Here's a long chapter for your patient minds as a form of thanks!

Chapter 5: Already Stolen

The old song kept singing through the radio as Sam slammed down the hood of the Camaro before practically jumping into the driver's seat and lowering down the volume. I was still in the passenger seat, blending with the dark colors of the interior the best I could. He shoved the gearstick into reverse and pressed the gas pedal all the way. I repressed making a surprised sound at the sudden power output, clutching the back of the passenger seat because we practically drifted in a reversed U-turn.

Then Sam shoved the gearstick into drive, yelling Mikaela's name as he called for her. "Hey! HEY! Hey, wait a second!"

Mikaela turned around upon hearing the engine roars in conjunction with Sam's roars. Her bored face cracked a smile as the orange sunlight of the setting sun hit her beautiful body, accenting the orange tank top with a revealing stomach that she wore, and the denim miniskirt which revealed her long and seductive legs. Her smile spread into a wide, white grin as Sam stopped the car right beside her. She entered the car once more, this time the both of them chuckling completely normally, the previous shyness and tension in the car going out the window the moment she sat in the passenger seat.

Yet she still didn't manage to notice me.

I was pretty good at being stealthy, if I do say so myself.

But Sam kind of forgot that I was there, too. He paid me absolutely no mind as they both conversed freely.

"Glad I got the car up and running, huh?" Sam laughed freely with Mikaela. It was as if this was the calm after the storm, as if now that the worst that has happened has passed, they could put down their defensive walls.

"Yeah, I would've had to walk five more miles!" Mikaela laughed in turn.

"Glad that didn't happen!" More laughter was exchanged after that. "Now, let's get you home. 21 Stanton Avenue, down the back alley, right?" He gave her a kind look before continuing to drive. He remembered.

"You know the address." She smiled a true smile. She was looking at Sam, so I could see her beautiful smile. She was really pretty to look at. No wonder Sam was absolutely head over heels in love with her.

Sam somehow got off the dirt road and onto the paved roads as the radio was acting completely normal and the car wasn't acting up, not even once. The night slowly started to fall, and I would have fallen asleep had it not been for the important stuff Mikaela was talking about, or rather, the stuff Sam was asking her about. It was always a mystery to the whole school, but nobody ever really knew the right answer.

"Why do you hang out with Trent then?" Sam carefully asked as he cruised down the empty and low lit streets, entering the dangerous neighborhood Mikaela lived in.

"It's… It's kind of hard for me to say it, you know." She hesitated, looking out the window, her bright blue eyes meeting nothing but darkness.

"Oh no, you don't have to, I don't wanna push you." Sam explained, switching from driving with his right hand to driving with his left one on the top of the steering wheel.

"No, it's okay. I need to say it out loud." She exhaled loudly before looking at her knees and revealing legs. "I never really liked Trent. I know he's a big jerk, especially to kids who don't deserve it. I know more about cars than he does and that usually leads us to big fights." She fiddled with her fingers as her head was bowed down.

"But why do you talk about cars then? Don't you guys have other mutual interests or something?" Sam asked.

"That's the only thing Trent really knows to talk about. He loves that blue Hummer of his and the giant chrome wheels. He just can't… he just won't admit that there is someone who knows more than he does. And that that someone is a girl. I guess he just can't accept it."

"He should just stop being immature, you know. High school is almost over."

"Exactly! Trent just can't get that through his thick skull."

At least they agreed that Trent was a giant ass jerk.

"Yeah, well I'm cool with girls knowing a lot about cars. Like my sister. It's pretty rare, you know, I consider it being a gift actually." He said casually, with little to no nervousness as he gestured calmly with his left hand which rested on top of the black steering wheel.

That certainly surprised me, as my body came to a state of higher awareness. He didn't seem to remember at all that I was in the car, otherwise he wouldn't have said the things he did. "You have a sister?" She asked.

"Yeah, she's actually my twin. Fraternal."

"Fraternal?" Apparently, she didn't really know the term. Or perhaps was just too stunned to say anything else. Sam and I really had very few things in common, only one of them being cars, and still I beat Sam at that by a mile.

"Yeah, we're born as twins, but have nothing alike. Not any resemblance."

"I'd love to meet her. What's her name?" She politely asked. I guess she wasn't as much of a bimbo as I penned her to be.

"Nicole. She's a really good person."

"Aw, that's so sweet." I didn't expect this at all from Sam. "Is she in the same class we are?" She questioned.

