Twist of Fate | The Lost Boys

Chapter 2

               It started to become a regular occurrence to see Max almost every night. Sometimes it was just a quick interaction of him needing to buy small necessities. Other times, a drawn-out conversation led to Catherine asking Max questions about his life in Santa Carla. The way he described it made it sound magical. The boardwalk where his video store was sounded like a culmination of everything she wanted in life. She could only dream about going there one day. She did think about asking Max if she could go with him whenever he decided to go back but couldn't bring herself to do it.

Still, she did wonder when he was going back. It had been three weeks since she first met him, and he was still in town even after her telling him it was a lost cause. Anytime she asked he would brush the question off, saying he was looking in the surrounding towns for a good location. She would just tell him good luck and change the subject.

Part of her didn't want him to leave. He had become the only interesting thing in town and Catherine was grateful for it as her life was nothing but work until she could afford to go to school. Well, that and avoiding her ex-Nathan, who now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen since Max had first arrived.

Good riddance, she thought.

The store was quiet all night, hardly anyone came in after 5. She assumed everyone was enjoying the relatively warm temperature that decided to crop up during the week. Max hadn't come in that night, surprising Catherine. Maybe he finally went back to his home in California or maybe he found a location for his next store in a town over. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed, but she knew it would happen eventually. She'd be lucky enough to leave too, eventually... well she hoped at least.

"Catherine, go home." Her boss's words broke her wishful thinking. She had been absentmindedly folding the same shirt for 10 minutes, just unfolding and refolding it without realizing it. "It's too dead for you to be wasting your time and I'm not paying you to stand around."

Catherine just gave a nod and set the shirt down before walking to her locker in the store's small break room. Grabbing her bag and keys she exited the store. Matching the inside the parking lot was empty aside from a few cars that she knew belonged to her coworkers. The darkness was a quick contrast to the harsh fluorescents and the girl blinked several times to get her eyes to adjust.

She began to walk home and started fidgeting with the strap of her bag. The roads were quiet and peaceful, she had never feared walking home alone, though that might be because she always kept a small pocketknife in her bag. She put a lot of faith into the small blade, but it made her feel better. She never had to use it, but it gave her a small sense of security.

A shiver ran through her body, and she folded her arms close to her chest. The air had seemed to still and her surroundings seemed to grow quiet. She had an urge to run but her body didn't cooperate. Her feet planted themselves on the sidewalk and she couldn't bring herself to move. Blackness filled her vision in specks that moved as she tried to blink them away. Her heartbeat thumped loudly in her ears, and she was sure it was because of the stress that was building with the lack of control she had over her own body. Her chest tightened and she struggled to breathe.

Only seconds later bright lights flooded her vision, causing Catherine to close her eyes tightly, it was as though she was staring into the sun. The light had passed only to be replaced with the sounds of tires skidding. It was deafening and seemed to be enough to kick the girl out of her trance-like state as she crouched down and covered her ears with a groan.

"Catherine?" Max's familiar voice was soft and a welcome change to everything around them. She hadn't looked up but heard him jog over to her before kneeling to her level and reaching for her hands, pulling them away. "Are you alright?"

She wasn't sure what to say, still confused about the moments prior. She just gave a nod and looked up to meet his concerned face. "You shouldn't be out here alone this late. C'mon, let's get you home."

"I thought you went back to California." was all she brought herself to say as the man helped her up and began leading her to his car. A sigh left his mouth as he opened the passenger side door for her and closed it behind her. Entering the driver's side, he started the car.

"I was just about to head back, driving back tonight. That was until I saw you just standing on the side of the road. Do you know how reckless that was? Someone could have grabbed you." He was scolding Catherine, but it didn't sound harsh. It didn't sound like how her parent would scold her when she did something they didn't like. It wasn't often they did it, mostly during her early teenage years when she tried to be rebellious.

"I don't know what happened. I didn't mean to put myself in any danger, I just froze." Catherine didn't understand where the urge to explain herself to Max came from, he wasn't her father. He was just a man that she knew from a handful of conversations. "Sorry to worry you."

Why was she apologizing? She decided to try and change the subject.

"Did you find a space for your new store?" She asked. "I haven't seen you recently." Max ran a hand over his face and let out a chuckle.

"I should have listened to you when you said this place wasn't worth my time. Couldn't even find anything in nearby cities." Catherine laughed,

"I told you. This place sucks."

"You know I was thinking, would you want to come back to Santa Carla with me?" The offer took Catherine off guard, and she was surprised she didn't give herself whiplash with how fast her head turned to look at him.

"Huh?"

"I know it's a strange question, but you had mentioned wanting to travel and I think it could be a good place to start. I got a call from my store there that one of our morning people quit so you could come work for me and get out of here."

Catherine's head ran a mile a minute as she contemplated his offer. His offer. She didn't have to ask if she could come with him, but she didn't want to seem like a charity case either.

"There's even space above the store that could be made up into a nice living arrangement."

"Why are you being so nice?" Her words spewed out before she could stop them and before she could apologize again Max had cut her off with another laugh.

"If you don't want to come, I won't force you. You seem like a nice girl, and I want to help you. But like I said, I won't force you, Catherine."

"As long as it isn't a bother to you then I really do want to go."

Catherine hadn't noticed Max hadn't started the car until she heard the engine start and felt the car jump slightly.

"Best we leave now then so we can get there in good time."