Score •• louis a.u.

chapter 35

We lapse back into silence and I return to staring out the window. Flat land gives way to tall trees and thick forests. I narrow my eyes, something bugging me in the back of my mind.

“Have we been here before?” I ask, looking at Louis. He does nothing, just grins.

“You’ll see.”

“Louis!” I shout, fed up with his antics. Soon, we pull up onto a narrow dirt road, the sides muddy from a previous rain.

“Geez. This road isn’t even big enough for our car. What are we going to do if someone comes down the other way?” I ask a little nervously.

“We’ll just pull over and let them pass. There has to be a big enough shoulder,” Louis says although I’m not convinced. The sides drop off into a ditch filled with logs and broken trees.

Not even a few minutes later, we spot a car coming toward us.

“Shit,” I breathe. The air in the car tenses immediately and I see Louis grip the steering wheel a little tighter.

“We can’t pull over. We’ll go right into the ditch!” I say, my face pressed against the glass. The approaching car doesn’t seem to slow down and I’m growing increasingly worried.

“They’re going to hit us,” Louis whispers. This freaks me out.

“What the hell do you mean they’re going to hit us?” I yell, reaching over to lean on the horn. It sounds but the other car doesn’t seem to care. Louis moves over as much as he can but there’s still not enough room to let the vehicle pass. We both curse as the car hits our side, scraping metal on metal as it grinds by. Louis’s car gives a little lurch and it tips to the left, sliding toward the ditch. We both scream as the car continues to scrape by, pushing us further into the ditch.

“I’m trapped! I can’t get out this door!” I yell, unbuckling my seatbelt. I fall against the window as the car is fully sideways. The other car is gone but we’re still sliding slowly. Louis shuts off the car and unbuckles as well. He holds onto the steering wheel as he struggles to not come crashing down on me. He opens his door and stumbles out, landing hard on the dirt road. I scramble over the seats and reach the driver’s door. He holds out his hands for me and I grab them, jumping out of the car. As soon as I lift off, the car gives a groan and crashes into a few trees, completely off the road now. We both land on the ground, breathing hard and thoroughly pissed.

“What the hell was that? I’m pretty sure that guy wasn’t blind.” I seethe, wiping off my muddy pants.

“My car.” Louis whimpers, stroking the side of it lovingly. The black color has been scratched off in numerous places, looking like someone keyed it.

“Hey, just think. We’re lucky we weren’t on your motorcycle. We could’ve been killed.”

“If we were on my bike we could’ve pulled over more.”

I am silent. He has a point.

“Come on. Let’s go.” Louis says angrily, slamming the door and stalking away. I follow him behind, already reaching for my phone.

“We can call a tow truck,” I say, trying to lift his spirits. I’m uncomfortable since his anger isn’t aimed toward me.

“There’s no signal.”

“What do you mean there’s no signal? There has to be a signal. Where are we anyway?” I ask, looking down at my screen.

“We’re at the camp.” Louis says. “And no. There’s no signal.”

My head shoots up. “Camp? Like the camp? The camp we went to for a week with the team?”

Louis nods. I open and close my mouth. Why are we here?