Under all the smoke, the Monkeemobile's back bumper was completely busted. The front airbags deployed, and Peter and Cara just sat there, completely shocked. That is—until Cara recognized the car that had crashed into them.
"Holy shit!" she hissed. "That's Jeff's car!"
"What?" asked Peter. "Man! Get down, he hasn't seen you yet!" Cara ducked down under the seats in the front and pulled a sheet that she found on the floor over her. Sure enough, Peter saw a larger-than-life, mean-looking young man with close cropped hair and muscles on his muscles walk out of a silver Corvette, looking just a little more than pissed off. Peter gulped…so this was his competition. He'd have to step it up a little bit.
"Man, you don't drive that freaking slow on this street moron!" he yelled. Cara trembled under her sheet. What would happen if she was found like this?
"Well…maybe you were going a little fast?" said Peter, terrified. What was he supposed to do?"
"Going too fast is better than going to slow, dumbass!" screamed Jeff. "Man! Look what you did to my Corvette. You gotta pay for this you know!"
"Well…Uh…you own the car, I mean, I think you can afford it," said Peter, right away noticing he made a mistake. Jeff's face grew stony and just damn angry.
"You wanna screw around with me, punk?" Jeff growled, bearing a fist. "Cause trust me, if you want to screw around I'll screw your neck on backwards!" Cara wanted so bad to leap out of the car and stand up for Peter like she had before when Mr. Babbitt was giving him a hard time, but she just couldn't…she wasn't gonna get caught again.
Peter yelped at the sight of Jeff's huge fist and yanked out his wallet. "Okay, okay, I'll give you some cash to cover it, just don't hit me!"
"There ya go, wimp," said Jeff, snatching the ten dollar bill Peter had flashed at him. "You got lucky, kid."
Peter wasn't even able to say anything as Jeff drove away; he just stood there, shaking, holding his wallet. Cara peeked up from the seat and when she saw Jeff had driven far enough away, she got out of the car and to Peter's side. "Are you okay?" she asked. After a closer look, she saw that he was furious.
"I can't believe I let him get away," said Peter, his voice shaking. "God Cara, I'm so sorry. What a horrible person…if I were a different man I would've tore him apart, but no…I'm just a weak wimp."
"It's not your fault Peter," said Cara. "He's a scary person, I'd know better than anyone."
"You're too good a person to ever have to deal with a loser like him," said Peter, still very mad. "I mean, I know you said he was bad, but you never really know until you see him. Come on, let's get going before something else happens."
"Peter, let's just go home for now," said Cara. "We can go somewhere tomorrow after I'm done working. I just want to be safe."
"I know," said Peter. "We should let everyone else know what just happened too. Man Mike's gonna kill me when he sees the car."
"I'm sure he'll understand when we tell him what happened," said Cara. "Let's just hope it still runs." They got back into the car, and Peter started the motor. Thankfully, the car was still able to move and they started on back to the apartment. "I'm sorry I stayed hidden, by the way,' said Cara again. "I should have sucked it up and stood up for you instead of letting you get pushed around like that."
"Cara, if you had done that, Jeff would have taken you, and I don't know what I would've done after that," said Peter. "I'm glad you stayed hidden."
"I just feel bad," said Cara.
"I do too," said Peter. They were silent until they got back to the apartment. Peter opened the door, and saw the other three guys, plus Abigail sitting in the living room.
"Did something happen again?" asked Cara.
"Nope," said Abigail. "Just felt like stopping by. Where were you?"
Peter and Cara told the group everything about Mr. Babbitt stopping by in the morning, Peter getting Cara hired at the head shop, and then finally—
"Oh, and we got in a car crash with Jeff," said Cara.
Abigail's eyes got wide, as well as everyone else's. "Wait…what? How are you still here?"
"I hid," said Cara. "Peter gave ten bucks to Jeff—well, he kinda took it…and he drove off."
