Chasing Nikki

PART ONE: Chapter One

     "Really? Hmm. Wonder where you got that idea," I replied as I lifted the bottle to my lips.

    She sucked in a hurt breath and pulled her hand away, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

    "You'll never make it home in time," the other girl whined as we left the desert road and turned onto the highway. "We're still at least twenty minutes away from town."

    "Yeah? Watch me." Connor laughed, hitting the gas heavily. The engine revved loudly, and the truck shot off down the road, causing the scenery to flash by in the blur of headlights.

    I closed my eyes, fighting the nausea the motion caused. All of a sudden I felt sick. Clenching my teeth, I gripped the door handle, trying to calm my stomach. I wrestled with the overwhelming sensation for several minutes before finally giving up.

    "Dude, pull over."

    "I can't," Connor replied. "My mom will kill me if I'm late."

    "I'm gonna throw up, man. Pull over!"

    Connor let out a stream of cuss words and hit the brakes so hard I felt like I was going to pitch right through the windshield. 

    "What the hell?" I yelled, as I braced myself against the dashboard and turned to look at him. 

    That's when I noticed the red and blue lights flashing behind the truck, and the sound of a short, clicking siren filled the air. I glanced down at the container of beer I had tucked between my legs and started laughing. 

    Yep, I thought, dragging a shaky hand through my short dark hair as the truck came to a complete stop. Tonight is about to get fun. 

    I opened my door and puked.

    

    The door to the holding cell clanked open loudly against the wall, and I groaned as I held my head in between my hands. Were all jails this loud, or was I being specially punished? Wasn't it enough I'd spent most of the night vomiting into the corner toilet? At one point I was almost sure death would've been more beneficial. 

    "You reek," a soft voice said, and for the first time I felt a real momentary stab of regret as I looked up into my mom's face. I quickly moved my gaze back to her feet so I wouldn't have to see the disappointment in her eyes and noticed the boots of an officer walking toward me.

    "Time to go home, son. Your mom has posted bail." He grabbed me by the elbow.

    "I'm not your son." I yanked my arm from his grasp. "Back off."

    "Look, Mr. Walker, we can do this the hard way or the easy way. It's up to you." He took hold of me once again.

    I growled under my breath and turned aggressively toward the man, intent on showing him a thing or two, jail time be damned.

    "Chase." My mom's voice had almost a pleading quality to it. "Please. Haven't we been through enough?"

    I turned and saw tears brewing in her eyes. Guilt returned to prick at my conscience. I clenched my jaw so hard it felt like my teeth might break, but I backed down. A few minutes later I watched as my mom signed her name—Tori Lynn Walker—with a flourish, and I was allowed to leave the police station in her custody.

    "Where's my truck?" I asked, scanning the parking lot.

    "Where do you think it is? It's been impounded."

    "Are we going to get it now?"

    "No." She hit the clicker on her key chain to unlock the doors of her red Toyota.