The Unexpected

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I woke up to 'Good Morning' by Mandisa.

Oh, the irony.

Cursing my phone, my sorry excuse for a ring-tone, and whoever the crap was calling me, I searched around for my phone. Eventually I found it beneath my bed (I swear the thing grows legs and hides while I'm not looking) and checked the number. It was Emma.

"Hello!" she said loudly, making me wince and pull the phone from my ear.

"Gracious, girl. You don't have to be so cheery."

"You're right, I shouldn't be," Emma replied darkly, and I raised my eyebrows at her change of tone. "I'm ready to kill you right now. Actually, I wouldn't go in a dark alley anytime soon if I were you. Look out your window."

Confused, I got up and peeked through the curtains. Emma's car was parked at the curb. She looked up and rolled down the window so I could see her death glare without the dark tint getting in the way.

"Oh, my gosh, Emma," I gasped, running around like a chicken with my head cut off looking for clothes. "I'm so sorry!" I was never one to sleep through my alarm, but glancing at it I realized it was never set.

"Oh, you better be sorry," her voice came through the speaker. "School starts at 8:15, and I'm leaving at 8:05. Its 7:55, the clock is ticking," she said, the last part coming in a sing-song voice, before hanging up.

Five minutes later (that has to be a world record for fastest time getting ready in the morning), I was running outside in a light green blouse and dark skinny jeans. I braided my hair over my shoulder and slid into Emma's car, closing the door. She had gotten it back from the shop a couple days before, so the hole in the windshield had been reduced to a couple of barely noticeable cracks.

She looked at her bare wrist, pretending to read a watch. "You made it," she said, even though I know she wouldn't have left me. Hopefully.

Emma backed up and pulled out. At the same time a dark blue, almost black Lincoln turned out of a nearby driveway. I didn't think anything of it until I glanced in the rear view mirror, spotting the same car following closely behind us.

"Is that Lincoln following us?" I asked Emma when, after two right turns, it was still behind us.

Emma glanced back. "If it is, they either don't care about being obvious or just aren't very good at it." We both watched as the car pulled into the other lane, going way over the speed limit. It zoomed passed and I got a look at the driver.

It was Aaden. Normally I would just be curious, but when I saw him my heart caught in my throat. After last night's events I knew my new acquaintance (friend? Crush?) was in possible danger. Because of me.

I must have had a strange look on my face, because Emma lifted an eyebrow. "Okay, spill."

I looked at her. "What?"

"Don't play dumb with me. I know something's on your mind and, being the great person I am, I wanna know."

Emma had enough on her plate already, but the look on her face told me I wasn't going to get away with 'Its just that time of month'. So, I took a deep breath, blew it out, and relayed everything from the moment I got home to finding Aaden's picture.

When I got done there was an awkward pause.

"Whoa," Emma breathed.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"So, what are you going to do? You have to tell someone."

I shook my head. "I don't know. I don't want to set X off."