Chapter 7
Pheonix
Des agreed to meet me at the mall, and I have to admit, I'm pretty happy about that. I have to relinquish all of this stress with someone, and I have no one to talk to at the moment. I can't talk to Evan because he won't understand, I can't talk to Cassidy because then she'll start freaking out. And of course, there's no way in the world that I'm going to talk to anyone in that little gang of Justin's. They already want me dead. I just sat there, folding my arms across my chest, staring out the window.
"So, Pheonix, how old are you?" Justin asked after ten minutes. The car had been filled with a strong silence.
"Eighteen." I said simply, not wanting to look at him.
He nodded his head and tapped his fingers onto the steering wheel. "So am I." More silence in-between the two of us. "What's your favorite number?"
I sighed and rested the back of my head against the seat. "Why are you looking for a conversation with me?" I snapped.
"Just trying to be friendly," He shot me a fake smile that dripped with sarcasm.
I narrowed my eyes. "Okay, yeah, mhm, sure. Now tell me the real reason."
"I'm bored out of my damn mind."
"That's more like it."
He shook his head softly and continued to drive, using only one hand to steer and rested the other on his lap as if it was no big deal. I'm a horrible driver. It's a miracle that I haven't accidentally hit someone with my car yet. But at the moment, I don't think that I'll ever be driving again. "Seven," I mumbled.
Justin glanced at me quickly with a confused expression. "Huh?'
"Seven. I'm answering your question." I said as I looked at the road in front of us.
He nodded again. At this point I just wanted to rip his head off his body, but that would result in me dying. Evan and Cassidy were being awfully quiet, so I turned around to check on them. They had both fallen asleep, their heads falling down. I reached to the back and fixed their positions, not wanting for them to have back or neck pains later on throughout the day.
"Are you their mom or something?" Justin asked a little mean.
I turned back around. "No, you killed her, but now I have to start acting like it."
He said nothing. I couldn't see his eyes because he was wearing his black sunglasses. I just sighed again and stared out the window and brought my knees up to rest my chin on them.
"Careful with the seats," Justin warned. "This car means the world to me."
"Whatever," I muttered.
Justin's mouth tightened into a thin line. "I hate that word so much."
"Why, makes you feel less masculine?"
He shot me a look through the glasses. "How would you feel if someone was telling whatever all the time? Wouldn't you want to just rip their head off their body?"
"I've been through it before," I acknowledged.
Justin stopped at a red light. "What do you mean?"
I shook my head and looked down. "My mom used to be so disrespectful towards me. She was ungrateful for everything. She was rude to Cassidy and Evan, her own kids. The word whatever slipped out of her mouth all the time, from when I was a little kid to now. So, it just stuck to me, and I say it without meaning to. I'm just so used to...never mind."
