StarFall (Completed)

Ch. 6 (part 2)

The air felt like it was getting thin. I couldn't breathe. I rose from the couch and moved about the room. "I have to get out, I need air."

Miller looked up from the book. "What's wrong?"

"I can't breathe, I have to get out." I paced back and forth, fanning my hands in front of my face. "I can't breathe," I shouted.

He dropped the book on the couch and moved towards me, his hands grabbed hold of my shoulders. "Adeline, it's okay. Calm down." He looked to the wall where the table had been thrown. "Okay, so, you broke the coffee table with some mysterious force, no big deal."

I looked to him in vain. "No big deal? How am I going to explain that." I motioned to the shattered remnants of the coffee table.

He craned his neck away from me. "Okay, yeah...it's pretty bad, and I have no idea what you're going to tell them. But, I think I can help with that other thing."

I looked to him, my eyes narrowed in confusion.

He pulled from me and grabbed the book, returning it to his bag. He looked to his watch. "It's six thirty, your parents are gone till about eleven, right?"

I nodded. "So?"

"So, we can be back in time to clean this up."

"Clean this up? What are you talking about?" I watched as he moved around the room. 

"Get your jacket and come with me."

I was still in a daze, but I listened, and followed. Right now, anywhere was better than here.

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His garage door slowly rose. He ducked under it as it opened, and moved into the dark. 

"Miller?" I said, calling for him.

A light came on. "Sorry, was looking for the light switch." 

I entered the dimly lit garage and watched as he pulled the tarp off something.

"What's that?" I stood with my arms crossed, the cool night air filled the garage.

He went around the covered mystery and pulled back the large beige tarp. "Our getaway." He tossed the tarp to the floor and stood in front of a bright, red car.

"Wow, it's nice, is it yours?" I ran my hands over the hood.

"Sort of, it was my dad's. " His voice got quiet, the whole room felt quiet. "We were working on it together. I mean, I don't know much about cars, and neither did he, but we were going to learn together." He half-smiled, and let out a soft laugh.

I moved away from the car and turned to him. "You really miss him, huh?"

The brown in his eyes stood out when he raised his head into the light. "I do. Even more so now, I mean, he was literally studying this stuff. He'd have gone nuts if he was here. It'd be a dream come true." 

You'd think I'd know the magic words to say when trying to console someone over loss, especially after losing someone myself, but I didn't. I felt like I was drowning trying to find the right thing to say. I opened my mouth to speak but he walked past me.

"Let's hope this thing still works." He opened the driver's side door and got in. 

I hopped in the passenger's seat and crossed my fingers.