"Yeah. She's got all A's actually. She works really hard for those grades."

"That's so good for her."

"Yeah." He turned on a corner and kept driving.

"You know, I'm still sorry for not recognizing you before. It just makes me feel so embarrassed of myself."

"Nah, I told you, it's understandable. I just got back from fat camp, I lost like 80 pounds."

What?

My eyes shot open as I struggled not to move from the backseat, looking at Sam. His right eye was starting to twitch only slightly but perfectly enough for me to know that he was going to use some of his natural humor on her. "Oh? Good for you, that's really good for you."

"Yeah, and I learned a lot." He said, continuing on dead serious.

"It makes you a stronger person." She encouraged, but she didn't know that she was being played with.

"Yeah, physically and mentally." Sam nodded twice.

"Did you make friends?" She inquired, really intrigued.

"Yeah. I mean, some of them died 'cause diabetes is really chronic there, but there's three or four that I kept in contact with. They're really good people."

"Yeah?"

"Because fat people aren't bad people, and that's one of the main things they teach you there."

At this, she burst out laughing and I had to cover my mouth over with my hands to keep myself from making even the tiniest of sounds.

"Just kidding, I never went to any fat camp or that. My sis wouldn't let me get fat in the first place." Sam grinned at her.

"Your sister sounds like a really cool person. I'd love to talk to her sometime." She grinned in return.

"Sure, sure. I'll let her know what you said and you two can work things out." He turned right on a corner once more and started decelerating.

"That'd be great. Thanks, Sam."

"No problem. So, there it is." He stopped the car.

"I had fun, you know, thanks for listening." Mikaela thanked.

"Oh yeah, yeah." He was totally in love with her and it was just so visible.

"You… Do you think I'm shallow?" She shakily and insecurely asked. I didn't expect that much of a sudden change in demeanor. Perhaps being in this neighborhood changes her mood?

"W-what? No, no, no. I think... There's a lot more than meets the eye… with… you."

Oh yeah Sam, that got her.

"Okay." She smiled, pleased with his incredibly weird, but honest reply. "Alright, I'll see you at school."

"Alright." He waited for her to exit the car and walk away towards her home. "Stupid. That was a stupid line. 'More than meets the eye with you', it's stupid." He mumbled to himself. I watched her wave at him as he gripped the steering wheel and mumbled some more about how much he loved this car.

I got to the front quickly, my right foot being the first thing that got out of the backseat and into the front one through the small parting on the center armrest. Sam didn't notice me and yelled out in surprised.

"What the-ACK!" He exclaimed and put his arms to protect himself as I laughed. I can't believe that scared him.

"Come on, scaredy-cat, let's go home." I put my hand on his right shoulder casually as I sat in the passenger seat, sliding the seatbelt over me.

"Dude, you should never do that to me. Like ever."

"And you should never ever make me sit in the backseat for a whole day, dude." I nudged him. "Looks like you're on good grounds with Mikaela."

"I can't believe that she sat in my car-"

"Our car."

"And that we talked! She is just so nice." He reversed out of the small and dark alleyway and drove towards our own home.

"Yeah, well I'm tired, Sam." I rested my head on the cold window. I felt the backrest of my seat lowering, as if helping me fall asleep faster. I sat up and the seat stopped moving. "Sam, stop moving my seat." I looked at him disapprovingly, but letting the seat stay the way it was.

"It's all in your head. We'll be home in thirty minutes. Just relax." He kept on driving.

"Okay." I agreed as I rested my head again on the window, closing my eyes tiredly. My hands were starting to get cold as I interlocked them at the fingers and stuck them between my legs, where it was warm. Suddenly, the air conditioning turned on, the heat of the air washing over me, making me warm. "Thanks Sam." I mumbled absently.

"Huh?"

"For turning on the air conditioning."

"I didn't do anything." He grabbled the air conditioning vents, noticing the heat coming out of them.

"Sure you didn't." He kept on driving without another word being exchanged.

He was so nice to ride with Sam, for he was a really good driver. I fell asleep in the car for some time. The soft of the cantabile music, the warmth of the cabin and the soft, lowered leather seats did wonders to lull me into sleep.

Then after what seemed to me to be only a couple of moments, I heard the door of the car gently opening and the person who opened it gently taking me out of the car into their arms. Judging by the scent of it, I knew it was Sam carrying me bridal style.

