A/N
Hey y'all, I'm back with chapter two. If you haven't figured it out by now, this fic is gonna take a slightly different approach on the movies, hopefully with a better flare to it. I've been doing one chapter a day, rewriting everything and adding some stuff in while taking other things out. I don't know how well that'll end up following me into following chapters that I've yet to write, but hopefully I'll be better about my time in between each update :)
The next day, Karma found herself outside in warm enough weather in an old shirt and shorts, hands on her hips. She had to find the best way to tackle this so that it was done before the lake party. It was probably best to look the engine over first then.
The engine of the Camaro was pretty well off for how old the rest of the car was. All Karma really needed to do was tweak some things and tighten the little bolts that held everything together. After that, she took a rag from the garage and filled a large bucket with soap and water.
Dunking the rag into the bucket, Karma went to war on the hubcaps of the car, muscling her way through multiple layers of grim and stuck on mud. She left the wheels alone because, duh, they went on the road and would just get dirty again. Once she was done with the wheels, Karma grabbed a large sponge and went to work on the body of the car itself.
Time seemed to fly by while Karma was at work with the car, moving on from the body of the car to the windshield and windows, to the interior.
Once the wash is finished, Karma could've sworn that the car sunk down onto its axles. But, that would be absurd. A car couldn't do that, specifically not this type of car. She must be more sleep deprived than she thought. She hadn't been getting much sleep the past couple of weeks, afterall.
Seeing as it was a little past midday, Karma was quick to put everything she'd used back before rushing into the house and to her room to take a quick shower, since she washed her hair last night, she didn't need to wash it again. When she got out of the shower, she caught the sight of her biggest scar in the slowly unfogging mirror. It was a lichtenberg scar, caused by lightning when she was little. It went from just under the right side of her jaw, behind her neck, over her left shoulder, and winding around her torso to land at her right hip.
Karma remembered the pain fairly well. It had been one of the foster kids' ideas. They had decided to lock her out of their group home during one of the worst lightning storms to date and refused to let her in, even when she was crying and begging as a frightened five year old. The lightning had come out of nowhere, hitting her and making every nerve in her body light up in a searing pain.
When she woke up, she was in the hospital with some of the nicer foster kids surrounding her hospital bed. The caretaker had been there instead of the mistress and Karma couldn't help but think that she preferred it that way. According to the caretaker, the other children had been fully punished and weren't being allowed out of the group home or to the next three adoption days.
She liked to think that the lightning strike had been what caused the avalanche of her behavior into who she was today. She shook her head slightly, focusing more on getting dressed than the slightly traumatizing memories.
Karma didn't entirely know what type of attire the party was, but she didn't really give a damn. She wasn't one to really dress up for anything. She threw on a red and black toga-like shirt and blue jeans that flared close to the bottom. Karma put on her normal black converse and let her hair down from the braid, watching the curls slide down her shoulders and arms. Grabbing her messenger bag, Karma walked out the door, making her way to the garage.
Sam said he was doing something before the party, so she'd need her own ride. That wasn't much of an issue considering the fact that she had a motorcycle. The bike itself was a dark blue with some black details running across it. Nothing insanely special, but still hers. Plus, she didn't wanna get rid of the only reminder of her one friend from the foster center.
It didn't take long for Karma to get to the lake, it was maybe a twenty minute drive from the Witwicky's house, and she was there before Sam and Miles. When the two males got to the party, they were arguing. Karma couldn't say she was surprised. They always seemed to be arguing. Call her mean, but she kinda hoped it meant that Sam would cut the friendship off soon.
She could not stand Miles. The boy just could not take "no" for an answer and continuously hit on her. It was grating on her nerves, and she swore that if he did it at that damned party, she would get a new punching bag.
"You sure we're invited to this party, bro?" The dumbass asked.
"Yes, dipshit. It's a lake. Public property." Karma hissed, putting as much space between herself and the other teen as she could.
Clearly, he didn't care because he was quick to walk over to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. She could hear him smelling her.
"Get off of me, fucker."
The teen groans. "Why are you always so mean to me, babe?"
Karma proceeds to gag. "One; don't fucking call me 'babe'. Two; I'm not mean to you, I'm truthful. And three; if you don't get your damned arm off me, you're not gonna have one to use." The girl snarls, harshly shoving the other teen away from her.
Miles was quick to put his hands up in surrender, a shocked look overcoming his face. A slight sound came from Sam's car's radio. If Karma didn't know better, she'd say it was a laugh. But she did know better, and chalked it up to her lack of sleep as well as her subsequent anger at Miles.
Sam was quick to point out the fact that Michaela, his crush, was at the party.
"Am I good?" He asks, pointedly not looking at Miles.
"Yeah, bro. You're good. Go get her." Karma states, shooting him a quick smile and thumbs up.
She sends an acidic glare to Miles. "If you do anything stupid, ridiculous, or idiotic, I swear to the Gods' I will make your life a living hell for however long you shall live after I get my hands around your throat."
Miles gulps, slowly taking a couple of steps back from Karma.
