's the one driving the vehicle?"

"I just don't like driving at this time of night," she responded without missing a beat. Then she looked down and nervously twisted her braid. "Gosh, I hope my dad won't be too mad at me for being so late…"

Damn, was her lower lip quivering? Her performance had me in awe.

The cop was silent for a few seconds, then sighed, ripped the ticket out of his pad and tore it in half. "I'll let you off with a warning this time." He glared down at me, "Just mind the speed limit, son. Her father would rather you get her home safely."

Pardon me while I pick my jaw up off the ground. "Y-yes, sir… Thank you, sir!" I managed to blurt out.

"And Miss," he looked at her again. "I'd suggest you find better company to keep."

Ouch. I'd be offended, but I couldn't really blame him. I looked like such a hoodlum sitting next to her. Never mind that I knew the truth about her now. I'm on to you, Little Miss Puppet Master.

"Good night, officer," she responded with a sweet, cherubic grin.

Oh, she was good.

He tipped his hat to us and walked back towards his patrol car. I waited for him to get in and drive away. Then I arched an eyebrow at her. "So… you knew this wasn't my car?"

She inspected her nails. "Yup."

"Because it's your car?"

"Yup."

"...this... is your car," I reiterated.

"Um… yes."

"That you knew I was stealing."

She glanced at me, her head tilting to one side. "Is it really stealing if I get in the car with you and let you take it?"

My face scrunched up. "Huh. Point." I drummed my fingers along the steering wheel. "So you knew I had zero permission for any of this?"

"You mean, did I know that the Headmaster didn't give you the okay to steal my car so you could pick up some late night snacks? I had a hunch."

"Hey," I raised a finger, "we established that I didn't technically steal it."

One corner of her lips twitched upward. "Didn't steal it, no. Thought you were stealing it? Yes."

I opened my mouth, then snapped it shut with a tiny scowl. "Okay, point again." I rubbed the nape of my neck. "For the record, I was gonna bring it back."

"Oh really? How thoughtful."

"I know, right?"

She snorted, then crossed her arms. "Why were you stealing my car anyway?"

"Why did you get in a car that you knew was being stolen?" I countered.

"I asked you first."

"Fine," I grunted and started ticking off my fingers one by one. "A, I was bored. B, it's a Ferrari. C, it asked me to." I winced. Way to sound crazy, dude. "...D, forget I mentioned C. Okay, now you."

She shrugged. "Same reason I smoked my first cigarette." Crap, I should've been able to figure that one out on my own. "Why did you lie to me about what you were doing?"

"Is it really lying if you knew I was lying?"

"I'm going to say yes."

"Damn." I wasn't good at this game. "Well… say this wasn't your car. Would you have still gotten in if I had told you the truth?"

She mulled over that for a second. "...probably." Oh-ho, really now? Intriguing. "Why did you ask me to come with you?"

"Because you wanted me to ask you." That had actually been a total shot in the dark, but it seemed I'd hit it right on the nose since she looked taken aback by my answer. "What's the deal with the gloves?"

She recovered quickly, narrowing her eyes at me. "Still not answering that."

"Oh, come on!"

"Nope."

I rapped my fist against the steering wheel. It had been worth a shot. "Okay, fine. Then why haven't you been driving this car?"

She blinked. "What makes you think I haven't been driving it?"

"Because until I liberated it tonight, it hadn't budged an inch from its parking spot since it showed up."

She cast her eyes upward at the ceiling and sighed. "...it was supposed to be a peace offering from my parents. One I didn't accept."

I cocked my head to one side with a frown. "Okay... what did they do?"

"They sent me to this school."

"And that's... bad?" Sure, I wasn't exactly going to be singing this place's praises any time soon, but if someone was giving me a free car in exchange, I wasn't about to turn my nose up at that.

Instead of giving me an answer, she asked, "How did you come to be enrolled?"

My brow furrowed. What did that have to do with anything? I shrugged. "I was a ward of the state. Yen Sid picked me up because no one else would take me."

Her head snapped around in my direction. Ugh, that look. I was very familiar with that look. It was the kind of look you would give to a puppy with cancer that had just found out Santa Claus wasn't real. "That's… I'm sorry."

