This Diary I Found

13 [PART 1] :: Road Kill

CHAPTER 13 (Part 1): Road Kill

Turns out, Saturday could come sooner. Days seem to drag on when you're expecting something from tomorrow.

Even the drive back home seemed longer than it usually took. Our house was near the corner of town, which is about a 15-minute drive from school. Most people in the neighborhood couldn't afford to buy a car, so traffic is hardly a problem. But even with the car-less road and the full tank of gas, my pickup cruised at an average speed. The snow wasn't as heavy but it was still really gloomy.

It was a dull day. The only fun thing that I experienced was jamming out to the radio. Music's a real boredom killer, especially when you're listening to The 1975.

Somebody Else was just coming to an end with Matt Healy's vocal fading out when I took a turn to the left. Still no cars, but suddenly, a little girl in rollerblades came zooming across the street without looking both ways.

She was about a foot away from my car's front bumper when I honked. Her head whipped at my direction, eyes wide and mouth screaming! I was just as shocked as she was but luckily, I was able to stomp on the brakes and swerve left.

My car skidded and bumped up the sidewalk step, throwing me against the roof. If that wasn't enough, my piece-of-shit pickup decided it was the perfect moment to break down. Adding insult to injury, the engine cackled, the hood blew up smoke and the car broke down.

Brilliant.

Gritting my teeth, I kicked the door open. The little girl was sitting on the pavement. My eyes narrowed down at her, and that's when I realized it was no "little girl". The hood of her coat slid down and I realized, it was...

"Dewirth?!"

Her head whipped up in surprise. "Hey, Jettison!" Sage's upbeat voice rang.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I exclaimed, motioning to my broken down car.

"Skating," she answered innocently, standing up and trying to balance herself. That explains why she couldn't jump out of the way.

"In the middle of the street?!"

She nodded, her focus transfixed on something other than my question. She was gazing down on her feet. I followed her gaze and she took one push, but then cried in pain, falling towards me.

I caught her.

"Fuck, I think I sprained my ankle," she said, as I tried to balance her.

"Serves you right for being so reckless! I almost ran you over!"

When we finally got her to balance, she tried skating away again. And this time, she didn't fall. "Yeah, yeah," she said dismissively, as she skated away as fast as she could.

Thanks to her sprained ankle, she didn't get far away before I caught up with her again. "Aren't you even gonna apologize?"

"Why should I apologize? You're not the one with a sprained ankle."

"My car broke down because I avoided your sorry ass!"

"Oh, your car!" she exclaimed melodramatically. "I'm fine, by the way. You know. Me, a human being. I'm fiiine. Sucks about your car, though."

"Where are you going?" I questioned when she wouldn't stop rolling away in a turtle-paced speed.

"Anywhere far from here," she said hurriedly.

Getting annoyed by how she was trying to avoid confronting me, I jumped in front of her.

"Trevor, step aside," she requested.