The teen started walking towards the lake when an annoying voice said something behind her. She turns around, only to see one Trent D'Marco stalking towards Sam, Michaela hanging off his arm. Oh yeah, something to know about those two. D'Marco was a bully who couldn't take what he dished and Michaela was someone unfortunate enough to like others with the body shape of an overgrown bodybuilder turned potato.
Before the bully can make his way towards Sam, Karma walks in front of him, crossing her arms and planting her feet in a strong stance. Very much bodyguard-like.
"Nice car." D'Marco states, sarcasm lacing his voice.
Karma sneers. She had always hated the other teen, much like she hated Miles. D'Marco had been picking on her cousin since they'd been in junior high. Now, she liked Michaela perfectly fine, but sometimes Karma couldn't help but wish that the other girl would see the folly of her boyfriend and dump his ass. She supposed that it was too much to ask for, considering they were somehow still together, even though Karma knew that Trent treated Michaela like a trophy to be shown off.
"So, why are you guys here? I thought this party was for the popular kids at school. Although, I don't think any of us would mind if the redhead stayed." Trent shot Karma a grin, probably thinking it was striking. It sorta reminded her of a blubber fish.
That's when dumbass number one decides that it's the perfect time to climb a tree. What. The. Fuck? A low growl leaves Karma's throat before she stalks over to Miles. The teen is quick to drag the other out of the tree, not caring when he lands in a mess of limbs at her feet. Miles looks up, thinking it was Sam who had pulled him from the tree, only to have his eyes widen at the sight of a very pissed off Karma.
Humming brings Karma back to the conversation. "I thought I recognized you. You're the kid who tried out for the football team, right? Didn't they end up having to call your mom?" Trent states, a leer in his annoying voice.
"Actually, that wasn't a real try-out. He was doing that for me," Karma intervenes before Sam can try and say anything else remotely embarrassing. "It was an assignment for my psychology class, trying to see if football had any hand in the brain damage that people like you have. I mean, no one could be as idiotic as you without having some kind of brain damage. Unless, were you just born like that?" Trent's face gets dark, his eyes narrowing in his anger. "Well, then, I just have to feel sorry for you."
"I wrote a small pamphlet over it, actually. I think you and your buddies would like it. It's short and sweet, not too many big words, so maybe you'll be able to understand it better, and it's got some coloring pages about the different parts of the brain too. Obviously, it'd be too easy for someone like Michaela here. I mean, she's much smarter than someone like you, isn't she?"
Trent growls. It sounds dumb coming from him. "That's real funny." The jock takes a step forward, probably about to lunge for Karma. She shifts her weight slightly, already anticipating how the next few moments could go. When she said she didn't start fights, Karma liked to think that this was an exception to her 'rule'.
"Glad ya thought so. Wouldn't want the big words to go over your head. I'm happy you managed to comprehend that much."
Before the bully can do much else, Michaela steps in, shoving her hands into his chest, forcing him to walk away from Karma, and the oncoming fight. Michaela didn't know the other girl very well, they only ever talked if she and Sam had a project together, but she was more than aware of her fighting capabilities. And Trent's inability to take a hit.
The male scowls before taking the hint and walking away, throwing an arm around his girlfriend. He says something about a better party and he and his little entourage gather around their trucks, the girlfriends automatically jumping into the passenger seats.
Karma watches as Trent says something stupid that ends up with Michaela storming off in the opposite direction. A scoff leaves her pale lips. Michaela wasn't one to be toted around like a trophy, and Karma was fully aware that she had made Trent more than aware of that. And yet, he still treated her like some sort of buckle bunny.
The teen makes her way back to her motorcycle, meeting up with Miles and Sam who were standing at her cousin's car. The Chevy looked much better after her tune-up earlier that morning. Karma couldn't help but smile slightly at the car, proud of her work. It had been ages since she'd last been able to look a vehicle over that wasn't her own motorcycle.
Suddenly, the radio starts playing a love song, just loud enough for the trio to hear it. Karma raised an eyebrow. If she didn't know better, she'd think that the car wanted Sam and Michaela to get together. Hah, as if a car could think something like that, or even make it happen.
"I'm gonna drive her home." Sam states. Miles tries to interrupt, saying something about the other girl being a 'jock concubine', before Sam cuts him off. "She lives not even ten miles from here. Y'all have gotta be understanding."
Once again, the dumbass known as Miles tried to say something to the somewhat distraught male, but Karma beat him to the punch. Literally and figuratively. Miles groaned in pain, clutching his definitely bruised arm to his chest.
"We'll be fine, Sam. I've got my motorbike and ass-for-brains here is more than capable of walking. Just, promise me one thing. Don't fuck this up, yeah? I have a feeling Michaela is in need of a break from that asshole."
Sam nodded back to his foster sister, getting into his car quickly. Miles tried to splutter out something like the 'bro code' and 'bros before hoes', but that was easily shut down by an even more furious Karma when she kicked out his legs and kneed him in the stomach.
"Don't be a bitch." She snarled before walking to where her bike was parked. She pulled on her helmet and watched as Sam managed to talk Michaela into getting a ride home. Karma couldn't help but pray to all the Gods' she knew of that her cousin wouldn't mess up his shot.