Hey guys =] Thanks again for reading and favouriting this story! This chapter's the longest yet. Hope you enjoy :) xxx
Chapter 4:
This really wasn't my night! There weren't even many cars on the road, and yet I still managed to catch the lights; always on red, and every time I did, it felt like a lifetime as I waited for them to change. For the 4th time in the space of 5 minutes, I hammered the gas pedal, not caring to wait for the green light; orange was all I needed.
I didn't fail to notice the slight vibration through the truck, as I stepped up the gears, but I tried my hardest to ignore it. Surely it wasn't anything life-threatening, I silently prayed to myself, maybe I was just being a little too harsh on the pedals … I had a tendency to do that when I was on a mission.
And that's when it happened. I felt the sudden judder of the engine as the power disengaged. I cursed under my breath, willing it to keep going, but it simply idled along, making a 'jug jug' sound as it reached its final stop.
Twisting the key back and forth I tried to fire it back to life, but it was like banging my head against a brick wall. No good was coming from this.
"Phone … where's my phone" I muttered to myself as I searched through the crevices of my bag. "A-HA!" I cheered as I located the slim silver item. My luck wasn't dead yet!
Sliding it open and clicking the 'on' switch, it instantly lit up, unfortunately for me however, I was presented with an even bigger disaster… the battery icon in the corner of the screen flashed erratically, warning me that the phone was currently in need of charging.
"Damit damit damit!" I cursed under my breath. It was like I had the worst luck in the world! "Don't you dare die on me!" I warned the phone.
Quickly flicking through the phone book I came to the number I needed; the local truck pickup service. Dialling the number I put the phone to my ear, inwardly cussing the length of time it took for them to answer.
"Terry's Trucks, how can I help?"
"Oh good you're there! Listen, my trucks just died on me, and my phones about to die on me as well, so I need…"
"Oh dear, that's not good"
"Yeah I know, tell me about it" I answered with an impatient scowl. "Look, I'm parked on the West side of…"
A crack down the line followed by silence filled the speakers of the phone. "Hello?" I gasped in a panic, shaking the phone into action. "HELLO!?" I screeched at the lack of response. But it failed to work; it was dead, just like my crappy broken truck.
"Ugh! Damn the need for batteries!" I huffed as I threw the phone onto the passenger seat beside me. Putting my hand to my frowning forehead I rubbed it hard. Since when was wanting to go home after a long days work, so much to ask for!?
Clearly it was! I thought to myself as I rolled my eyes. Pulling the keys out of the ignition and stuffing them into my pocket, I clambered out the door.
Stepping outside I shivered, quickly wrapping my arms around me as the cold air attacked my bones. Looking left and right, my body hunching over, I felt an overwhelming sense of isolation and helplessness.
My forehead continued to frown, and my mouth fell into a pout. If only I'd checked my truck into the garage when Emmett had told me too, instead of ignorantly plodding along, pretending that everything was fine, as I'd turn my stereo volume up loud enough to distract me from the abnormal sounds my truck would make ... This sure as hell taught me a lesson! Well, no good was going to come from feeling sorry for myself. My truck wasn't magically going to spring back to life, and my non-existent-boyfriend wasn't going to show up to save the day, so I grit my teeth and grabbed my bag; slinging it over my shoulder before slamming the door shut behind me. Once I'd locked the vehicle, I gave her a gentle tap; "I'll be back as soon as I can Betsy" I told her, before heading down the dark and silent road set out before me…
……………………………………
Everything always sounded so magnified in the darkness; even just the tiniest sound would make me jump out of my skin. It wasn't even 5pm yet, but the dark nights had unfortunately drawn in. I tried to stay focused as I hastily walked down the street. Only 4 more blocks and I'd be home; tucking myself up into my warm cosy bed and dreaming about …Edward? … I rolled my eyes in irritation, telling myself I was supposed to hate him and nothing else! What didn't help was how unbelievably hot he was though, and because of that, I'd spent almost every second of the day thinking about him. One way or another he was always around, whether I'd spied him from where I was hiding down the school corridor, or I was mulling over some fantasy I'd invented about him in my head. Either way, it was driving me crazy.
Stepping onto the path verge I looked both ways, ensuring there was no traffic coming before walking across the road. I'd never known it to be so quiet in town; usually the streets were humming with vehicles. Not tonight though; perhaps due to the early dark nights and extreme coldness. We were certainly in for a brutal winter, there was no doubt about it, this was just the start of what was to come, I thought to myself as I sniffed the air; sensing a frost was coming. It would probably be white over by the morning; even colder and more dangerous on foot; typical that my truck should clap out on me when I needed it the most.
Up ahead I noticed the coffee shop, I tended to spend most of my Saturday evenings here with Alice; refreshments were always required following a tiring day of shopping. Shopping for most people may last a few hours, when Alice is around however, it lasts the entire day, and by the time we would reach the coffee shop, we'd both be well and truly exhausted.
It looked so warm and cosy in there as I found myself approaching it, and the thought of a cup of hot tea made my saliva work up a lather. I probably should've kept on walking, I would've no doubt made it home much quicker, but the idea was far too appealing, and I eventually found myself standing in line to order...
