Don't forget to vote, people. The poll closes tomorrow night. This will be a short chapter as I am ending it on a cliff hanger, (obviously), but I'm going to drag the ideas over several chapters, hopefully. If you're nice to review and vote, I'll try and not be mean… in future chapters…
"Mom?"
"Yes, sweetie?" Crystal checked for William first.
"Can I go to the cinema with Alvie?" Joy looked around for her husband as well.
"When?"
"Tomorrow?"
"What time?"
"About eleven."
"OK then. How much do you need?"
"Mom, I can pay for it."
"No, no, no, I'll pay for you."
"Mom-"
"Ssh!" Joy smiled. "Don't want you paying for your own date now, do we?"
"It's not a date!" Crystal protested, feeling her cheeks burn.
"Then why've you gone so red?" Joy teased.
"Ugh…" Crystal collapsed on her bed and didn't move. Her mother laughed. "Mom, I can pay for a cinema ticket. It's fine."
"Not out of your allowance."
"Mom-"
"I'll stop your allowance for a month if you don't stop arguing."
"Really?"
"Um… I'll halve it." Crystal smirked. "What? I don't want my baby going without."
"Mom, I'm eleven!"
"You're still my baby." Joy smiled.
"Is it a mother's job to embarrass their children?"
"Of course it is! We wouldn't have any fun otherwise!" Crystal rolled her eyes at her mother. "Cheeky moo. Ring Alvie and get your date sorted."
"It's not a date!"
"Oh, yes it is!" Joy sang.
"Oh no it's not!"
They had their cinema trip planned for a week and Crystal had been so excited to spend the day with Alvie (it was not a date) that she had lost track of time that morning and was now running late. Crystal wasn't having a good day as it was and was now she was literally running to make up for lost time. By 'not having a good day', she meant that William was demanding she made breakfast as Joy was out at work as a counsellor and Crystal had to come up with some excuse to get out of the house. William wasn't happy with that.
She was trying to ring Alvie but his phone was off, damn him. As she wasn't looking where she was going, she collided with someone and fell backwards. Someone grabbed her by the wrist before she hit the ground.
"Crystal? Where are you going?" Crystal looked up and saw Alvie's older brother, Max. She pulled her hand free.
"I'm late." For some reason, Max's friends snickered. Even Max smirked. "Look, I'm supposed to be meeting Alvie at the cinema and I'm running late, so move."
"You want us to move?" One of Max's friends asked, sauntering forward and sneaking sideway glances at his mates.
"No, I want you to bloody tap dance. Yes, just move!" The guy grabbed her by her upper arm and shoved his face in hers. There was a faint stench of alcohol on his breath, making her recoil slightly.
"You want to watch that tongue, missy." He snarled. Crystal tried to pull out of his grip, but he wasn't as lenient as Max.
Unexpectedly, he let go, shoving her slightly at the same time, and she staggered back into the road.
It all happened so horribly and sickeningly fast.
A horn blared, the flash of an oncoming red car and then a shove from behind, a screech of brakes followed by a sickening thud.
Crystal had landed on the pavement, out of the car's way. Pain flared in her left wrist, but that was the least of her concerns.
Alvie had pushed her out the way and was now lying on his side, blood pooling onto the floor from a gash in his head.
"Alvie…" She hurried to his side as the shell-shocked driver got out the car.
"Don't move him." The driver mumbled. "Someone ring an ambulance!"
"Alvie, no… no, no, no…" Crystal was aware of a ruckus and a lot of shouting behind her, but she didn't listen, her main and obvious concern Alvie's current, injured state. Her vision tunnelled until it was just her and Alvie, the world around her blurred and muffled.
And cliffy!