"Please tell me you didn't totally ruin the car," groaned Mike.
"Oh come on!" snapped Cara, making everyone in the room jump. "This isn't about what happened to the car—which only has some rear bumper damage by the way—this is about a cross with Jeff! Have some care Mike!"
"Sorry," said Mike. "So…you're sure he didn't see you?"
"One hundred percent," said Cara. "I just can't believe this happened."
"Did he get a plate number?" asked Davy.
"Not that I saw," said Peter. "But then again we were both too scared to do much."
"I doubt he got anything," said Abigail. "He was probably too mad to remember, he does that all the time. For him to remember something he has to be focused."
"Well that's good cause he was pissed," said Peter, making a face.
"Well…how'd the job go?" asked Mickey, trying to change the subject.
"I ended up getting it," said Cara.
"Where was it at?" asked Mike.
"Psychedelic Psycho!" said Peter.
"Wha…Peter, you got her a job at a head shop?" asked Mike. "Are you nuts? Do you know the crazies who shop at those sorts of places?"
"Crazies who aren't Jeff," said Cara. "Even though we—er—ran into him earlier on the way back, there's no way he'd ever walk into a place like that. Right Abigail?"
"Exactly," said Abigail. "And congrats on getting a job Cara, getting free!"
"I'm glad I got it," said Cara. "To be honest, I was scared it would be something I wouldn't like, but it should be interesting down the line."
"That's the spirit," said Davy. "Say Abby baby, wanna ditch this room?"
"Ooooh," Abigail giggled. "Davy!" The two rushed upstairs and around to Davy's room, off to do God knows what.
"So…is that real now?" asked Cara.
"Eh, we think so, but do you really know with Davy?" asked Mickey. When he saw Cara's look of concern from her experience with half-assed relationships, Mickey quickly added, "But yeah, Davy's many things, but he's definitely no heartbreaker."
"Hey, Mick, ya wanna work on the car, see the damage?" asked Mike.
"Sure Mike," said Mickey. "Mickey the mechanic, away!" He raced off to the garage to see about the car.
"Sorry about going right to worrying about the car guys," said Mike. "It…it was very insensitive of me. Is everyone alright after that episode?"
"Yeah, we're fine," said Cara.
"I'm gonna go upstairs for a bit," said Peter. He went up the stairs to his room.
"Is he okay?" asked Mike.
"He's upset about what happened to Jeff today," said Cara. "I'm sure he'll be fine." Peter, in fact, was not entirely fine, but not his worst either. His mind was buzzing with what had gone on today. He had almost succeeded in asking Cara out, and it would've happened if her evil boyfriend/ex-boyfriend, whatever he was didn't crash his car into theirs. The part that they would've gone out made him happy, but everything else made him want to punch a hole through the wall. He crashed down on his bed and thought about it. He had wanted Cara ever since she came crashing into his life, but now that he saw what he was up against, he wasn't so sure he could win this one. But deep down he wanted nothing more than to hold Cara's body against his, to stroke her long sweet-smelling hair, to kiss her soft lips. Was he man enough to get past Jeff? Downstairs, Cara was fighting her own emotional battle.
As she sat on the couch with Mike, things were swimming through Cara's head. It was strange…she enjoyed spending time with Peter very much, more than anyone else she ever knew. He made her feel happy and special, and to see the others put him down too much made her blood boil. He was a sweet, cute, funny man and he made her feel the best she had been in a while.
"Hey…Mike?" she asked. "I think I'm having a problem."
Mike chuckled. "Well Cara, which problem is it? The boyfriend coming to get you or working at a head shop?"
"It's weird," said Cara. "I've just been feeling funny lately."
"Are you sick?" asked Mike.
"No, I'm not," said Cara. "I dunno if I'm feeling good or bad, to tell you the truth…just a jumble of…things."
"Well, it's understandable," said Mike. "I mean, look what you've got going on in your life! If I were you, I'd be going bananas. What do you think it's about?"
