Quiet Enlightenment

Part 3, Chapter 11 - Knocked

Saturday, August 12, 2017

It was the tip of the evening as Mia and Olivia walked down the street of the small town that they were staying the night in.

"Nope. Not a convenience store." Mia said as they peeked through the window of a small kitchen supply store.

"Yeah, I can tell. Thanks." Olivia said, for the first time starting to feel annoyed by her friend's antics.

"I just can't believe this is happening to you." Mia replied. Olivia crossed her arms and pouted.

"Yeah. If there was a betting pool on this happening to you, I would've put my savings into it." Olivia retorted.

"I would say 'Screw you.', but I think that's how you got into this mess."

The two friends scowled at each other before breaking into laughter.

"What about this place?" Mia asked as she pointed to a liquor store.

"I... don't know. Would they carry pregnancy tests?"

"If they don't, they should! Think about it!"

"Oh, very funny."

Back in Hollywood, Cameron sat in the living room chair with his arms angrily crossed while Sylvester and Maya sat on the couch across from him.

"We haven't been on the ground for five hours and you've already pulled this stunt. Your mom's right, you're thinking with the wrong head."

That was enough for Sylvester, he got up and stood to Cameron with his hands balled up into fists.

"It's. Not. About. That."

"Uh... I'm going to go now." Maya said as she got up.

"Maya, please..." Sylvester said as he quickly changed his tone. Maya didn't respond and walked out of the door.

"If that's the girl, then you really need to man up and call the authorities." Cameron said as he stood up and stared down his cousin.

"She's just going to elude them again. At least this way I can keep her safe, because that's what a man does." Sylvester replied though clenched teeth.

Cameron sighed and dropped his aggressive glare. There was no arguing with Sylvester's logic.

"Fine. Do what you want. Just don't let me catch you with that girl in here again, because that is a rule that your mom has put down."

"Okay, fine."

Further north, Olivia and Mia went into their hotel room. As Olivia started reading the back of the box, a knock at the door broke her concentration.

"Crap! Hide it! It could be Orson!"

"It's okay. Come in!" Olivia said with a slightly raised voice. The door opened and Toby quickly rushed in.

"I came as soon as I got your text." He said as he wrapped an arm around his older cousin.

"Thanks. Well, I'm off to... yeah." Olivia said as she held up the test.

"Good luck!" Mia and Toby both said to Olivia as she went into the restroom.

"So... you're Toby, right? I've heard a lot about you." Mia said as she awkwardly extended her hand to the younger teen. With the same level of awkwardness, he shook it and nodded.

"The only time I've seen you was in a picture that Olivia showed me a few years ago. You're quite cuter now."

"Heh... thanks. I'm... actually taken, by the way." Toby said, not sure where the conversation was going.