Project Smile

Nine

I smack Pete's hand away from the CD player as he pouts. "Don't you dare even think about it." He then looks out the window, but I catch his hand heading towards the glove compartment, where I keep all of my other CDs. My warning death glare sends it recoiling, though. I smile to myself a little before turning up the volume, blasting Take This To Your Grave even louder. Adjusting the rearview mirror, I look into it to check on Gabriel.

   He's silently sitting in his seat, both of his earbuds in, his dirty blonde wavy hair obscures his face as he hunches over. He's still writing in his little black book, something he's been doing since we've gotten in the car. He pauses every few seconds, slightly looking up at me and Pete cautiously. When he looks at me, he seems a little more relaxed, though. Then he looks down sheepishly and continues to write once more.

   We pull into the Sonic parking lot, where no other cars have pulled up. Not many people consider eating a meal at three thirty in the afternoon, which is great for me. I can't wait to send Pete flying through there. A small, evil smile makes its way across my face before Pete's voice breaks me out of my thoughts.

   "Fall Out Boy or Linkin Park?"

   "Linkin Park," I say after a momentary pause. Then I hear the clacking of CD cases and turn to Pete. While I wasn't looking, he opened the compartment and piled all of them together by artist. He flashes me an overly-sweet smile, snatches up all of my Linkin Park CDs, and throws the door open, exiting the car and making a mad dash for the door. I whip around to face Gabriel, who pulls out one of his earbuds and looks up at me with alarm written clearly on his face. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Don't worry, it's nothing alarming." He nods, putting the earbud back in and continuing to write. I throw open the door and slam it closed behind me.

   The front door to Sonic is closing right as I get to it. I barely avoid smacking right into the chipping red paint before flinging it open. Pete has quite a few seconds on me, so I have to find him as quickly as I can. Knowing him, he'll realize this and use the advantage to gain as much ground as he can.

   I run in, knowing that no one will mind. I have to do similar stuff often enough and no one says a thing. They're all used to me by now.

   I quickly eye all of the workers at the grills and machines. Each one is wearing the required dark logo cap, black-and-gray shirt, and black pants. Half of them are teenagers, and half of that half are guys, but it is blatantly obvious that none of them are Pete. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see the back door swinging shut. Before I can run for it, though, the pathway is blocked by Jack, a smiling, dark-haired boy who always gives me food when I come. Today, it's a regular cheeseburger in its plain, grease-stained wrapper.

   "Thank you," I smile, taking it from him and pulling four dollars out of my pocket quickly. "And, on second thought, could I have another one?" Gabriel might want one. Though I've never seen him eat much before, I'd rather have it in the car in case he wanted it. I also try to make my tone urgent, so he knows that I'm in a hurry.

   "Sure," he says, wrapping up another one. "Are you staying today?" Something in his voice sounds a bit hopeful.

   "Sorry," I say, eyeing the door again over his shoulder, "but I have a project to do today." I bite my lip, and his face falls slightly, but only for a millisecond.

   "Hey, I saw Pete a moment ago. He was holding something in his hands. Then he threw on his skates and rolled out as quickly as he could. Is he blackmailing you again?"

   "Yeah, something like that," I say, pulling out four more dollars. "Thank you, Jack. I hope you have a nice afternoon."

   "You too!" he calls as I begin running through, trying to dodge and avoid them instead of pushing right through. A few of them give me odd looks as I dash by, but they don't question me. They just let it happen. Everyone is probably accustomed to this insanity by now. They have to deal with it quite a few times a week.