turning page - nm

V. party girls

december 4, 2020
mansfield center, connecticut

the bells on the door ring as jayden walks into the practically empty auto-shop. she peeked around the counter, hoping to see a worker. "hello? i need to pick up my car," she called out softly, fiddling with her hands while she waited.

a man walks around the corner, staring at her harshly. he typed into his computer. the man had a heavy accent when he spoke, making him hard to understand, "name?"

she furrowed her eyebrows, before realizing what he said, "oh, sorry. jayden marie."

"i cannot give you the car," he spoke, taking a paper out of a cabinet and handing it to her.

jayden pressed her lips together, moving back and forth on her feet. "why not? i called this morning and they told me it was ready."

"you need to pay your bill," he stated, pointing to a spot on the paper.

"i did pay," she said, a confused look on her face. "and i did not ask for a car detailing, or any of this extra stuff. i needed you to replace the left mirror?"

"you payed for the mirror, but you still have 465 dollars due," the man took the paper from her hand and underlined the extra fees.

she yanked the paper back, staring at it. "i get this," she pointed at the two hundred for the mirror, then moved her finger and circled an entire area on the paper. "but i didn't ask for those."

"you need to pay or leave."

"oh, fuck this."
she turned on her heels and left the shop, tears welling in her eyes. jayden began to walk through the parking lot, and onto the side of the road. after ten minutes of walking, tears began to spill out of her eyes out of pure frustration. she pulled her phone out of her purse and opened paiges contact. after the phone rang for a minute, the other end clicked. "paige?"

an excited tone was in paiges voice as she spoke, "hey, jayden! everything good?"

"can you come pick me up? please," her voice shook as a car drove by her quickly.

"yeah, where are you?"

jayden looked around, "uhm. the side of the road. i was walking and i got lost."

"just send me your location, okay? ill be there soon."

"okay, bye."
jayden hung up the phone and opened the find my app, clicking on paiges contact and selecting share. once she was sure it went through, she sat down on the sidewalk and waited.

there was nothing for her to do. her phone was on 3% and she didn't want it to die, or paige wouldn't be able to find her.

eventually, a car rolled up on the side of the road, a brunette girl poking her head out the window. "hey, jayds," she spoke with worry at the sight. "come on, get in."

jayden pushed herself off the ground and brushed off her pants, smiling at the two girls gratefully. she opened the door and got into the backseat, "they wont give me my car."

paiges head whipped around, "what?"

nika had a moment of realization, "the crash?"

the mention of it seemed to make her even more upset, "yes!"

"wait. hold on," paige held her head in her hands. "did you get into a crash?"

jayden flopped onto her side, hoping nika would explain it. "we just wanted wingstop and some asshole knocked the mirror off of the car."

paige began to drive, "okay... so why won't they give you your car?"