Thorns

20 - Whitney

Whitney

Portia's birthday had to be P-e-r-f-e-c-t! Ian was gonna get me nuts with all of his crap! He was so damn scared she would find out about the party that he almost blabbed! Jesus... The guy was gonna get an ulcer before this day was over.

We had a plan: I would force Portia to dress up, saying we were going to have a drink at La Ronda, just us girls. But, we would drive to Ian's. I would tell her – with the help of Darren – that Ian was seen going inside his house with a girl. I knew she would kill me for that little lie, but it was necessary.

"Whit, Rai's here" I heard Daddy say, from the hall.

"Be right there!" I yelled, getting my white Converse on, and pulling my hair into a messy bun while I went down the stairs "Hi. You're punctual. Great! I'm really working against the clock, today."

"Yeah, I am." Rai said, in the hall, looking embarrassed and really uncomfortable "So... where's your car?"

"Do you want to eat anything? Or drink?" Daddy asked him, while I opened the front door.

"Huh... no, thanks. Really, I'm fine" Rai said, and I saw his foot twitch.

"We'll just work on the car, Daddy." I smiled, and closed the door behind us "Why do you look like you have a belly ache?"

"Funny. Let's just do this..."

I frowned. He looked reeeeeally uncomfortable. And all of the sudden, it hit me. He was one of the many who messed with my family, on a daily basis. He was one of those who trashed our windows and wrote disgusting things on our walls.

"If you think my dads are gonna kill you and take your skin off, don't worry. They don't know you're the one that... yeah... I didn't tell them" I assured him, while we walked through my lawn to the asphalt in front of our garage.

"You didn't?" He asked, completely stunned "Why?"

"I didn't do it for you." I assured him, as I walked around my shiny car "I just didn't want to crush my dads' hearts. They love your dad. It would kill them to know..."

He looked in pain for a few moments, but then opened the hood.

"So what's the noise?" He asked, checking what I think was the oil and then the water.

"It's like a 'hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiik'" I said, remembering the annoying high pitch sound.

He looked at me, blinking a couple of times.

"What?" I muttered, frowning.

"What's the sound, again?"

"'Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiik'" I made it again, coughing in the end, 'cause it made my throat hurt.

He blinked, tossed his head back and laughed like I'd said the best joke ever.

"What's so funny?" I groaned and felt myself blush.

"Please, do it again!" He asked, between laughs and ragged breath.

"Jackass..." I muttered, passing by him and punching him in the arm, but he kept laughing "I'll just turn the car on so you can hear it."

He nodded but kept laughing. When I turned the car on, the noise started a few seconds after, and Rai controlled his laughs, to pay attention to the real problem.

"Ok. Accelerate, now." The noise was worse "It's ok, you can turn it off." He said, and I did "I think I know what's going on."

"And...? What's the diagnosis?" I asked, closing the door and joining him near the engine.