COMPLETE ✓| Charlotte Hastings found herself between a rock and a hard place when she aged out of the foster system. With only a car to her name, she set out on the open road, hoping to find long lost relatives. Winter hits her hard. When she meets...
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CHAPTER TWO | OLIVE BRANCH
Charlotte Hastings
My teeth chattered as my frozen fingers reached to adjust the heat. To say it was cold would have been an understatement. After an hour of trying to stay bundled and conserve my gas, I gave in. Freezing to death was becoming a real fear. The car's engine grumbled a low awful noise and I winced, if it broke down I wouldn't be able to afford to fix it and I had nowhere else to go.
I pressed my hands up against the vents, waiting impatiently for heat to pour out. "Come on," I muttered like my words would make the heat come faster. I sighed and my hands fell into my lap. It wasn't working. "Dammit!"
A knock at my window made me jump back. Standing in front of me was a young man, his hands held up as if to say he didn't want to hurt me. I stared forward and clenched my eyes shut. Maybe if I ignore him he'll go away. I crossed my fingers against my knees. Instead of walking back to his truck he knocked again.
I gulped. Just make him leave and then move on from this town. People were so annoying, butting into my business and running their mouths off.I bit my lip and hesitantly opened the door, the chilly breeze hitting my limbs. I could see my breath as I tried to calm my thoughts.
My feet were planted in the snow as I turned my body to face him. "What do you want?" My voice shook as I spoke, taking away the harshness of my tone.
"Umm . . . hi, I'm Eli," he thrust his hand towards me, introducing himself. All I could do was stare. Wow, friendly. It was evident that I was in a small town. His willingness to help was uncanny. "I am a mechanic and I wondered if you might be having some car trouble."
The cold made my hands shrivel up and curl into my flimsy jacket. The cold ate away at the walls I had put up and made me contemplate asking him for help. I couldn't live like this for long. The universe was holding out an olive branch, screaming at me that this was my one chance. Although there was a little voice in the back of my mind that said he was going to turn out to be an ax murderer.
"I can't seem to get the heat to turn on any higher than this," the words rolled off my tongue before I could think about what I was saying. He reached forward and pressed his hand against the vent. "It's turned on high and it's still doing that. It's getting really cold in here."
His eyes flickered to my backseat, where my whole life was displayed. I just hoped that my situation wasn't obvious from the food wrappers, hotel shampoo bottles, and open sleeping bag.
"It's a little late now, I can take you wherever you were going and have your car taken to the shop in the morning. I'm sure I can fix it up for you in no time at all." He offered. I nodded and reached into the backseat, throwing everything I could into my backpack. My clean clothes, the money I had saved up and the information that my social worker gave me on my family. Everything else was just stuff.