I huddled my hands to my chest and tried to be as small as possible so that he could carry me with as much ease as he could. As he got into the house, somehow managing to open the front door, I could imagine mom and dad watching TV as they did every night. The sound of the newsman on the TV was a sure enough proof that they were indeed watching TV.

My eyes were closed this whole time, seeing as I was feigning sleep. "What happened?" Mom's high pitched voice emerged from where the couch was as Sam shushed her. It was quite unusual for Sam to be carrying me anywhere.

"Shh… She's just sleeping. She was really tired." He carried me off upstairs to my room. Even though we were twins, albeit fraternal, we wanted separate rooms.

"You sure she's not sick?" Mom asked worriedly.

"Nah, just tired." Sam stopped halfway up the stairs just to answer her, then he resumed going up.

He put me in my bed and didn't bother to put the covers on. It wasn't cold on nights, seeing as summer would soon be starting.

"Thanks Sam." I muttered quietly. He heard it and quietly wished me a goodnight's sleep. I only snuggled into the bed more.

After what I thought only five minutes had passed, I was being awaken by Sam. I looked at my alarm clock, making myself open one eye just to see the time.

It said 04:01.

Is he kidding me?

"Sam? What is it?" I sat up, rubbing my eyes.

"I just wanna thank you for coming with me." I could see his grin with the little light that was coming through the hall.

I yawned. "You're welcome. Is that why you woke me up? It's four in the morning."

"No, I… I have a bad feeling."

"What do you mean?" I was wide awake immediately. "What do you think is going to happen?"

"I don't know." He sighed. "I just thought maybe you felt it too, because of your power."

"No, I don't feel anything. Wanna sit?" I prompted, patting the unoccupied side of the bed. He declined. "You don't even have a hunch as to what might happen?"

"I told you, I don't know." He sighed, going to the window and opening it, letting the fresh night air enter my room.

Just a fraction of a moment later, we heard the sound of a loud American muscle car engine turn on. An all too familiar muscle car.

The only muscle car in the neighborhood.

At the exact same time, Sam and I yelled out, looking frantically at each other in the eyes. "CAR!"

I jumped out of my bed and rushed to the open window, catching sight of the yellow 70's Camaro leaving my driveway, the taillights dimly glowing as it slowly and surely put distance between the Camaro and my house.

"Sam, the car is-!" As I turned around, I noticed that Sam was already out of the house, shrieking for dad to call the police. I quickly rushed to the other window in the hallway as it gave me a clearer view of the street, and I immediately spotted Sam leaving on his dirty yellow bike, following our stolen Camaro valiantly into the dangers of the night. It wasn't long before both the car and Sam disappeared into the night and I lost sight of both of them.

I ran down the stairs, seeing mom and dad in their pajamas looking both disoriented and concerned, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Nicole, why are you and Sam yelling at four in the morning?" Dad asked.

"Dad, someone stole our car!" I broke it down to him.

"What?" He frowned.

"Sam took off on his bike and went to chase it. You have to call the police to find Sam and to find the car!" I ushered.

"Are you sure?" Dad asked.

"Do you see the car in the driveway?" I pointed towards where the driveway was. The rusty yellow Camaro was definitely not in it.

He looked through the window, obviously not seeing it. "Judy, give me the phone." Mom went off to the kitchen to fetch it and then she gave it to him as he dialed the police number and had a short chat with them, explaining the situation.

Who knows what might have happened to Sam? What if the carjacker had a gun? What if he slammed on the brakes and Sam tumbled over the trunk of the car and over the hood and then got run over by the Camaro?

I went up the stairs to my room, taking my phone and dialing Sam's number half a dozen times. Not once did he reply.

Resigning, I threw the phone at my bed as it bounced off softly before staying still, and I jogged down the stairs once more.

After some time of me nervously biting my lip in silence and mom's incessant walking, dad hung up the call with the police, putting the phone back into its charger on the end table right beside the couch.

"What did they say?" Mom worriedly asked, hugging the robe around her.

"They said they sent a unit to find Sam and his car. They'll call us when they find them."

And about three hours later, we got a call from the local police station saying that they have found Sam. Dad and I quickly got into his dark green Austin Healey and drove to the police department, leaving mom at home.

We got to the police station, a brown brick building, and just as we entered the facility, dad rushed to the officer at the desk and explained the situation. The male officer nodded and led us to Sam, who was held in a room for questioning, also known as the interrogation room. Just as I saw Sam sitting on a lone chair with two officers by his side, I ran up to him. He stood up as I enveloped him in a hug. I was really worried that something might have happened to him. "You okay?" I let go of him as I quietly asked.

