The New Kid

Chapter 22- Where The Line Gets Drawn

"How rich are you, Preston?" I asked. I was riding home with Preston, who had brought his 2007 Porsche 911 GT to school.

"My dad is a car dealer. They brought this thing in and he bought it for me," Preston said.

I was jealous of this car. It was red, with a black racing stripe going through the middle of it. Inside, it had black leather seats. On his dashboard, he taped a Polaroid picture of Tara and him.

"Why'd you tape a picture of you and Tara onto your dashboard?" I asked.

Preston gingerly lifted the picture into his view, "Well, it's so I can see her beautiful face even though she's not in the passenger seat."

I smiled at the answer. When I got a car, I'd do the same thing when and if I got with Jessica. Candy and Michelle came down the sidewalk.

"God, I love this car," Candy said.

"So, are we gonna drive this thing or not?" I asked.

Preston nodded and hopped in the car. He revved the engine and it howled. I widened my eyes at the sound. We took no time in admiring the sound and immediately got in the car. I was in the passenger seat, Candy and Michelle sat in the seats in the back.

"You guys ready?" he asked.

We all agreed. He smiled deviously, "Hold on tight." Preston threw it into drive and did a donut in the parking lot. He shot through the narrow parking lot entryway, like threading a needle. My heart was speeding faster than the Porsche. He drifted out of the entryway and sped down the main road, eventually slowing down to accommodate for the traffic rush.

"Wait...how're Candy and Michelle gonna get home? Are we taking them?" I asked.

Preston laughed and smacked the dashboard with his left hand, "I forgot to tell you, Scott. I was also gonna take Candy and Michelle home, along with you coming to my place."

I sighed a relieved sigh and laid back in the seat. Never once in my life would I think to be riding in a Porsche. But here I was in the passenger seat. I had also taken the time to notice that he also had a Jon Snow bobblehead in the middle of the dashboard.

"You like Game of Thrones?" I asked, pointing to the bobblehead.

Preston nodded and flicked Jon Snow's head. The head continuously shook back and forth on our way to Michelle's house. She lived in the place I called the "America District" because there were so many fast food restaurants by her house. I got out and lifted my seat in order for her to get out. Preston then dropped off Candy, who lived a couple blocks over from Michelle.

"And then there were two," I said after Candy had left.

Preston took the sketchy route back to his house. This was the ugly side of Phoenix: a couple of homeless people, a deserted strip mall, and a lot of graffiti on the run-down buildings.

"Why're you taking this way?" I asked, a tinge of unease in my voice.

"If I take the highway to Vincent Heights, I'll hit rush hour. This is really the only way back home that's fast. It'll get better from here," Preston explained.

He was somewhat right. As we drove further down the street, some of the buildings looked pleasing. There was a little pawn shop at one corner of an intersection that was out of place in this part. The white neon lights were flickering, trying so hard to stay on completely. I could see a tall man with thinning white hair and a black polo with the store logo on the top left. He had a patchy beard and was smoking a Cuban cigar. He took a puff and shot a look directly at me. I swallowed hard and looked forward, trying so hard not to look back to see if the man was still looking at me or not. As the light turned green, I saw the man watching our car pass by the pawn shop. I looked at him until he was completely out of view.