"Why? Was it your fault I was an evil little hellion that no one wanted?" She tucked in her lower lip and didn't respond. "Yeah, I didn't think so." I scratched a spot behind my ear. "What about you? How did you end up here? What'd your parents do?"

She shrugged. "Had me restrained and sedated before shipping me off like some criminal."

My eyebrows shot up my forehead. "Shit, seriously? That's brutal." My therapist says in times like these I should find some sort of common ground in order to relate. What common grounds did we share? Shitty parents. "If it makes you feel any better, my dad's in prison."

She quirked an eyebrow at me. "Why on earth would that make me feel better?"

It's possible my therapist is full of crap. "Not sure, but just thought I'd throw that out there." So much for that angle. "So, your folks gave you the Ferrari to try to smooth things over, huh?"

Her head tipped forward. "They had it waiting for me when I arrived here, hoping I would simply forgive and forget. You know, bygones and all." She snorted. "How shallow do they think I am?"

"Huh. Who does that?" Pause. "No, seriously, who does that and where do I sign up? I want to get a free car every time someone's a douchebag to me."

She gave me a sour half-grin. "It's not as awesome as it sounds."

"Well, if you don't want the Ferrari, can I have it?"

"Sure."

I blinked at her. "I was joking."

"I wasn't."

Okay, not to look a gift Ferrari in the mouth, but I seriously doubted I was now the proud new owner of this certified pre-owned vehicle worth more than my pathetic existence. Flashy, expensive sports cars don't just fall into your lap. Shit like that just doesn't happen, you know? Tilting my head to one side, I asked, "You know nothing's forcing you to stay at the school, right? You can leave at any time, no one's gonna stop you."

She hugged her knees up to her chest and nodded. "I know."

"So then why didn't you just say fuck your folks, hop in this car and drive back home?"

Her eyes were blank as she stared out the windshield. "It's hard returning where you know you're not wanted. Besides, they'd only find a way to send me back."

"Okay… forget home. You could have gone somewhere else. Anywhere else."

She glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes. "...why haven't you left the institute?"

My shoulders stiffened. I scratched my cheek then shrugged. "Nowhere else to be, I guess," I grumbled.

She simply nodded and said nothing more.

I pursed my lips for a moment, then brightened. "Well, I can think of somewhere to be right now." I looked at her. "That is, unless you want to go back."

"Nah, I'm not ready to head back yet," she shook her head.

I smirked. Somehow, I got the feeling she'd say that. "Alright, then let's boogie." Reaching under the steering wheel to hotwire the car again, I said, "Guess I don't have to be so sneaky about this anymore."

"Alright, two things. You weren't all that sneaky about it in the first place. And," she reached up, flipped down the sun visor and retrieved from there a set of keys that she then tossed over to me, "try these, genius. They'll probably be faster."

I caught the keys with a frown. "You mean they were up there the whole time?"

"Yup," she grinned. "I thought you said you were observant."

"Shaddup," I grumbled, jamming the keys in the ignition and starting up the car. Somehow, it just wasn't as satisfying.

As I pressed down on the gas, she said, "One more question."

"Shoot."

"What do I call you? I mean, you know my name now, but I still don't know yours."

I quirked an eyebrow. Had I really gotten this far without introducing myself? My my, where were my manners? "Axel," I smirked before tapping a finger to my temple. "Got it memorized?" She just stared at me. "What?"

"What was that, some sort of catchphrase? It was seriously the lamest thing I've ever heard."

"Psh. You don't know what you're talking about."

She shook her head. "Whatever, Alex."

"Axel."

A smirk tugged at her lips as she turned to look out the window. "Yeah yeah, got it, Axton."

I released a heavy sigh.

Author's Note: Special thanks to Amarxlen and Arisa Kiryuu for being so generous as to take some time to leave their reviews! Thank you so so sooooo much for reading, I super duper appreciate it! If you have any comments or friendly feedback, please make my day and leave a review! Catch you at the next update, lovelies! Much love, peace out, word to your mothers, and other such phrases that shouldn't be coming out of the likes of lil ol' me!