Flight

Chapter 13

It was the new year. January. A clean slate. All were making promises to better themselves. The only promise Kallisto made was to find her mother. She didn't care what it took. Her mother had gone missing in August. Now, since the authorities were doing nothing, Kallisto would go look for her. She had helpful tools, like her torch and sword. She had supportive friends, but Blake was of little help. He was scatterbrained because he hadn't heard from Allison all vacation. All Kallisto could say was, "welcome to my world."

The way it was going to work; Marcus was going to "borrow" the family van. It was made for a sports team or maybe for advertising. Instead, it was used for his enormous family. He would drive to Kallisto's apartment building and pick her up. Then he would drive to Blake's house and load up with food, water, and money. If all went according to plan, Allison would be at Blake's house.

After about a week of trying, Blake finally got ahold of Allison. She would be at Blake's house, ready to go. After much waiting, Kallisto would finally see her mother.

***~~***

It was the night of their escape. Kallisto finished up her note to her father. It told him that she was going on a road trip with Allison and her mom. Little would he know that Allison wrote in her note that Kallisto's dad was driving their road trip.

Just as planned, Marcus pulled up and flickered his headlights five times. Kallisto ran out of the building and got in. Marcus looked like a nervous wreck.

"What's wrong?" Kallisto asked.

"I don't want to drive." Marcus said in a shaky tone. "I'm scared to."

"Marcus, why didn't you say so before?" Kallisto inquired.

"Because I didn't want to seem like a buzz kill." Marcus said, putting his head in his hands.

Kallisto sighed frustratedly. "Alright. Get out."

"What?"

"Just get out. I'll drive."

"Why? You don't have any experience or--"

"You don't want to drive and I won't make you." Kallisto got out of the car and so did Marcus. Kallisto sat in the driver's seat and turned on the ignition. She honestly didn't know how to drive. Well, it was just two pedals and a lever thingy-majigger. How hard could it be?

"Alrighty, the long, skinny pedal is for..."

"Going forward."

"The pedal next to it is for..."

"The brakes."

"On the lever thingy..."

"P is for park, R is for reverse, N is for neutral, and D is for drive. You use drive to go forward."

"How do you know so much about driving?"

"My mom always made me go get groceries since her hands are always full."

"Then, why are you so scared of driving?"

"Once I was going home from the market. I was going pretty fast and I got pulled over. When the cop saw me, it was like I was glass and he could see all of my thoughts. He knew I was too young to drive. I panicked and sped off. While I was driving, this woman ran onto the road while chasing her dog. I didn't want to hit her, so I swerved out of the way, lost control and slid into a pole. The van was totalled, wrapped around the pole like play doh. I got out and I ran home."

"Now I understand." Kallisto said. "That must have been traumatizing."

"Little bit, little bit." Marcus said. He pointed at the steering wheel. "Do you know how to use that?"

"Yes."

"Let's go then, my apprentice."

***~~***

Kallisto had picked up Blake and Allison. They had been on the road for an hour. They had only moved a couple of feet.

"Why does there have to be so much traffic?" Allison whined.

"Welcome to LA, where you have lived your entire life!" Kallisto snapped.

"Quit yelling at each other! You sound like squealing pigs!" Blake yelled over them.

"Your girlfriend's a pig!" Marcus fired back.

"Excuse me!" Allison squealed as she grasped Marcus's hair. He screamed like a little girl as Blake attempted to pry his cussing girlfriend off of his friend.

"Hey! Don't make me go back there," Kallisto roared, "or I swear by the force the earth spins by, you will regret it--"

Suddenly, the van ran into something. Everyone was jerked forward. Kallisto looked and she saw that she had rear-ended a Mercedes Benz.
Uh-oh, Kallisto thought, not good.

She switched into the lane to her right, which was moving at a faster pace. When that lane stopped, Kallisto looked at her rear view mirror and saw that the driver of the Mercedes was mad at the driver behind him. Not mad at her.

***~~***

They had been stuck in traffic for two hours. Now they were finally out of LA. They were going to stop at Riverside to get gas and use the bathroom. They were going to stock up on anything else that was running low as well. Kallisto went with Allison to the bathroom while the boys put in the gasoline and chose who drove next. While Allison used the bathroom, Kallisto did her makeup.

"Hey, Allison?" Kallisto asked. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?" Allison asked still in her bathroom stall.

"What happened over Christmas break?" Kallisto asked. "Blake was worried out of his mind. He thought you might have died or something."

Allison was silent for a long time. Kallisto was long finished with her makeup when Allison finally said something.

"I was really busy," was all that she said.

"Well, if it hadn't taken you so long to think of it, I may have considered it." Kallisto said. "Allison, I know your habits and I have since first grade--"

"I was just busy, okay?" Allison snapped.

"What happened to you, Allison?" Kallisto asked frustratedly. "And no lies this time!"

"ITS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" Allison screeched.

"FINE! I don't to hear from you for the rest of the ride!" Kallisto snarled. Once she left, Allison let out the sob she was holding back. She wanted to tell her. She honestly did. But if she told anyone, what would She do to her?