University of Wonderland

Chapter Fourty-One

The pigs squealed behind us, charging for the open gate door. The pig in my arms shifted wildly, opening her mouth for a loud squeal. Sehun took her out of my arms, and we kept going. The frigid breeze coated around me. We had no idea where Sulli was. I couldn't tell which way was up, which way was down, only that we were stealing a pig from its fightful owner. My criminal record was going to be fuller than my transcript soon.

As I dodged the walking sheep, my foot tripped. I fell forward, landing on the ground. Sehun stopped and came back for me, moving the pig into one arm and his other hand toward me. The pig went wild.

"Don't wait for me, just go!" I said.

He waited. With shaking legs, I managed to get off the ground. Once I stood up, he jogged beside, slowed by my pace.

I could only hoped that the security had decided to stay behind and herd the pigs instead of following us.

My feet slapped against something hard and it took me a second to realize the soft padding of grass was gone. We had reached the parking lot. The car sat there, waiting for us like an obedient dog tied up outside a store.

"Get my keys. They're in the front pocket."

I hesitated. We hadn't exactly reached the below-the-belt level of hooking up yet, so I felt a little more awkward digging my hands down his pants. A blast of wind blew my pigtails slapping against my face, and my teeth chattered.

He laughed to himself, then smiled at me. "Ohorat, this is a perfect opportunity for you to make a joke about are those your keys or are you just happy to see me."

I laughed, too, tension easing with our smiles. I stuck my hand inside the scratchy denim jeans, fumbling awkwardly until I touched the keys. My cheeks heated. I felt disoriented, so busying trying to shake off my fear that I missed the keyhole on two attempts. Once I strapped myself into the passenger seat, Sehun set the pig on my lap. "You okay?" he asked, his face showing concern.

"Yeah." The word came our scratchy. I cleared my throat. "In fact, let's go back for the rest of the animals. My stress levels aren't high enough to cause serious damage yet."

He stroked my cheek. "I really appreciate what you did for me today." He closed the door and walked over to the driver's side and got in to start the car.

"Wait, what about Sulli?" The pig trambled on my lap.

"We have to leave her." He set the gear in reverse.

I brushed my hair out of my face with one palm. "No, she'll get in trouble!"

"It's okay. We all agreed. If one of us get caught or stuck on a mission . . . we leave them." Before I could agrue further, he backed the car out of the parking lot.

I thought of her there, trying to cover for us. I bit my lip. Could she talk her way out of it if she got caught? My guess was police officers wouldn't be so tolerate of her riddles.

The pig continued her desperate escape attempts. I tried to pet her, but I was shaking too  much to amke contact. "How do I calm her?"

"She's responding to your nerves. If you're calm, she's calm."

I closed my eyes shut, breathing so hard it came out like a bull getting ready to attack than yoga-soothing. The pig squealed louder, and panicked eye rolled back to look at me.

I screamed.

"Here, if I talk, will that help?"

I met his eyes. "Only if you tell me the truth."

He turned to me, his eyes actually. "That one time when you asked me helped with the farmers' market? And I told you no?"

"Yeah, that was nonsensical." I stilled my fingers enough to stroke the pig's back through the blanket, trying to calm both her and myself. Sehun swung the wheel onto a deserted road, trees surrounding us. We'd taken the highway here, but I guessed now we were going the more inconspicuous way. The road less traveled.

"If a farmers' market gets erected before I get my farm back . . . there won't be any need for a farm in city. The could produce from however far away, especially if the farmers' volunteer - which they would. They need the extra money."

The pig's erratic movements calmed under my hands, and my heartbeat drifted away from my ears.

"The battle for a farmers' market has gone on for years without any progress. But this - what we do - this is making the city pay attention. If I can just get my farm back, it will solve everything. I'll gladly start up a farmers' market myself." He eased on the brake to take a sharp turn with less speed. "That's why I didn't tell you. I was afraid you wouldn't agree."

Without a local farm in the area, a farmers' market did seem pointless. It was supposed to benefit the community, yeah, but the other point was to preserve farms and save them from fates like Sehun's. Now, all the farms were too far away to really provide consistent produce for a market. Still, I could argue that the creation of a farmers' market could reignite the need for a local farm.

Sehun's story must have worked, because I calmed down. Too calm, in fact, my shoulders relaxed as I sank into the seat. Without realizing it, I must have loosen my grip on the pig.

A split second later, she leapt out of my arms and jumped into Sehun's lap. He lifted his hands from the wheel, an involuntary reaction to the pig's ramming her snout into his chest. The wheel spun, taking the car with it.

Flashes popped in my mind, not of images, but of the terror my parents must have felt when this happened to them. My heart squeezed and my lips frantically took up religion, forming a desperate prayer.

The scenery blurred by us: the green of trees, the black interior of the car, the pink of the blanket. Directions switched, disorienting me. My head stings, and my stomach swirled as violently as the car.

I heard the sounds of the crash before I felt the impact. Something hard knocked the wind out of me, crushing me against the back of the seat. My teeth slammed togther. I was being backed into a brick wall, all sides closing in me and squashing the air out of my lungs. Steam billowed somewhere, and an eerie hiss rang out. Everything went white.

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