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I stole my dad's car. Specifically his new Subaru Outback. I glance back at all the rocks in the back seat of the car, then I look at my taped down seatbelt. I am going to sink his car with me in it. Nobody wanted me on this planet anyway.
I was going to sink it on my favourite beach so I could have a memorial bench there. The waves were always perfect and I always went there to surf so I could escape my life. Escape the people who hated me.
I stare at the road ahead of me. I'm starting to drive into the sketchy parts of the city. More and more homeless people crowd the sidewalks, some hitch hikers. Almost all of them look like they haven't showered in weeks.
A man with a scruffy beard locks eyes with me. We stare at each other for several seconds before my surf board hits against the car roof, knocking me out of the trance. I must look like a douche driving through this part of the city with a new Subaru Outback.
My dad tells me I'm a seventeen year old boy who doesn't know the difference between bullying and people trying to become friends with me. I told him to screw off and then he hit me. He started to cry and yell at me, telling me it was my fault. I told him he was a drunk and needed to stop living in the past.
That was the night before today. The night where I got texts from several people telling me to kill myself or drink bleach. I'm doing what the people want, what they need. It's not like anyone cares about me on this planet.
The crowd of homeless people are starting to thin. When I start to think there are no more people left, I see a girl. She's wearing a white dress over her bathing suit. She holds a surf board that has a message written on the front of it.
"Pick me up." I read the message aloud.
She sits cross legged and wears sunglasses. What was she doing on the street? It looked like she had showered and when she smiled, her teeth were white. Wait, she's smiling at me. She's waving at me. My stomach flutters as I try to remember the last time a girl smiled at me.
I wave back, smiling crookedly. I hear a honk behind me and a few cat calls. The smile on the girls face falls and her hand drops to her side. I look behind me to see a blue truck with a few men inside. What if they picked her up? What if they kidnapped her?
It would be on my hands. It would be my fault if she went missing. I shake my head dismissively. Today's the day you're going to take your life, not the day you pick up a cute girl on the side of the road. She could be a prostitute for all I know.
She turns her head my way, and frowns knowingly. It's like she could read my thoughts. It's like she knew I wasn't going to pick her up. I glare right at her. I'm going to prove her wrong. Just as I do, the truck behind me pulls up next to the sidewalk.
I roll down my window. "Hop in."
"What?" She yells. The truck behind me is blaring music.
"I said, hop in!" I yell.
The man behind me turns down his music and steps out of his door, earning a couple whistles as he strolls up to her. She stands up quickly.
"Looking for a ride?" The man says. His voice is as clear as day and he doesn't sound drunk like his friends do.
