Chapter 3: She's Getting Away

Car alarms blasted all around us in a freak show, as all of the cars were windowless, all except the Camaro. And it was the same Camaro that started the orchestra of alarms.

Something was off with that car. Very, very off.

The broken window and windshield glass rained all over us as I stifled a scream and covered my head with my hands and waited for all of the glass particles to fall down to the ground.

Then the alarms started dying out, one by one. It was as if they were being controlled by some higher force, and surprisingly, it wasn't my doing. But at the end of the day, I knew it was me who was going to take the blame for it, and it was because of the blessing. Or the curse. Sometimes, I couldn't differentiate which of the two I had, because it worked both ways, like a double-edged dagger, but it wouldn't matter. The point was that I was going to be blamed for the damage.

The car alarms fell dead and all the glass stopped falling. We all steadily rose up to our feet, wary of everything that was going on around us. Who knew, something else might blow up?

Looking around, I saw that my dad and brother were glaring at me.

Yep, knew that was coming. Sam punched me because he was only an arm's length away from me. "What the hell was that?" He said through gritted teeth.

"What are you talking about?" I said through gritted teeth as well, making sure Bobby Bolivia didn't hear us. He could think we were doing this on purpose, when obviously we had nothing to do with the situation.

"What am I-" He pointed towards all the glass on the ground quickly and glared at me. "You did this!" He whisper-yelled.

"I didn't!" I whisper-yelled back.

"O-Okay!" Suddenly, Bobby Bolivia said. "Four thousand!" He brought up four fingers, as if we didn't hear him clearly.

"Sold!" Sam and I said at the same time and dad walked up to the man to shake his hands with him, so that the deal would be sealed.

"A-Alright." The negro man was still shaken up by the whole thing. Honestly, so were we. "I'll just go find… uh, papers. Yeah, the papers." Bobby muttered out, going into the small building to find the papers to car he said he allegedly knew nothing about. Let's hope the papers somehow found their way there.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Nicole." Dad said to me.

"What?"

"To think you'd go this far to get what you want." He shook his head.

"It wasn't me." I told my dad.

"No, of course not." Sam piped in. "Who else could do this except you?" I was so going to strangle the life out of him.

"Didn't you hear the sound before the explosion? The robotic screech?" I prompted to both of them.

"I think she's finally lost it, dad." Sam said.

"Sam!" I narrowed my eyes at him, whereas he just shrugged it off.

"No Nicole, I didn't hear a robotic screech." Dad crossed his arms and frowned at me. I hated it when nobody trusted me.

"I didn't do this, dad. You gotta believe me."

"We'll talk about this home." Dad said as Sam nudged him, noticing Bobby Bolivia coming back.

"But I said I didn't-!"

"Alrighty folks." Bobby came with his hands quivering. "Here's your papers," He threw them at me. "your car keys," He threw them at Sam. "and your cars, now please get out of here or I'll have some serious trouble with the rest of the cars." Dad paid up the four thousand dollars he had to and we knew we were to rendezvous with him back home. Sam, having the car keys, got into the driver's seat of the Camaro with a stupid grin on his face. I had to disregard the horrible feeling on trustlessness that both of the men gave me, and to replace it with absolute joy and glee of finally getting a car, even if it was a trashy one.

But I didn't want Sam to be the first one to drive it.

"Doesn't the rule say ladies first?" I said, stopping him from putting the key into the key hold.

"Sure does, but you're not a lady." Sam said.

"Way to hurt my feelings, bro." I glared at him.

"Not my problem you're sensitive."

I scowled. "Screw you, Sam." I crossed my arms, only after I put the papers in the glove compartment.

He started up the car, and a wonderful sound came and rattled the interior. At least the engine ran nicely, but I'd like to have the car inspected for any leakages or rust. God knew cars this old could be hiding lots of damage.

We were easily out of the parking lot in no time and Sam followed dad's hunter green Austin back home. The ride was surprisingly smooth and the brakes seemed to be working just fine. Maybe this piece of old American muscle wasn't so bad after all.

When we finally arrived home, dad parking his car well away from Sam's driving hands, we stopped the car and got out of it. I saw my mom gardening, calling dad over to help her out with uneven and wobbly patches of grass.

"Mom, dad, we're going out for a drive!" I bellowed across the front yard as mom handed dad his gardening gloves and tools.

"Sis, I'll be right back, just gotta give Mojo his meds." Sam said, racketing the car keys in his fingers as he threw them to me. Thankfully, I knew how to catch objects in motion, unlike many girls I knew. Seriously, how hard was it?

"Hurry up." I told him as I walked to the driver's door and opened it, looking at the main and secondary colors of the coupe. You could see its age on the leather and the stretch marks it bore.

