Collision Course [+ Additional Levels]

Level Three - For Once

"Secondly," Hubert went on, "...you both are wusses."

"What?"

"Huh?"

Hubert nodded his head while he crossed his arms. "You heard me. Wimps. The lot of you."

"What for?" Jessie asked, brows knotted.

His friend gave him a funny look. "Says the guy who—I just—" He squinted at him with a glance at the girl. "You for cear right now?"

"Yes," Jessie answered. Then, "Ah, oh." He saw his point.

"Declining getting up to say 'hey' to some girl doesn't make him a wuss," Parker stated. "It just makes him sensible."

"Sensible? Is that what you tell yourself at night, you—" Hubert seemed to restrain himself, then finished that sentence with, "...overly-cautious hermit?"

"Huh?"

Hubert shook his head, almost sympathetically. "You both will lead lonely lives with that perspective you've got."

"It's called 'common sense,'" said Parker.

"Really? Is that what you two label your paranoia?"

Parker frowned, Jessie right with him. "What?"

QBert frowned back. "Maybe we could act normal for once, and Jay here could fall in love!" he protested defensively.

Parker rubbed his forehead. "Oh, not this again," he sighed tiredly.

Jessie shook his head, and glanced in the direction of the girl before he spoke; he saw that someone was now sitting next to her, blocking her from view. "No. I couldn't," he told Hubert. Then he blinked as he realized that sounded like he had feelings for her, and he quickly continued, "Besides, it's just a girl. Just because I look at her, doesn't mean anything is, like, going to happen."

"But it's in your program!" Hubert retorted, not convinced.

That caused him to lean forward, and he lowered his voice in seriousness. "We both know that for me to find her, she'd have to actually exist first. And she hasn't shown up yet," he growled.

"And how do you know that?" Hubert asked him, his voice not as hidden as Jessie's.

"Hubert, you know that I would feel it if she came. And she isn't here yet." A glimpse of a sad expression flashed briefly across his face, and he just shook his head. "Trust me," Jessie said.

Then he suddenly blinked as a thought occurred to him. He was surprised that Parker hadn't continued in the conversation. If he had, he would have scolded Hubert for naming such an idea, and tell him to keep his voice down. Perhaps his silence meant that he agreed with Hubert.

"Right, Parker?" he added. Parker didn't reply though. Jessie opened his mouth to ask him something, but when he saw him, he stopped. Parker's eyes were glazed, and fixed off in the distance. He seemed to be in some other place, frowning slightly. There was something in his eyes—a flickering yellow light in his irises that made his eyes flash. One could easily mistake it to be his eyes catching the reflection of the overhead lights. Jessie and Hubert glanced at each other, knowing what the other was thinking; they both knew too well that it was something different.

Parker blinked a couple times, coming back to focus. "We need to leave," he stated urgently. He looked at them. "Now," he added.

Hubert had stood up before Parker had even said anything. He noisily slid his chair back under the table. "Already way ahead of you," he sighed.

Jessie frowned at him, standing up as well. Hubert caught the look, and explained, "It's always so sudden. Every time, I think, 'Well, here we go again.'" He groaned, pulling on the hem of his sweater. "I mean, can't Parker relax just for five minutes?"

Their friend shot him a glance. "You know very well that it isn't just me at play here," he said enigmatically.

Hubert just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah... I guess so..."

"Well, it's not too bad," Jessie cut in. He nudged Hubert with an elbow. "At least we weren't hungry for anything."

Hubert paused, his friends walking past him. "Huh. There's that, I guess." With a shrug, he turned to join them.

The trio all moved around tables, and left the restaurant. Jessie didn't give a second glance at the girl as they left. He didn't believe Hubert for a second that he had fallen in love with her. Or anything weird like that. And this wasn't the first time that Hubert had nagged him on this, especially if there was a pretty girl around. It seemed to be a peeve of his—which didn't really make much sense, considering this didn't pertain to his friend. He sighed, lost in thought as he watched his breath mist when he entered the night air; he would probably never see her again anyway.

They walked to a navy blue Denali, passing a white Tahoe on the way, and went in. Parker looked over at Jessie, the two sharing a glance, and Jessie wordlessly tossed him the keys. Parker caught them with both hands, and briskly made it to the driver side. Jessie was up front next to him, and Hubert sat in the middle of the backseat. They didn't bother to buckle their seat belts as Parker drove them out of the parking lot. He hastily moved them down the road a while, and then into a neighborhood. It was getting very dark, and no one was out and about, probably in for the night, watching TV or sleeping.

Parker abruptly stopped the truck, hard enough for the antilock brakes to kick in, sending Jessie and Hubert forward with a jerk.

"What the hell?" Hubert burst out, clutching the sides of the front seats.

"Hubert!" Jessie scolded.

"Jay!" Hubert retorted in the same tone. Seeing his scowl, Hubert sighed and tried again, but he couldn't stop it from coming out without bucket loads of sarcasm. "Okay, I'm sorry. I meant 'h-e-double-hockey-stick.' Is that better, mother?"

Jessie just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Their friend had halted the blue truck near a four-way intersection. He was about six yards to the end where the stop sign was. He glared through the windshield.

"Parker?" Jessie asked him in the tense silence.

Parker just stared down the road. He clenched his jaw. He could feel them.

And they were close.