Emily was awoken by her door crashing open. “My car broke down so I’m gonna have to use yours.”
“Then how am I supposed to get to school?” Emily asked groggily.
“Not my problem, but you better not be late.” Don snatched her keys off the dresser near the door and left.
Emily slowly got out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom, splashing her face with water always helped wake her up. After taking care of everything there, she went back to her room, wondering how she was supposed to get to school. Allison lived close enough that she usually walked, so that was out. The only other person was Mick. It had been a little over a week since the phone conversation with Allison, and they had talked or texted everyday since then, though they unfortunately hadn’t been able to see each other.
“Hello?” Mick sounded out of it when he answered the phone.
“Did I wake you up?” Emily was searching through her drawers for something to wear.
He yawned. “Yeah, but it’s fine, everything okay?”
“Well, my dad had to take my car to work so I’m kind of stranded…” Emily hinted, hoping he would catch her drift.
“Would you like a ride?”
“Could you?”
“Sure, I’ll be there in a bit.”
“Okay, thank you so much.” Emily pulled out a pale yellow t-shirt and the tightest pair of sweatpants she had. Man, I really need to go shopping.
“You’re welcome.” Emily heard the phone click so she hung up and got dressed, heading downstairs for breakfast.
Forty-five minutes after the call she heard a car pull up, followed by a series of honks. Emily rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag, emerging from the house with a smile. “Good morning,” Mick said as she climbed into the truck.
“Morning,” Emily replied, tucking her bag in beside her feet.
The ride to school was entirely too short and before she knew it they were pulling into the parking lot. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Anytime,” Mick replied with a charming smile.
Emily started to get out of the car when she saw James, who seemed to be heading their way. “Crap.”
“What?” Mick asked, confused.
“It’s uh…the guy from the lake.” Emily pointed to James as he sauntered down the sidewalk.
“I’ll go talk to him.”
Emily could hear the anger in his voice, saw the hatred in his glare, and wondered if it was just because of what happened at the lake. “You sure?”
“Yeah, don’t worry about it…Have a good day at school.”
“Thanks. Oh, and do you think you could pick me up?”
Mick gave an overly exaggerated sigh and smiled. “I guess so…”
Emily smiled. “Thanks, see you later.”
“See ya.”
They both got out of the car, Mick walking towards James as Emily made her way up the stone steps, stopping halfway up to observe the confrontation. Both boys seemed to be upset, but just like at the lake she couldn’t make out what they were saying. The conversation only lasted for about a minute and as Mick turned to head back to his truck, she turned and hurried up the rest of the stairs.
