Zahra

30: We just kidnapped Valerie

I grinned at her, loving the confidence radiating from her, "you're right, it is"

A knock sounded on the door right then, and Nana peeked in, "Zahra honey", she said, "sorry to interrupt your slumber party, but do you think you could get some minced meat from the supermarket for me? I would have asked your brother, but he's sleeping"

"Of course he is", I rolled my eyes and threw the blanket off me, shutting my laptop, "it's alright Nana, I'll go"

Hailey got up from the bed too, "I'll come with you", she said, "I've been craving chocolate milk"

Nana shot me a grateful smile, "thank you honey, there's some money on the table downstairs", she said as she left.

I turned to Hailey, "you sure you wanna come?", I asked her, "it's really cold outside, I could get the chocolate milk for you"

"It's fine", she insisted as she pulled her hoodie over her head, "let's go"

"Okay", I smiled and got dressed, then I grabbed my phone and keys from the table before we went downstairs. There were two one hundred dollar bills on the table in the living room, I took them and Hailey and I exited the house.

The night air was chilly, I stuffed my hands the pockets of my sweatpants and shuffled to the car, I unlocked it and got into the driver's seat just as Hailey got into the passenger's seat. She looked at me after she shut the door, "you know, all this time I thought you couldn't drive"

"What? Why did you think that?"

"I've never seen you drive before, your brother's usually the one driving"

"Well yeah", I put on the seat belt and turned on the ignition, "he's the better driver, but I also drive a few times", I told her, "it's just that Zayd is obsessed with cars, he even gave it a ridiculous nickname, and he gets skittish whenever I'm driving"

Hailey chuckled, "what does he call the car?"

"Quicksilver"

"What the heck", she laughed, "that's so cheesy"

"Tell me about it"

"Are you sure though?", she asked me, "I could drive"

"It's fine", I pulled the car out of the driveway and onto the road, then switched on the headlights, "I've driven at night before, with my dad", I added with a smile.

The drive to the supermarket took thirteen minutes, I bought three packs of minced meat and a pack of cookies for myself, Hailey bought two bottles of chocolate milk and a pack of gummy bears. After we were done we left the supermarket and hurried to the car, eager to leave the cold.

I put the stuffs in the back seat and went to open the driver's door, when something caught my eye, a girl was sitting at the bus stop on the opposite side of the road. Her head was hung down and her blonde hair obscured her face, she was swaying slightly and I wondered if she was drunk. The clothes she was wearing wasn't suitable for the cold either, her skirt barely covered her knees and her blouse was short sleeved.

"Hey Hailey", I nudged Hailey who was beside me and pointed, "look at that girl"

Hailey looked across the street at the girl, "damn, she's drunk", she stated, "probably on her way back from a party or a bar"

I looked at the girl again, and I felt a sense of familiarity, like I knew her from somewhere, "do you think she's okay?", I asked Hailey, feeling uneasy, "maybe we should go over"

"And do what? She'll be fine", she shrugged, "drunk people crash on the streets every time, it's no biggie"

"But it's freezing, and-", my words halted when I saw that a middle aged man was now a few feet from the drunk girl, he stood watching her, a weird look on his ragged face. A chill went down my spine when he smirked, his eyes narrowing on her.