I needed to get him to fix my Bug. Or not. I could get a job to pay for it. Then I’d simply have to figure out a way to convince him to keep it around. And until it got fixed I would have to suck it up and walk miles to school every day, then do the same thing on the way back.
This situation wasn’t looking too hot for me.
Now how did I explain all this to him? Mr. too kind and understanding for his own good yet felt the need to buy himself a companion would certainly argue with me if I were to reject a car, most certainly. How to explain my thoughts to him? He thought he knew just what kind of woman he’d crawled into bed with. He had no clue. If he brought me to school and she found out about it she’d grow jealous and act out, taking it out on me.
“No thanks.” I muttered, still not looking at him. I’d meant to say more, to give some form of explanation but I couldn’t get the words out.
Sighing heavily, he opened the door and stuck his head inside. I tensed, having not expected this.
“The car would be entirely yours,” he rushed to assure me. “No strings attached. If things were to… not work out with your mother, you would keep the car just as she would keep the one I bought for her.”
I blinked in shock.
It’s like he read my mind.
Still, I didn’t like him talking about me like that, lumping me with her like she and I were cut from the same cloth. Is that how he saw me? I didn’t like that much at all.
“It’s not just that. I mean, that’s part of it, but…” Yeah, no way was I explaining the rest of it to him, about why I couldn’t be seen with him dropping me off. “Can’t we just fix the Bug? I’ll get a job even, pay you back every cent.”
Please, please, just give me this one thing. I stared him in the eyes, knowing mine were big and full of pleading. I never asked anyone for anything.
Pursing his lips, he looked away from me. I didn’t take this to be a good sign, and I was right not to.
“What kind of seventeen-year-old girl turns down a brand new free car?” he asked quietly, almost as if speaking to himself. He looked angry.
The screwed-up kind with a gold digging whore for a mother, that’s the kind of seventeen-year-old girl, that’s who. “One who’s going to be late for the second day of school,” I told him. Maybe if I took him up on the ride he’d shut up about buying me a car.
I’d been wrong earlier in thinking I couldn’t deal with having him drop me off at school. Just the thought of walking into a classroom late and interrupting had a small tremor running through my body. I had to pick the lessor of evils in this situation.
With a heavy sigh, he reached across the car and gently squeezed my shoulder. I flinched away from the contact knowing full well my mother would be jealous if she were to ever witness such a thing.
“Let’s get you to school.” His mouth had tightened angrily, but I could tell I wasn’t the source of his anger.
Yes, let’s get me to school where I can be tormented and treated like the devil’s spawn that I kind of sort of am, and could we do it now before someone spots you touching me and tells my mother.
Mumbling to myself I opened my door, not bothering to take my key out of the ignition because it would have to start for someone to steal it. Besides, our only neighbor was Tyson, and what would a guy with an expensive Audi want with my crappy (but beloved!) Bug.
Slipping out of the vehicle, I closed the door quietly behind me. I flinched at the sound of the passenger door slamming shut. In my head, I knew the sound of a car door slamming shut outside of the house would not wake up my mother, especially since their bedroom was at the very back of the house and she slept like the dead. However, knowing it didn’t stop me from flinching.
I followed Mr. Cole up the driveway and through the side door to the garage. This house was so over the top and freaking big when it came to everything. The garage was no exception. Four stalls housed my mother’s car, a shiny white SUV and a sleek black four door Mercedes CLS63.
I never once parked my Bug in here with these cars. My mother had prohibited me from doing so. I bet Mr. Cole wouldn’t have minded. I couldn’t believe my mother wanted the thing in the driveway, rust spots and all, for guests and passersby to see.
Mr. Cole headed towards the sleek, black car. The windows were tinted so dark I couldn’t see inside the thing. I thought that was illegal? He bleeped the locks as I made it to the front passenger door. I wanted to roll my eyes. Like he needed to lock his doors when he parked inside the garage. Getting in the car proved to be a bit of a challenge seeing as it sat so low to the ground and I couldn’t remember the last time I climbed into a vehicle that was lower than the Bug. Thankfully, I made it in the seat without too much incident and he didn’t seem to notice my struggle. As soon as my feet touched down i
n the car he shut the door quietly and rounded the hood.
This was a terrible idea. My heart felt like it wanted to beat right out of my chest just to escape this situation I’d gotten myself into.
If it weren’t for the small-town factor making it so everyone would recognize his car I wouldn’t have to worry about people seeing who dropped me off at school because the windows were tinted so dark no one would be able to see inside. But they’d know. I imagined that even though we lived on the very outskirts of town and Mr. Cole worked from home, everyone would be able to identify his vehicle. Small towns were notorious for everyone knowing everybody else’s business. I was totally screwed.
I wondered why he hadn’t offered me the SUV and saved himself the hassle of having to deal with me and having to make the trip himself.
A quiet humming kicked in and one of the garage doors slid up behind us. Mr. Cole put his key in the ignition and the car purred to life. My Bug was so loud my entire body practically rattled every time I fired her up. Not this car, though. This car had a quiet frickin’ purr. Nothing dared rattle.
As Mr. Cole smoothly reversed out of the garage and backed down the long driveway I had the insane urge to tell him if he was so hell bent on buying me a brand-new car maybe he could get me one of these sweet rides. I kept my mouth shut. I would never ask him for anything, I wasn’t my mother. And besides, my mother would lose her ever lovin’ mind if Mr. Cole bought me something so expensive and pretty as his car.
“So,” he spoke quietly, cutting into the heavy silence, “how was your first day of school? I would have asked you about it yesterday but you never came out of your room and your mother… Well, she insisted we go out to dinner and she assured me you wouldn’t be interested in joining us.”