I waited for Sam a couple of minutes as he ran out of the house. He ran right across the green grass dad was planting. "Ugh Sam!" He frowned. "I do not like footprints on my grass!"

Sam practically leapt onto the stone pathway. "What foot-? There's no footprints, dad!"

"That's why I built my path! So why don't you move on from my grass onto my path?"

"It's family grass, dad."

"Yeah well, when you own your own grass, you'll understand." Dad resumed his gardening just as I saw Mojo climbing up to his wooden perch, even though he was a dog. I felt sorry for him every time I saw him limp because of the cast on his front left paw. Courtesy of mom accidentally stepping on him.

"This… I can't do this." Sam said as he caught mom's attention, pointing to the poor Chihuahua. He had bijouterie all over him in forms of necklaces. "You're putting Nicole's jewelry on a boy dog!"

"That's my-Mom, that's my necklace!" I noticed far too late. I wasn't touching that necklace anymore. I didn't like it all that much in the first place, but now that Mojo had it, he can keep it.

"He's got enough self-esteem issues as a Chihuahua already." Sam finished.

"But that's his bling!" Mom prompted.

Oh god.

"Sam, let's just go." I can't take this. I opened the driver's door and sat into the seat.

"I want you home at 11 o'clock!" Mom said.

"Yeah, alright!" Sam said.

"11 o'clock!" Dad repeated as Sam got into the car.

"And please, for the love of God, drive safely!" Mom exclaimed.

"Seatbelts on!" Dad backed her up.

I started up the Camaro and a plume of smoke ran out of the exhausts. Oddly enough, the US let cars like these roam the streets, but not a GT-R R34? Stupid. In terms of pollution, this Camaro right here takes the cake. It's a danger to us all.

"So where are we going?" Sam asked as we slowly rolled out of the driveway.

"No place specific. I'll just go grab a milkshake or something from McDonalds. You feeling hungry?"

"Yeah, I'm up for some grub."

"Cool, 'cause you're paying."

"Hell no."

"You drove the car first and you insulted me. Either I tell mom and dad now, or you pay up."

He groaned. "Fine, fine. I'm buying."

"Good, 'cause now I'm feeling hungrier." I smiled as we drove around town with our new car.

We rolled back into the house's driveway and I turned off the engine after I parked it. I yawned tiredly, rubbing my left eye. Sam and I ate for all our money was worth at McDonalds. "I can't believe I'm so tired." I said to Sam, who seemed to be halfway asleep. I patted his knee. "Wake up, bro, we're home."

"Oh?" He opened his eyes, looking disoriented. "Right, right. Just let me stretch." He said as I nodded and opened the door of the car. Sam did the same on his side, and he got out, but I didn't. My eyes were fixated on the robotic face in the center of the steering wheel. "I'll see you tomorrow, sis." Sam said before yawning and walking over dad's grass into the house.

I didn't bother answering him as I slid my slender fingers over the symbol, trying to figure what it was. "And what are you supposed to be?" I muttered, but nothing came to mind. I didn't even expect an answer, so I got out and closed the door behind me, locking the car.

We were back at around 9 pm, and as I quietly got into the house, I found that both of my parents were sitting on the couch and patiently waiting for me to walk over to them.

Something doesn't feel right.

"Nicole, Sam, come here." Dad said in a no nonsense voice.

"Yeah dad?" I asked nicely.

He crossed his arms. "Tell your mother what happened when you were buying your car."

I shrugged. "Nothing?"

"Stop playing it up and answer the question."

"But dad, I didn't do anything!" I stood up for myself, but I noticed that Sam wasn't backing me up. I elbowed him into his ribs, causing him to bend over only slightly, but he clearly took the hint as mom waited patiently.

"Nicole is a very nice, um, and good person, and she'd never do anything bad. Right Nicole?" I nodded. "So, she didn't do anything, like she and I both said."

Apparently, dad bought it. I secretly knew he loved his son more than he loved his daughter. I guess it's a father-son thing.

"Nicole, if anything like this happens again, you'll be facing consequences, do I make myself clear?" Dad threatened, pointing with his finger at me. Other than feeling offended, I felt betrayed. Why does my own father not trust me?

"I did not do anything!" I angered easily and some of the objects in the house started rattling. An indication that things would get way out of hand if they kept on doing this to me.

"Okay, sweetie, okay." Dad immediately tried to soothe me with his palms facing down. "You didn't do anything."

Damn right I didn't.

"Can I got to my room now?" I asked.

"You can go." Dad said, defeated.

And so, I went up to my own room, changing my clothes and falling into the bed. I looked up at the ceiling above me as random and various thoughts traversed through my mind.

