My Escape {Paul Lahote◇OC}

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Sam raised his brow in confusion. I swallowed thickly and turned my body towards him. "I mean, I'm not originally from Chicago. I was born and raised in Colorado. I just went to Chicago for school." Sam nodded, but his face remained in a frown. I started to wonder if that was just how his face looked normally.
"So, why didn't you just go back to Colorado to start over? Don't you have any friends or family back there?" It was my turn to frown. I turned my gaze to the road ahead. "My parents died a while back. And I dropped out of contact with my friends a few years ago. There's nothing to go back to." I forced a smile. "Besides, I figured with nothing holding me back, why not throw a dart at a map?" Sam chuckled.
"You threw a dart, and it hit Forks, Washington? What are the odds?" He shook his head and carefully turned on to what I recognized as the main road back to Forks. "So, what do you do for work?" He asked. I bit my lip and shrugged. "Nothing yet. It's been a little more difficult to find a decent job around here than I thought. Most of the jobs are cashier or teaching jobs." He nodded, his scowl fading just the slightest bit. "What do you want to do?"
I glanced out my window and then back at Sam, twisting the sleeve of my jacket between my fingers nervously. "Well, I went to school for automechanics, but I really want to work on classic cars in a specialty shop." Sam's brows raised in surprise. "You're a gearhead?" He asked, shocked. I smiled. "Yup." He tore his eyes from the road ahead and gave me a calculative look. "Seriously?" I grinned at him and nodded. He shook his head and smiled. "Sorry. Just... You don't..."
"Look the type? Yeah. I get that a lot. You should've seen my professor's face when I walked into the shop the first day. He actually offered to show me the way back to the cosmetology wing across campus." I smiled ruefully, watching the trees blur past us. "What sparked your interest in cars?" Sam asked, slowing down as I pointed to a road to the left for him to turn on to. "Actually, it was when I joined the Army that I found my love for mechanics. Before that, I thought cars were just cool or pretty. But I worked on Humvees and big rigs during my enlistment and realized that I really liked taking things apart and rebuilding them. So, naturally, after I discharged, I used my GI Bill to go to school for automechanics and took a part-time job at an auto shop doing oil changes and wheel rotations to pay the bills." I sat forward in my seat, keeping a keen eye on the tree line, waiting for my driveway to come into view.
"How old are you?" Sam asked incredulously. "27." I answered, unbuckling my seat belt as my driveway came into view. "This is me. You don't have to drive me up. If you keep down this road another half a mile, there's a couldesac so you can turn around." I reached for the door handle but stopped when he didn't slow down, but turned up the driveway.
"I'll drive you up. It's no problem." He muttered, looking over the property with a deep frown. I frowned and followed his gaze. "Is something wrong?" I asked, gauging his reaction. He glanced at me before answering.
"No. It's just that I'm pretty sure this property is on tribal land. The border is about half a mile further that way." He gestured to the right. A half a mile would put the border on the edge of my neighbors property. I looked at Sam questioningly, not sure what to say. Sam noticed and softened his expression. "It's not a big deal. I always thought this area was empty, is all." I nodded, still unsure what to think. We pulled to a stop in front of the rustic little house, and I heaved the truck door open and turned back to Sam.
"It was really nice to meet you, Sam. Sorry for running out in front of your truck like that. Maybe I'll see you around under better circumstances." I flashed him my best smile and jumped down to the gravel. Sam smiled. "Thanks for the company. And, uh, if you're serious about looking for a job in a shop, you should come down to the Rez. It's nothing fancy, but I own a small shop down there, and we're always looking for help with odd jobs here and there." My eyes widened in surprise. "Really?" Sam smiled and nodded.
"Yeah. Come on down sometime. We can see if we can put you to work." I grinned and nodded. "Great! I'll come check it out this week sometime. Thanks for the ride!" I shut the truck door and waved as Sam backed out of the drive.