Wishes In The Dark - A Peterick Fanfiction

Thirteen

When we're all strapped in, Pete asks, "You guys ready?"

"Let's go, motherfuckers!" shouts Joe excitedly.

As the car is filled with cheering from them, Pete starts the engine and through the window I see Ray and Mikey waving at us outside their shop. Pete turns on the car's radio - it appears to be playing some sort of heavy metal song - and turns it up full volume. I feel my eardrums fighting to survive as Pete, Andy and Joe start to sing along. Bizarrely, Andy is the loudest. I guess Hayley was right; put on a song he likes, and he goes insane.

Pete starts driving - slowly at first, but then faster and faster and ever more reckless. Soon we're out of the junk yard and zooming down the highway at full speed. Andy and Joe in the backseats are laughing; Pete is grinning and keeping his eyes on the road. I, on the other hand, am starting to feel sick. Is this their idea of fun? It's certainly not mine.

I feel my heart stop beating when we hurtle over a zebra crossing just as a woman in a suit is about to cross. Luckily she stops herself, but it's so close an encounter I stop breathing for a second.

"Oops," Pete says quietly.

When the music on the radio stops and some radio hosts start talking, Pete turns the volume down. Everything seems more quiet now - I'm certainly not used to being trapped in a car with a group of daredevils singing along to the noisiest song I've ever heard in my life.

We drive over a bump. That's when the sick feeling I'm holding inside me gets worse. I close my eyes. We're going so fast. We need to stop.

After a while we hear the sound of sirens from behind us.

Andy and Joe turn their heads to look out the back of the car.

"Oh fuck," mutters Andy.

"Cops are on us," sighs Joe.

Pete, looking slightly scared, badly pulls over. A Police officer gets out the Police car behind us and makes his way over to our car. Pete winds his window down and the cop leans over.

"Evening, Officer," Pete says calmly. His tight grip on the gear stick tells me he's nervous, but his voice says otherwise.

The officer looks at him pointedly, then says, "Is this your car?"

"Yes Sir," Pete replies. "Picked her up earlier today. Do you like it?"

What is he doing?!

The officer doesn't look impressed. "Are you aware of how fast you were driving?"

"Um..." Pete thinks for a moment. He's probably choosing between telling the truth and lying. "No, Sir. How fast was I driving?"

The officer looks down at a notebook in his hand. "You were driving at 68 miles per hour, almost double the speed limit."

"Oh," Pete says, acting surprised. "Oops."

"And driving badly at that," adds the officer, looking Pete up and down. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen, Sir."

A lie.

"Eighteen...and this your own car?"

"Yes Sir," says Pete.

Also a lie.

"Can I take your name?"

"Chad Gilbert."

The biggest lie of all. It takes a huge amount of effort for me to remain still and quiet in my seat. I glance into the mirror and see that Andy and Joe are holding back laughter. How can they possibly be laughing at this?

The anxiety in me subsides a little, but it's quickly replaced by confusion. Isn't Pete smart enough to know not to lie to a Police officer? And why did he use Chad's name, of all people? What does Chad have to do with anything? What did Chad ever do to him?

"Can I see your license, Mr Gilbert?" asks the officer.

Now we're in real trouble.

Pete pretends to search around for a driver's license, but eventually stops and looks back at the officer.

"I don't have it on me," he sighs. "Look Officer, I got this new car today and I went to take her for a little spin with my friends, and I guess I just got a bit too excited. My mistake. How about we put this all behind us? I promise this'll never happen again."

The officer narrows his eyes suspiciously, probably trying to decide whether Pete (aka Chad) is a liar or not.

"Ok then, Mr Gilbert," the officer declares. "I'm letting you off on a warning, but I have your name on my record. Next time anything happens that leads back to you, you'll get some sort of punishment. Luckily for you, it's been a long day and I just want to get back home to my wife and daughter."

Pete smiles. "Thank you, Officer. I'll be good."

"Drive safe, Mr Gilbert."

"Goodnight, Officer."

And the officer returns to his Police car.

As Pete starts to drive away, driving nicely now, Andy and Joe burst out laughing.

"That was so close!" grins Joe.

"Yeah..." Pete says, not looking overly pleased. "Maybe a little too close."

He glances at me. "You okay, Pat?"

I don't know what to say. I'm not happy with Pete, but I don't want to say anything against him. So I simply ask, "Why did you use Chad's name?"

Pete chuckles. "Did you think I was gonna use my own?"

"No," I say. "But why Chad, of all people?"

Pause.

"Because he was rude to you," he says.

I feel my cheeks getting hot, smile and sit back in my seat. I don't agree with what he did, but he did it for me. And that makes me temporarily really happy.

Pete pulls over outside a gas station.

"I need a waz," he says bluntly, getting out the car. "Won't be long."

He makes his way inside the building, carrying his black shoulder bag. Andy and Joe get out the car to have a smoke, but I don't want to be a bother so I stay in my seat. I can hear them talking through the car window.

"Did you hear what he said?" asks Joe.

"What?" asks Andy.

"He said he did it cause Chad was rude to him."

I sit up slightly and tune further into their conversation.

"Oh, that."

"You think he's making it a bit too obvious?"

Pause.

"Maybe a little. But judging by the way he looks at him, he likes him back."

Oh my gosh...

After about five minutes, Pete gets back into the car. He looks very calm now, calmer than before.

As we start to drive away, I keep thinking back to Andy and Joe's conversation outside the gas station.

"He said he did it cause Chad was rude to him."

"You think he's making it a bit too obvious?"

"Judging by the way he looks at him, he likes him back."

One question keeps buzzing round in my head like a swarm of bees:

Does Pete like me?