Sometimes, I think I need some love to fall asleep, but God knows I'm not getting any. Not when nobody in my family trusts me enough to accept what I'm saying, and not deeming it a lie before it even exits my mouth. Just because I was born with this gift doesn't mean I am a mutant of some sort, or an abomination. They needed to trust me, because if not, how can I trust them in turn? They don't believe a word of what I say, and I know exactly why. It's because I am different.

I don't care that I am.

It's been three hours since I've wanted to lull myself to sleep, but failed in doing so.

It was around midnight now, and I had nothing to do. I fiddled with the spheres I could form. Whenever one erupted from the palm of my hand, it would light the room in shades of baby blue. Then suddenly, my phone vibrated.

I took it off the bedside table and unlocked it, seeing the notification I had on Facebook about a lake party taking place tomorrow. I declined the offer and finally went to sleep. I totally wasn't in the mood to party tomorrow. Or ever.

Slowly, I felt someone shaking me from my beauty sleep. I played pretend that I was unfazed by the motions, but they were persevering and I groaned, opening a single eye. "What do you want, Sam?" I said half intelligibly, since my face was buried in my white feather pillow. He snickered as he continued to stir me. "Go away, moron."

I was not a morning person.

Sam knew that.

"C'mon sis, get up."

I turned my back on him.

And the stirring came on once again and I had it. I turned around quickly and jumped out of bed, taking Sam down in the process. He was not expecting that.

"Ow, what gives?" He groaned, probably lightly hitting the back of his head on the carpet on our way down.

"Bye Sam." I said as I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes again, only to be pushed to the side.

"Get off of me." Sam got up and dusted his jeans.

"What did you wake me up for? I thought you knew I'm not a morning person." I sat on the carpet, ruffling my hair a bit so that I would look normal and not like a lion on a bad hair day.

"I was thinking we should refill the car's tank if you're up for it. It would be our first time and it's kinda important. You know, memorable and stuff." He grinned, but gave a shrug.

"Okay. Fine, I'll go with you. Get out of my room, Sam, I'm not changing in front of you." I shooed him out and closed the door.

Ten minutes later, I was ready to go fill the tank with Sam. I was wearing plain jeans and a red T-shirt, because today I was wearing everything casual. As I walked down the stairs, I wondered why it was around noon and why I wasn't in school. I saw mom in the kitchen cleaning the countertops. "Mom, why aren't we in school today?" I asked her.

"Oh, the principle called. He said today was one of those Car Wash Friday things and I told him you and Sam were sick."

"Thanks mom." I pecked her on the cheek, feeling delighted.

"But you'll have to wash your own car. That yellow thing looks awful and my rose bushes looks horrible next to it."

My good attitude vanished. "Thanks mom." I said, my spirits deflating. "Sam and I are off to the gas station."

"Oh yeah, he told me so and I gave him some fuel money. Drive safely!" She said as I was halfway out of the kitchen.

"We will, mom!" I exclaimed as I got out of the house. My eyes landed on the Camaro sitting in the gravel driveway.

It wasn't this filthy when we bought it.

Was it?

"Something wrong with the car?" Sam asked, appearing magically by my side as he noticed how long I was staring at the car.

"Look at it." I said and he did. "Was it really this dirty when we bought it?"

"Could be. We'll wash it." Sam shrugged, getting into the driver's seat as I did on the passenger side. As he turned on the contact, and then the engine, the fuel gauge arrow stood at about ¾.

"Sam, the tank isn't empty." I said a bit confusedly.

He smirked as he pulled out of the driveway. "Yeah, I know."

I scowled. He was up to something. "Then what are you doing?"

He continued to drive through the suburbia. "I was thinking we could pick up Miles and go to the lake party."

I shook my head. That wasn't on my plans for today. "Sam, I don't want to go and nobody is expecting me to come."

"Yeah, Mikaela's going to be there and Miles is going to be my wingman." Oh, the Mikaela excuse. He's been in love with that girl for quite some time now. And no wonder, she had a body to die for.

"Then what do you need me for? Take me back, Sam." I said.

"No-can-do, ma'am. If he starts do to something weird, you're the backup."

"You mean, when he starts doing something weird, I'm the backup." I corrected him.

"Hey, you said it yourself." He said in a victorious voice and left me confused.

"Said what?"

"You're the backup. Now, you have to go with me." He grinned. I rolled my eyes.

"You owe me."

"I don't owe you anything if you said it yourself." Ugh, I hate this guy.

"I hate you."

"I love you too, sis."

By the time we finished arguing, we were in front of Miles's house. Sam honked a couple of times, probably a sign for Miles to get out of the house. When he did, he looked very excited. But when he came near the car, his face fell. "Bro, what kind of car is this?" He said as I got out of the car so he could catch a glimpse of the interior, and that I can get in the backseat.

Sam answered. "It's an old Camaro, Miles, just get in."