………………………………
"Emmett, hey… yeah, I'm ok. Look my truck kinda broke down a couple of blocks back … Yeah I know I should've," I rolled my eyes; I really didn't need the 'I told you so' comments. "…I don't suppose you could pick me up? … Thanks," I sighed through relief, "I'm in the coffee shop along Denver Avenue… 10 Minutes? Alright, I'll see you outside."
I slid the phone back onto the receiver and turned to face the waitress. "Thanks so much for letting me use your phone. I really appreciate it."
"No problem. Is someone coming to pick you up?"
"Yeah, my brother will be here soon" I smiled.
"Glad to hear it. We don't want one of our best customers having to walk these cold and wintery streets alone, now do we" she grinned at me.
"Thanks" I blushed a little before watching her walk away. Figures she'd remember me. I guess I put the 'R' in regular customer.
Taking hold of my plastic tea cup I located a spare high chair near the window, I failed to reach my destination however, as a now-familiar voice approached me from behind.
"Well well well, look who we have here" I heard him say as my breath hitched in the back of my throat. Turning on my heel I faced him.
"I thought it was you" he flashed me a crooked smile whilst giving me the once over; his eyes appearing to trail all over my body. I swallowed hard, trying to block out the feeling of butterflies in my stomach. I inwardly cursed myself for allowing myself to feel this way.
"Oh good, it's you" I tried to remain as blasé and sarcastic as possible, although my bodily temperature seemed to have other ideas.
"Hmmm" he grinned, "Well I wasn't so sure if it was you at first, the fact that you'd made it through the door without tripping-up kind of threw me". He smirked back, apparently finding it all very amusing. I on the other hand was starting to remember why I hated him so much. It was actually easier when he teased me, it enabled me to forget how attractive he was and carry on loathing him, even if it was only for a matter of seconds. "So what happened to you today anyway? One minute you were there, the next, no where to be seen" he mused; a brazen grin on his face.
What was that supposed to mean? Had he been looking for me? Was he disappointed that I'd kept myself hidden for the rest of the day? If only I had the gift of reading minds.
"I wasn't 'no where to be seen'…" I emphasised his words. "I was… working" I shrugged. "Reading actually, in the library".
"Oh really" he nodded back mockingly, "Can I give you a piece of advice? Next time you try and lie, try not to pause for an answer, it really gives you away" he smiled at me smugly.
"I'm not lying" I scoffed back and my brewing hatred for him continued. Excellent!
"Oh. So you weren't avoiding me then?" he crossed his arms over his chest smugly.
"And why would I want to avoid you?"
"I don't know, you tell me?"
"You ask far too many questions for my liking" I glared back at him.
He laughed to himself a little, his head shaking, whilst I took a moment to breathe, trying to keep my level of irritation under control. I needed to hate him, but I didn't want him revelling in the fact that he'd got me flustered.
"So what are you doing here anyway?" I eventually asked.
"I'm just grabbing some food before I head to work" he raised the sandwich in his left hand to show me. "How about you?"
"Erm, well, actually my truck broke down a couple of blocks back. I'm just waiting for my brother to pick me up".
"Oh, right" he nodded back; his expression turning serious for the first time since … since I'd known him actually. I suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable, as his gaze turned slightly more intense. Again I wished I knew what he was thinking. "Well, I should probably head outside and wait" I went on with hesitancy, gradually turning on my heel towards the exit.
"Yeah, sure… we should do this again sometime" he called over to me as I began to walk away. I simply smiled back awkwardly, not quite knowing how to respond to that, before I made my way outside, thankful to see my brother had excellent timing, and was currently pulling up onto the parking lot.
…………………………….
"You're quiet" Emmett spoke from out of the darkness, taking a quick glance at me before he re-faced the road ahead, his hands gripping the steering wheel firmly.
"Nothing much to say really" I shrugged.
"Riiiiight" he nodded slowly and I could already sense he was concerned for me, "Well if you're worried about Betsy, I'll make sure we see to her first thing. She'll be back before you know it. I don't know why you didn't just phone me straight away anyway". It definitely helped having the best Mechanic in Forks living under the same roof as me.
"I know, I'm sorry; I didn't think. And it's not the truck I'm worried about," I said lightly. "I just … I have a lot of work on. Mock Finals are coming up; it's pretty hard to think about anything but that to be honest". Ok, so that was a slight fabrication of the truth. There was something else to think about, or, someone else to be more precise. But I wasn't exactly going to disclose that information to my over-protective big brother. He'd only make it his number one priority to stick his nose in, and in the process embarrass me even more. And let's face it, I could do that well enough by myself.
By the time we'd reached home I was exhausted. I gave Charlie a quick 'Hello,' asking him how his shift went before I dragged my uncooperative body up the stairs. It wasn't long after that I sank into bed and slipped snugly into unconsciousness…
A/N- Thanks for reading :) Please take the time to leave a comment (I've also allowed for Anonymous review, so non-members can leave comments if they wish to do so), long or short, it's all encouraging! It also lets me know how I'm getting on. I want to know that people are enjoying it :)
Oh yeah, and I'm also running out of chapters =P … which means I might not be updating as regularly as I have been :( I shall try my best to keep writing though and update ASAP =] xxx
Ps! How excited am I for the Runaways :O … so excited!!! I might just pee my pants a little xD