Red Alert/Red Notice (The "Super Jerk" Prequel)

10 - Love My Way

^^Above, chapter title credit: Song by the Psychedelic Furs.^^

{Raina}

My time with Jake isn't as bad as I initially thought. He seems like a genuinely nice guy, even if he's a little dense. He manages to get some people out of the haunted house upstairs, even with the racket making the walls shake. We find Damon and two other fraternity brothers, Link and Greg, down in the parking lot. Without a second thought, Damon piles all of us in his car and steps on it, trying to get as far away from the house before it explodes.

It does, right after we turn onto the main road. I see a bright flash of light, and a loud pop, followed by a splintering noise.

"Dude," says one of the frat brothers—Greg, I think. "That was wicked cool."

"How's that for a Halloween?" says Link.

Jake's the only one to acknowledge me, sitting between the others. His eyes catch mine in the rearview mirror, and he raises one eyebrow.

"You okay back there?" he asks.

For a second, I consider just nodding without saying anything, but then I remember. "Geoff. We left without him."

Jake nods, a corner of his mouth turning down. "Damon. Dude. Turn around. We gotta go see if Cromwell made it."

"No way, man," Damon says, his hands locked around the wheel. "I'm not going back there."

"Come on. This is a future brother we're talking about, here." Jake makes a grab for the wheel, but Damon slaps his hand away.

"Make me lose control of this car, Jake, we're all in trouble. And I don't just mean with the police this time."

"C'mon, Damon," Jake says. "If you do, I'll let you have first pick on the console for a week."

I see Damon's eye twitch. He's considering it, even though the car's still moving steadily away from the haunted house. "A month," he says finally.

"Two weeks," Jake counters.

"Three weeks."

"Two and a half. Final offer."

Damon's eye twitches again, but then finally he relents. "Okay. Fine. But I'm holding y'all to that time span, got it?"

All the guys mumble something that sounds like agreement. Damon reaches a stoplight and then hooks a U-turn, making other drivers honk at him. He just flips them the finger and keeps going. I allow myself a small smile. Mom had built up frat guys' reputations to be worse than this, but so far, I haven't noticed anything of what she said.

≈

When we get back, the place is already swarming with police and firefighters. I don't see Geoff anywhere, even though I know he was here when we left. I can't stop thinking of how quickly he jumped to help me escape the ooze creature, and how close we were when he did. His body had been so warm and strong against mine. It makes my ears burn just thinking about it.

"Hey!" shouts somebody as we climb out. I look up towards the speaker and see a super running towards us, dressed in a bright blue suit. It covers everything but his nose and mouth, and has holes for his eyes. "What're you doing here?"

"Hey yourself," Jake says, immediately taking charge. "We're looking for someone. Geoff Cromwell. He was here when the house exploded."

"If you gimme a sec, I can bring him to you."

Then he hurries off. Damon punches Jake in the arm. "Hey, man. Don't you know who that was?"

Jake shrugs. "Should I?"