Rebel Heart

Chapter 3 Meet the Crew

"She just flew over a seven-foot ledge in a car! How do you think she's feeling?" Jett asked half-jokingly. Michelle smiled.

"Better, thanks to Brook." The woman with black hair scoffed.

"She's fragile but she doesn't look stupid. I'm glad I didn't find her. I might have left her where she was." She said callously. Jett gave a fake laugh trying to smooth over the tension.

"Ha, ha-ha, that's our Paige. You never know when she's joking." He put his arm around her but she aggressively shook it off.

"Sorry we woke you but you're not gonna get much sleep around this bunch," Brook said. The woman with dirt-blonde hair came forward and shook Michelle's hand.

"Since you're awake, might as well get you introduced. The name's Leslie, that charming young lady over there is Paige, that's Jett, you met him, and that's Reece." She said pointing to the blue-haired guy.

"You forgot Payton," Brook added with a smirk. The fierce-looking guy with black hair glowered at Brook.

"Right, and that's Payton," Leslie said, waving to him.

"You got a name kiddo?" she asked Michelle.

"Michelle." She replied. Brook glanced at her keenly for a moment.

"Michelle. Well, it's nice to meet ya, Michelle. Hope you're comfortable here.

"Ugh, I'm out," Payton said before pushing past Brook and going through a backdoor.

"Ignore him, he's always crabby," Jett said with a wink.

"Guys, shouldn't you tell her?" Reece interjected. Everybody's expression sobered up.

"Right... So who's gonna do it?" Jett asked. Michelle looked around wondering why everyone was acting weird. Paige stepped closer to Michelle with folded arms. Michelle noticed she wore high-heeled black leather boots which added to her height.

"Look angel face. If no one's gonna give it to you straight, I will. Your car's toast. Sucks for you. You're a target and you're stuck here which puts the rest of us at risk. If you weren't stupid enough to go driving in the desert at night with your top light on, you wouldn't be here now." Michelle stepped back, Paige's words stinging her ears. Brook stepped in front of her like a shield.

"Give her a break Paige! She went through a bloody car wreck!" Brook said defensively. Paige scoffed.

"Please. She's still standing. She's not as bad as you think." Paige retorted. Brook turned around and faced Michelle.

"Go with Leslie, she'll take you to a more comfortable room," Brook said. Leslie put her arm around Michelle and led her through the backdoor Payton had gone out from.

"Come on kiddo." She said gently. Michelle let her lead the way, turning around only to glance at Brook. He and the others immediately resumed their brawling when Michelle was out of sight.

"You should've left her there," Paige said to Brook.

"Cold-hearted, dudette. If they got to her first..." Jett shuddered.

"Yeah, if they got to her first, we wouldn't have come close to being blown up. I still haven't figured out how they knew we were out there." Reece said.

"What's wrong with you people?! You would've left a person to die out there?!" Brook raged.

"She's as good as out there at night. Her crash should've killed her on the spot." Paige said carelessly. Brook took a wrench from the table and slammed down in front of Paige's feet.

"Nobody asked you to risk your neck tonight. Jett told me you guys had it covered. If you couldn't handle a simple diversion, I would've taken care of it myself." Brook said in a dangerous tone. Paige let out a yell of anger.