"Well…to be honest, it's about Peter," said Cara.
Mike's eyes brightened. "Peter you say?" He had an ear to ear grin on his face.
"Yeah," said Cara. "Look, I told you it was weird—"
Mike laughed. "Oh, Cara, there's nothin' weird about having a crush!"
"Wait—oh, no I never said it was that!" exclaimed Cara, going deep red.
Mike swatted his hand. "Oh, come on!" he said. "You stood up for him to Mr. Babbitt today, and he's obviously crazy about you."
"Mike, I think you've got it all wrong," said Cara, blushing furiously. "He's just fun, and I don't think he deserves to get pushed around."
"Whatever you say Cara, but I think you've got a crush on your hands," said Mike.
"I also feel kinda bad too," said Cara. "About what happened earlier with the car crash with Jeff."
"How so?" asked Mike.
"It's just…I stayed hidden while Peter was getting all pushed around by that big bully pushed him around," said Cara. "He could've gotten hurt, and all I did was hide because I was scared of getting hurt myself. How selfish of me!"
"Cara, that's not being selfish, you were scared," said Mike.
"And so was Peter," said Cara.
"Look Cara, you can admit your feelings when you want to, but I still think I know better than you what's goin' on here," said Mike.
"Don't try to read my feelings!" said Cara, flustered. Mike just chuckled and winked and walked upstairs, leaving Cara alone on the couch to sort out her feelings. She didn't really know what having a real crush felt like; the only boy she'd come close to feeling that way about was Jeff back in high school, but that was more of a way to get to the inner circle of students. She felt strange when she figured out that she started using Jeff first, but then again he used her soon after that. For all she knew, she could have a crush on Peter, but for now all she could do was think.
Jeff slammed the door to his house, furious about the crash earlier. That little punk didn't get nearly what he deserved. Dammit, Jeff should've gotten the plate number off of his goofy little car, but he was too mad to think and the car's back bumper was too bent up to see anything readable. At least he had ten dollars to pay for his damages.
"Should've gotten more," Jeff growled to himself, crushing the bill in his fist. "Abigail! You home!" he shouted. No answer. The chick was probably out working a job or something stupid like that. Or with Cara. He knew she knew where she was, but to get a secret out of his sister was like pulling teeth. For now all he could do was what he'd been doing. Maybe he should follow Abigail the next time she went out.
Trying to calm down, he went over to his room and sat on his bed. He was under too much pressure lately, having to do everything himself. He desperately wanted something to help him calm down, but didn't know what. He'd look for something tomorrow.
"Well Mike, the car's all fixed," said Mickey, coming back from the garage. Everyone was back downstairs now; Abigail and Davy were done with whatever the hell they were doing, and Mike and Peter must've gotten bored. "I just had to replace the bumper and buff out some scratches. Should be good as new."
"Thanks Mickey," said Mike. "So is everyone feeling better?"
"Much," said Cara, who was still confused. Peter scooted over to sit next to Cara and she felt her face get hot. This was very weird and she wasn't sure if she liked it or not.
"The initial shock is done…" said Peter. "Seriously, what are the chances of that happening again?"
"Yeah," said Mike. "Man, I'm hungry. Whose turn is it to cook again?"
"Oooh, Mine!" said Peter, immediately changing from quiet and somber to silly and childlike again, just as Cara liked it. "I'll get the root beer!"
"Oh, I like root beer," said Cara.
"Not the way Pete does it," said Davy, looking disgusted. Cara opened her mouth to retort, but shut it right away. She figured she wasn't going to stick up for this one until she tried whatever Peter was making in the kitchen. Out of the corner of her eye she was Mike grinning knowingly at what she was about to do. Cara shot daggers out of her eyes at Mike, who shrugged and looked away. Cara knew she probably couldn't win this battle, but she swore she'd win the war, whatever that was.
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