"Dude, this is like, thirty years old or something. You expect Mikaela to go with you in that?"

"Go where with him?" I interjected, but I didn't get a reply. They knew something I didn't.

Miles kept eyeing the rust on the Camaro's pillars. "Now, bro, we can take my dad's car. He has a Rover."

"Your dad has a Land Rover?" I asked.

"No, just Rover."

"You mean that sedan thing?"

"It's not a 'sedan thing', it's a Rover."

"Oh wow, now it's special." I rolled my eyes.

"Miles, just get in." Sam exhaustedly said, clearly having none of Miles's and my arguing. Miles got in the front seat and I in the back. He closed the door as Sam started to drive in the direction of the lake party.

Reminder to self: Never take Sam's word for anything ever again.

When we did arrive, we all saw the rich blue colored Hummer H2 with 22 inch chrome wheels Trent loved so much, parked on the grass like he doesn't give a damn. "Are you sure we're invited to this party?" Miles tentatively said. That Hummer had an imposing presence, and wherever the Hummer was, there was Trent.

"Of course, Miles, it's a lake. Public property." Sam stopped the car on the side of the street and turned the engine off. We all stood in the car for a moment to just watch and see who came to the party. "Oh my God. Oh my God, dude, Mikaela's here. Just don't do anything weird, alright?" They got out of the car, while I remained in the back. I had no intention of leaving the car at all. "I'm good, right?" Sam asked Miles, running his hands down his shirt as if to straighten it.

"Yeah, you're good." Miles said offhandedly.

"Okay." Sam suddenly remembered that I was in the car too and stopped in his tracks. He came to the car and asked through the open window. "You wanna come out?"

"Nope. I like it here." I shook my head and patted the black seat. He nodded and went off towards Mikaela. I had absolutely no intention of embarrassing myself out there. Where Trent was, embarrassment was not only probable, but imminent.

I watched everything from the backseat. Nobody noticed me, and thank heavens for that.

Sam headed up towards the lake, albeit very tentatively and very slowly, whereas Miles immediately looked at a nearby tree and jogged towards it, starting to climb it. Sam and Trent exchanged some words, but then I saw Trent edging closer to Sam in a dominant manner, but Mikaela, who was behind Trent, got in front of him and stopped him by putting her petite hands onto his broad chest. Miles dismounted from that tree, looking towards the ladies by the lake for some kind of approval, which he of course, did not get.

Sam and Miles backed up a little from Mikaela and Trent, but then the girl stormed off angry from Trent, just seconds later.

Miles and Sam got to the car, where Sam leaned casually on the kidney of the car, just above the front wheel, Miles started getting in through the open window.

He can damage a lot of things that way, mainly the leather that already looks like crap.

"Miles!" I hissed. "There is a door for a reason!"

He just shrugged and put his hands behind his head with one foot on the window sill. Sam put his hands in his pockets, contemplating something. The three of us watched Mikaela walk into the distance with her extremely hot legs, platforms, tight and short mini skirt made of denim and that orange tank top she wore all the time.

I heard static in the car, and the red line on the 70's radio started to move. I got freaked out by this, since it was moved by no one.

"Who's gonna drive you home, tonight?" The radio played at a louder tune, as if intended for Sam to hear it.

Miles and I looked at each other, bemused. "Hey man, what's wrong with your radio?" Miles called to Sam.

"I'm driving her home tonight." Sam said, not taking his eyes from the beautiful form of Mikaela.

And just where does he intend to put her? I know the Camaro is a coupe with 2+2 seating, but still, four people is a tight squeeze in here. Even I can't put my legs in the back since it's designed for children. Well, not really, but adults certainly can't fit their legs in here.

"What?" Miles immediately voiced. "She's an evil jock concubine man, let her hitchhike."

"She lives ten miles from here, this is my only chance, you gotta be understanding." Sam said, getting into the driver's seat as the music continued to play.

Miles started negotiating. "Alright, we'll put her in the back-"

"No, we're not putting her in the back." I immediately said.

"And I'll be quiet."

"Did you just say put her in the back?" Sam couldn't believe that Miles was so insensitive. He was his friend and he knew about his crush on Mikaela.

"I called shotgun."

"Miles, I'm not putting her in the back, you gotta get out of my car right now."

"It's a party foul!"

"What rules?" Sam narrowed his eyes at him.

"Uh, bros before hoes!"

"Miles, I'm begging you, get out of my car, 'kay?" Sam pressed his palms together in a 'please' gesture.

"Y-you can't do this to me!" He stared at him incredulously.

"You gotta get out of my car, right now."

"But dude, why don't you tell her to get out of the car?"

"She's my sister, Miles."

"And I'm your wingman!"

"She's getting away…" I noted.

Written:

09.01.2015.