That Voice

Chapter 25

Luke’s P.O.V.

We walked back to the parking lot after all of us had finished eating.  Just as Ash was about to unlock the car, he paused and turned to Sage, grinning mischievously.  Holding out the keys to her, her eyes widened and she shook her head quickly.  “I can’t drive Ashton!”  

He grabbed her hand and put the keys there saying, “Just drive around the parking lot.  There aren’t any cars here anyways.” I looked around the parking lot and saw that we were, in fact, the only car in the parking lot.  The only ones dumb enough to go swimming when it rained.

She looked to the rest of us and we all nodded encouragingly.  She looked to me last and I just waved my hand in the direction of the car, “C’mon, Dee.  Just do it.  YOLO and all.”  

She grinned nervously and started moving in the direction of the car, “Yeah.  I guess so.  If I die, then you guys can ‘Hunger Games’ over my stuff.” We chuckled and replied with reassuring things.

Sage opened the car door and bowed in exaggeration. “Goodbye friends.”  I laughed out loud and yelled out, “Just get in the car, Dee!”  

She rolled her eyes and closed the door, starting up the engine.  The four of us quickly scrambled out of the way, standing on the sidewalk.  It started creeping backwards out of the stall, then braked hard, making the car jump.  It kept creeping along and braking inch by inch until it was out of the stall and pointing perfectly towards the exit. 

Suddenly, the engine cut off and Sage threw the door open, dashing out and sprinting to where we were sitting watching her.  When she stood in front of us, I saw that she had a sheen of sweat on her forehead and she was pale as she doubled over and rested her hands on her knees.  

The four of us burst out laughing at how flustered she was and got up.  Mike ruffled her hair and asked, “That bad?”  She put both of her hands on his shoulders and looked him dead in the eye.  “Never make me do that again!  That shaved like 10 years off of my life span!”  He burst out laughing and tossed an arm around her shoulder, pulling her in close for an affectionate side hug.

When she was released, she blew out a breath and looked at me with a traumatized look.  I laughed and opened my arms for her, which she gladly ran into and I could still feel her heart racing.  She looked up at me and smiled brightly, “I’m alive!”  she laughed in relief and I just rolled my eyes at her and chuckled.

Ash called back to her, “At least you got us pointed straight at the exit!”

Maybe she should not be driving for a while.

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We got back to the tour bus almost two hours later after Ash got lost twice on the way home because Cal couldn’t pull up Google maps fast enough.  It was hilarious to watch the two of them freaking out in the front, so the three of us in the back—me, Mike, and Sage—were trying to laugh quietly after Ash yelled at us to shut up when Mike accidentally snorted loudly.