Down the Dark

[Chapter 1: Terra]

     I laugh as Jonathon scowls at me. "You're not going," he said.

     "I am," I said, giving him a mocking grin. "You need to work on your menacing-older-brother look."

     Jonathan looks furious. "Mom will kill me if I let you drive. You're, like, sixteen!"

     "Sixteen and a half! Plus, I have a permit," I reminded him. "I got it a week ago."

     "A permit, not a license. You can't drive without a guardian in the car. And you drive like a drunk person," Jon informed me. "And Mom knows it."

     "Don't be such a party pooper, Jon! I'm just driving to the cafe."

     Jon stares at me. "No."

     "Fine, I'll walk!" I sigh.

     "No!" Jon cried.

     "What now?"

     "Then you'll get kidnapped!"

     I groaned. Here we go again. "Then why don't you drive me?"

     "I have better things to do."

     "Then you must have better things to do than argue with me."

     "Whatever," Jon rolled his eyes and stomped back to his room, slamming the door.

     I won the fight. Like always. I went upstairs and changed into my outfit. A tight blue dress that cut off just over the top of my knees, with a low V-neck and no sleeves. I reapplied my cherry-red lip gloss, and tucked it into my purse. Just in case. I wasn't going to the cafe. I was going to a party at Mackenzie's. And I had to walk. Oh well, I'd get one of the boys to drive me home.

     I walked out the front door, struggling slightly in my heels. I'd walked for ten minutes when I heard the voice.