Loved & Loyal | 1

iii

The next day, Wednesday, June 1st, two days until Abby went out with Mike, I pulled up outside Abby's door and waited for her. She jumped in with a "Hey" and I took off. We were just going to go tour the back roads around our large town (it wasn't quite big enough to be a city) and just hang out.

When I got off the highway, I took the curves that hugged the sides of the road at a higher speed than I would on any other gravel road. We called these sets of backroads 'Indy'. The kids called it that long before us and it's stuck around. High school kids took their friends out here but mostly it was guys taking girls out here to impress them, get a quick fuck in before lunch break ended, or deal some drugs. We had a huge drug problem in our town. We were known for it by the surrounding towns.

I loved drifting through Indy, rolling down the windows, and letting loose. And there wasn't anyone I loved being here with more than Abby. Even though, guilty as charged, I had taken a few girls through here for... Other things.

As I drifted around bends in the road, Abby and I laughed, she screamed, and we chatted freely, our relationship being as natural as having two legs.

Given that what we were doing was highly illegal, it shouldn't have surprised me that after about a half hour I heard the sound of sirens and blue and red flashing lights in my rear view mirror.

"Oh, shit."

"Ben, pull over! If I get in trouble my parents are going to ground me for months!"

I pulled over, not wanting to make this worse for Abby. The cop got out of his car and came around to my side of the car.

"Is there a problem, officer?" I winced, not really knowing what to say in this situation.

"Boy, were you aware of how fast you were going back there?" He questioned me, his voice low and full of authority.

I winced but didn't say anything to his question, not wanting to make this worse by lying and saying, "No, no I didn't." The police officer took my expression for an answer, knowing what my answer would have been and what I actually meant.

"I'm going to have to see you're license and registration." I handed him the paperwork and winced again when a frown creased his face.

"I see you have a new license. For this infraction, I'm going to have to take it away." The officer looked at me with a combination of sympathy and you-should-have-known-better.

Awe, crap. My license. "For how long... Officer?" I sounded scared. Goddamnit. I cleared my throat and sat up straighter so I didn't look like any more of a wimp.

"For a few months. I'll have to take you down to the station."

"But, what about my car?" I asked. I worried about my baby. She was precious.

"We will call a tow truck to bring her down to the impound. You can get her back after paying a fee - after you get your license back." I sighed heavily but took my punishment no less.

"What about me?" Abby asked, hesitant.

The officer looked surprised, like he hadn't noticed her.

"You can come down to the station with us or choose to come with the tow truck," the officer said softly. Empathizing with her.

"I'd like to come with you if that's alright. He's my best friend."

The officer handcuffed me, read me my rights, and put me in the back of the squad car. He told Abby to sit up front, though.

On the way to the police station, I was a nervous wreck. My parents were gunna murder me, I just hope Abby won't get in trouble.

When I was being processed, my parents were called. They came down to the station and gave me more shit than the disapproving, elderly officer that was processing me. And that was saying a lot. They released me to my parents and I was driven home. Abby stayed with me the whole time. Waiting in the lobby while I was processed, standing as close to me for protection as she good as per her instincts, and she even talked my parents down to only grounding me for the rest of the month before they even talked to me. She was amazing. I was so grateful.

When we pulled up to our house, Abby was sent home and my phone taken because of my grounding conditions. Although, Abby would only be banned for one week because she used her persuasive skills on my parents in the car, so there was a silver-lining.

I was sent to my room and was only to come down when called for supper. I opened my bedroom window and grabbed a rock that I had picked up before we came inside. Lucky for me, even though two stories up, Abby's bedroom window was somewhat across from mine, only a few feet to the left. Once I saw her shadow moving through her curtains, I threw the rock at the window, getting her attention. I heard a yelp before the curtains were pulled back and her face was looking through the glass. She saw it was me and opened her window.

"Hey there, jail bird. How's the grounding going?"

"Don't call me that. It was only a few hours. And it's torture."

" 'A few hours' leads to 'a few years'. You've only been grounded for-" she looked at her alarm clock beside her bed, "- 10 minutes. It can't be that torturous."

"Everything without you is torture," I deadpanned.

"Awe, so sweet," Abs retorted sarcastically.

"I know, I'm amazing. When are you ever going to realize that and kiss me?" By this point, the sarcasm was flowing.

"I thought you hated me! Otherwise, I would've kissed you in fifth grade," Abby said to me with mock-horror.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay I get it, we can stop this now. I gotta go before Mom comes and banishes me from opening my window. Bye, Abby. Talk to you later."

"Bye, babes," she said with a wave, then closed her window. The conversation was still ringing in my ears a few hours later, as I lay in bed, thinking about what we said.