Drive [h.f-t. & j.l.] (COMPLETED)

Chapter 1 - Lightning Crashes

lightning crashes - live
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josephine's pov
I'm sitting shotgun in a sleek sports car. The streets of Los Angeles blur past me as if I'm on a rollercoaster. Over the roar of the engine, I hear my heart pounding in my chest, so hard it wouldn't surprise me if it jumped out. I glance in the side-view mirror at the cop cars right on my tail... and catch a glimpse of my face. I barely even recognize myself. A voice calls my name.

"Josephine! ... Josephine!" I turn to the car's driver, his piercing blue-green eyes locked with mine.

"I'm gonna do something a little risky. Do you trust me?"

"Trust you? I barely know you!" The speedometer ticks past 100 miles an hour. The driver takes my hand.

"It's now or never, Josephine. Do you trust me?"

"I.." I try to answer, but I just keep thinking one thing over and over... This is not how I expected my eighteenth birthday to go.

Earlier that day..

I woke up before my alarm has the chance to rip me out of my dreamless slumber. I did enjoy whenever that happens, giving me the time to just lay there in complete silence and peace for just a while. With today being my birthday, my eighteenth at that, I could already hear my dad rummaging around in the kitchen, his whistle being carried up the stairs and I couldnt help but smile. When the unpleasant sound of my alarm finally did cut in, I immediatly sit up to reach over and turn it off, swinging my legs over the side of the bed with a sigh.

I quickly climb out of my bed, opening my closet to pull out my favorite sweater, the words JENNINGS printed in bold white letters on the navy fabric, that I've had since I was thirteen. A small smile grows on my face at the thought of finally being able to attend my dream school this summer. I have been obsessed wth that school since a young age. My mom went there but that doesn't have anything to do with it. Well, not entirely. She never had to brain wash me to want to go there, it came on it's own. And now I finally had the chance to start earlier, given if I could keep my grades as high as they were now.

Entering the bathroom I immediately turn on the facet, splashing lukewarm water on my face and grabbing my toothbrush. As I go through my usual morning routine my mind wanders to my mom. My heart still ached whenever I thought of her and I let out a shaky sigh. It's days like birthdays or holidays that you miss them most. Even after 5 years. Shaking my head, I look at myself in the mirror as I apply the thin layer of mascara before pulling my blonde hair in a low ponytail, tugging a loose strand behind my ear.

As I head downstairs, the feeling that my whole life is about to be different was gnawing on the back of my mind but I shake it off. As suspected I find my dad in the kitchen, cooking over the stove as usual.

"There's my birthday girl. What do you want for breakfast?" He exclaims enthusiastically, turning to look at me for a moment. He has grown the beginning of a beard in the last few days, the small patches of very light blonde in the blonde-ginger color making him look a little older than he actually is. I didn't mind that though so I didn't say anything. He had his gingerly-blonde hair swiped back as usual and the wrinkles next to his eyes crinkled as he gave me one of his brightest, most comforting smiles. I knew that days like these were as hard on him as they were on me. When I lost my mother, he lost his soulmate, his best friend.

I sit down at the kitchen counter, resting my head on my palm as I watch him with a small smile. My dad and I had always been close, only growing closer over the last 5 years. I'm an only child and we only have each other, other family living mostly around the Scottish and Irish area, where my parents are from. They moved to the states with me when I was just 2, hence why I didnt have the heavy scottish accent my dad has or the sing-songy irish one my mom had.