"Yeah, but the car is gone." He evaded eye contact with me and it was more than obvious that he was sad.

"Don't worry Sam. We'll get another one. Somehow." Now wasn't the time to discuss this.

"Sit down, son." A cop dressed in casual wear leaned on the edge of a metal table. "I'm gonna need you to tell me exactly what happened last night." He said in a deep voice. He was bald and packed a lot of muscle on his arms, which could be easily seen because he was wearing a plain gray T-shirt and navy blue trousers. I think he even had a tattoo visible on his right bicep.

"Okay. Our car was stolen out of our driveway and I went on my bike to get it back." Seemed reasonable enough. "And then I got to this, uh, construction site by the railway and then I saw the car stand up." Sam said.

"What?" The second cop asked, voicing all of our thoughts, looking at Sam weirdly. He was sitting conversely of the first cop, was unshaved, had messy brown hair and brown eyes, not to mention denim jeans and an old leather brown jacket. That was totally not a uniform.

"It stood up." He said, motioning with his hands, making some crazy finger movements, as if the car did something and then stood up.

"What do you mean?" I asked this time. It can't have grown legs to stand up.

Sam repressed a groan, looking at the second cop dead in the eye, trying to convince him to believe his story. "Look, I can't be any clearer than how crystal clear I am being. It just stood up."

The second cop, the unshaved one, rolled his eyes skyward, but the first one did much the same. "Just stood up, huh?" The unshaved cop said. "Okay, cheefie, time to fill 'er up. And no drippy-drippy." He handed Sam over a plastic bottle in which he was supposed to pee in, along with a tissue.

Were they seriously going to send his pee to analysis and check it for drugs? These cops are crazy!

"What are you rolling, huh? Whippets, goofballs?" I never even heard of those expressions. He alluded to these names being drugs, but I never heard of them before. To my knowledge, a whippet was a dog and a goofball was, well, a goofball. "A little bit of sauce with the boys?"

"No, I'm not on any drugs." Sam shook his head.

"He would never do drugs, officer." I tried to help him out. I went unnoticed, seeing as all the cops in the room ignored me. Sam spared me a thankful glance, though.

"Then what are these? Mojo." The cop sniffed. "Is that what the kids are doing today? A little bit o' 'Mojo'?"

"Those are our dogs pain pills." Sam and I said in unison.

"He's little Chihuahua." Dad tried to visualize Mojo with his hands, but it didn't quite work out well for him.

Sam looked at the gun that was visible from the inside of the unshaved cop's jacket. "Oh, what was that?" This guy was getting on my nerves. They should just let us go since there is nothing they can do to us.

"Huh?" Sam looked at him, completely addled.

"You wanna go?" The unshaved one tempted, just waiting for a reaction from Sam.

But instead, he got a reaction from his twin. "Yes, please." I said stubbornly and rolled my eyes as I got a sharp 'shh' from the other cop. I eyed him visibly. He may have got the wrong idea from my eyeing, because he moved to sit closer to us, or yet, closer to me. Perhaps I shouldn't have eyed him after all.

"Then make something happen, do it. Because I promise you, I will bust you up." The unshaved cop threatened.

You want me to make something happen? Here you go, sir.

I crossed my arms and inconspicuously let my left hand open. I rotated the palm slightly, focusing my thoughts and power onto the table the irritable and irascible cop was sitting on, causing the table to rattle. The cop jumped off the table, staring at it as Sam shot me a 'don't' look.

"You're free to go now." The other cop said, the one that got closer to us. Sam took his jacket from dad and they got out of the police station first. I was the last to exit, as someone grabbed my wrist. I turned around, seeing it was the bald cop that had a tattoo on his bicep. "We can go grab a drink sometime, you know." He proffered.

"I'm underage." I blurted out as a natural response. I was seventeen and this old cop was so not my type. Although it would have been nice to have the law enforcement in my back pocket. "Goodbye." I said offhandedly and got out of the police station, where dad was waiting in his Austin Healey, along with Sam, patiently for me. I got into the roadster and dad started driving the way home.

After a couple of long minutes spent in complete and utter silence, dad finally spoke up. "Nicole, I am…" He trailed off, ending in a tired and strained sigh. He was at a loss for words, and I wouldn't know for what reason.

"You are what, dad?" I inquired innocently.

"You are grounded!" He burst out.

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Written:

20.01.2015.