Last Chance Mate

Chapter 1

Date Published:

3/4/16

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Jennifer Aniston as Aunt Emily, aka Emily Davis

Houndmouth- Sedona

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I hated walking in the cold.

It was freezing outside, like it always is in the mountains of North Carolina. Once Halloween passes you can always guarantee the temperature wont rise above 50 degrees. I've always hated the cold. Why I decided to move here after high school is beyond me. I thought it was beautiful and that the hiking here would be amazing, which it is, but sometimes I feel like it's not worth the cold. This morning I had to miss my first class of the semester because my car battery is shot. I got my Aunt Emily to give me a ride to the rest of my classes even though it made her late for work.

I don't know what I'd do without my aunt, If it wasn't for her I'd still be stuck in Virginia with my parents and my overbearing pack. I graduated a whole year early so I could get out of that town but that meant I was 17 when I graduated and no one would rent to a 17 year old... accept for my aunt.

Walking along the road I finally got the the bus stop and looked at the bus schedule, thankfully the next bus coming would take me to a stop that was only about a mile away from my apartment. I checked my phone, 4:38, hopefully I'll make it back by 6:30pm.

My schedule for school was pretty awesome, I only had classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. My back to back classes started at 9am and lasted till 4:15 but it was worth it because I have Tuesdays and Thursdays to myself and thankfully tomorrow was Thursday.

I plugged in my headphones into my phone and played Sedona by Houndmouth. This song always cheered me up on a bad day. I found the band when I went to a music festival this summer in Tennessee and have been in love ever since. The bus finally got here and I got on as quick as possible, the cold was numbing my nose and I defiantly did not wear enough layers today.

The bus ride was quick but the walk to my house was not. By the time I got there I could have bet my savings I was experiencing mild hypothermia. The driveway was empty and I started to freak out a little bit. I picked up my phone and quickly called my aunt.

"Hey Bella, before you freakout, I took your car the the shop today while you were at school."

I breathed a sigh of relief

"Thank you so much Emily, when did they say it would be done?"

"Around 5pm today, so its finished by now, I'll pick you up after work and we can drive there to pick it up"

"Awesome, thanks, you're a lifesaver Em."

I hung up quickly and unlocked the door to my downstairs apartment. Stepping inside I would finally feel myself defrosting. Emily and I kind of live together but not really.. She has a house and there is a separate apartment below, but still attached to the house. You can't go from the apartment to the house though, you have to go outside and walk up the steps around the house to get into her place. It's a cute but outdated one bedroom apartment, the only complaint I have is that there is no dishwasher but it's not too bad. Because I'm a full time student Emily lets me rent this place for really cheap, only $250 a month, when she use to rent it for $450. I owe a lot to her, she's like a second mom to me.

I looked at the clock on the stove, it said 6:13. Emily should be home any minute now thankfully; I hate not having my car, I feel trapped, like I can't go somewhere if there was an emergency.

I hear a knock on the door and sure enough there she is blue eyed, blonde haired Emily.

"Ready to go?" she asked

"Yeah just let me grab my purse" I walked over to the couch where I threw it and quickly checked my wallet to see how much money I had. $200. That should be enough right? I guess if it wasn't I could put it on my debit card even though I hated to do that.

"Ready to go" I said with a smile.

We drove there with the radio on, some annoying song was on that she loved and was singing loudly in a tone deaf voice. I laughed at how silly she sounded.

We got the the shop and I was relieved to see my baby girl, 2004 Nissan Altima, in the driveway ready to be picked up. Emily stays in the car while I go in to pay and pick up the keys.

"Hi I'm here to pick up the silver Nissan Altima" I say to the older woman at the front desk.

She looks up at me with a smile and gives me the keys, I wait for her to tell me how much it costs and she just goes back to typing on the computer.

"Er.. How much will it be for the battery?" I say awkwardly

"Oh sweetheart it was already paid for." She said

"Oh" I said, shocked.

"Have a nice day" I yell back as I walk out the door.

Emily is still in the parking lot waiting till I got in the car. I tap on the window and she looks up from her phone and rolls down the window.

"Hey, is everything alright?" She asks worried

"Yeah everything is fine... Did you pay for the battery?"

"Yes I did" she said "You've been working so hard, and I don't want you to spend all your money on a car batter, I know work has been slow recently."

"Thanks Emily" I said nicely, if not a bit awkwardly. I feel really weird sometimes when people pay for my things, I feel like I owe them something even though they always insist I don't. Work has been slow. Every shift I only walk out with about $50, when during the summer I could easily earn over $100. I'm only working two days a week to so thankfully I saved up money during the summer or I would be completely broke. My parents also gave me a debit card and said I could use it for groceries so that was one less thing I had to worry about.

I gave her a quick hug and hopped into my car feeling giddy. I love this car so much. Pulling out of the parking lot of the dealership I followed Emily back to the house. I was about a half mile from my house when a deer jumped out into the road just a few yards ahead. I slammed on my breaks to try and stop myself from hitting it and thankfully I succeeded skidding to only a few inches away from the poor thing. Next thing I hear is the sound of crunching metal and my car jerks forward, luckily the deer had just jumped out of the way. I get flung into my seatbelt but that was nothing until the airbag came out slamming my head against the headrest. 

"Dammit" I moaned as I checked my poor nose for being broken. Just bruised, thank God. It'll heal in minutes. The airbag deflates and I slowly get out of my car trying to regain my senses. While this was kinda my fault for slamming on the breaks, the car behind me should have been farther behind so in the eyes of the law it wasn't my fault. Which meant.. I DIDN'T HAVE TO PAY! 

The man that crashed into me got out of his car as well and I could immediately smell that he was a lone wolf as well. Finally closing his door he looked up at me. And.. Damn..