Driving Me Crazy

Chapter Twenty-Two

Charles

"I can't believe she kicked us out," I say playfully to Lando who is walking next to me. After we got the alcohol for tonight, including the tequila that I know Katana likes, Camryn told us to leave. She swears their outfits are "confidential" until we get to the boat, so now we're waiting outside for them to finish shopping.

"Hey, what she says goes," Lando says with a smile as we reach the car.

"It's good to see you smiling like this, kid," I say, trying to forget about the fact that the girl I think I'm in love with, doesn't want me.

Lando sighs as if he can read my thoughts, "I think she's warming back up to you. I'm asking Cam about staying tonight. I think you should talk to Katana about it before Cam does, it will mean more."

I hate that he's right. As we unload the drinks into the very small trunk and get into the car, I say, "I just don't want to make it worse, ya know? I felt like we were getting close again earlier, and then it was just all gone."

Lando looks up and just as he goes to say something, he looks past me and nods toward something behind me. Seeing what it is, I pick up my phone and call Katana. Luckily, she unblocked me and picked up on the first ring.

"Hey, what's up?" Her beautiful voice asks.

"There's a shit ton of paparazzi out here, are you guys almost done? I don't know if we can keep you out of the headlines unless there's another way out," I say to her.

She huffs lightly before saying something muffled to Camryn and then coming back to the phone, "There's a door in the back, but wouldn't they just follow the car back there?"

"Fuck, probably. Are you guys about done?" I ask with a flat tone, trying not to worry her any further.

"Yeah, we just checked out..." muffled voices come over the line as if she's arguing with someone quietly before Camryn's voice fills my ears. "We're going out the back, drive like hell so they don't have time to follow," Camryn yells before Katana pulls the phone back. She sounds breathless when she says, "Sorry, she literally ran with my phone. We're at the back door now so just head back here and we will jump in. How come it always leads to sneaking around with you?" She laughs lightly as she says those last words, causing my heart to do little flips in my chest before the line goes dead.

With a big smile on my face, I turn to Lando and say, "Well, your girlfriend told me to drive like hell so you better hold on." Just as he grabs the door for support, I slam on the accelerator and the car lurches forward as if it was waiting for this moment. I swing the car around back and get as close as possible to the girls without hitting them, even though I bet Katana is going to accuse me of it.

Her eyes go wide as the car comes within a foot of them and they quite literally jump into the back seat over the doors. Camryn ends up behind me while Katana is behind Lando. The girls are scrambling into their seats and covering their faces as we peel out of the parking lot, camera flashes following us until we break free of them.

I don't know when the laughing started, but it continues between the four of us. Lando is turned, staring at Camryn while laughing so hard he's crying. Camryn is gripping her stomach and Katana's arm while she laughs with her face in her knees. Katana is leaning back, hair flowing wild in the wind. She has both hands on her stomach while she laughs with slight tears coming from her eyes. Her dimples are filling her cheeks and my heart stops when she leans forward and looks at me in the rearview mirror. While she's stopped laughing, a big smile still fills her face as she mouths, "Thank you," to me in the mirror. I smile in return and continue on my way to the boat launch to get the party started. It's already 8 pm, but we have the whole night ahead of us.

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I help the girls onto the boat one by one as Lando unloads the car. Camryn takes initiative and takes my hand first to get on board, but she steps across the gap of water gracefully. Katana steps forward to get on next, but when she grabs my hand she is visibly shaking and staring at the water beneath her.

Camryn has already walked across the boat so nobody was within earshot when I whispered, "Hey, we can turn around and go home right now if you don't want to do this." She looks up at me, tears in her eyes, and whispers back, "I- I'm okay I just need a second I think."

I grab her chin and make her look away from the water and up at me and say, "Take all of the time in the world, but know that I have you. I won't let anything happen to you, okay?"

Her eyes shimmer with tears, as she sniffles and nods slightly. She takes in a deep breath and jumps across the gap with no warning and instantly collides with me. Katanas' face hits my chest as her arms wrap around me, all while she's still shaking. I wrap my arms around her and rub her back to comfort her before placing my hand on the back of her head and just holding her there for a second.

"We really don't have to do this Katana, it's just a boat, if you're scared we can do something else," I say. Looking back onto the pier, I see Lando walking towards us when I shoot him a dirty look, silently telling him not to ruin the moment. Luckily, he takes the hint and walks right past us and goes straight to Camryn. Another thing to thank him for.

I physically move Katana's body over to the edge of the boat and sit us on the small bench against the side before I repeat myself about leaving. She looks me in my eyes and says, "I don't want to be the reason plans get changed, it makes me feel bad. I will be okay in a minute, I swear." My heart hurts as she forces herself to lightly smile, but I nod at Lando to start driving the boat to the destination.

The sun begins to set, leaving the sky painted with an array of purples and oranges. Her eyes have dried, but the signs of stress are still there as she looks out at the sky. Katana leans into me and places her head on my chest for a moment before speaking again, "The last time I was on a boat is the same thing I dream about every night."

"Your nightmares?" I ask. Without words, she nods her head against my chest.

"Can I tell you about them?" She asks.

"You can tell me anything, Juliet."