Coffee with Mr. Casey

5 - Knight in Shining Camaro

 

Lola

Julia dropped me off before swim class after I denied her pleads to come. I couldn’t bear for the make up to run in the pool. I’d had enough attention at school and I wouldn’t allow any more of it.

At least Mr. Casey was kind enough to make up a lie about me because of his assumptions. Now everyone would think I’m a tiger-clawed diva who was caught with a hell of a left-hook. But the truth is, I’d never fought anyone in my life. Never.

The last thing I wanted to do was walk inside the bright white trailer with the blue shudders that were obsolete and pointless. They were glued on and just for show. The add-on porch looked obviously new compared to the rest of the house. Mom had finally paid someone to remodel the damn thing.

There weren’t any trees to give the grass shade whenever a drought was coming on, or even a hose to water the yard. We didn’t even own a lawn mower.

I looked at the cracked and dirty front door, hoping it wouldn’t open. I thought about going in and what I was going to have to deal with, or leaving my stuff in the shed and finding a place to go for the day. I decided it was probably best to go walk somewhere my dad or mom couldn’t find me, once they realized I wasn’t coming home from school. I think I walked for an hour, maybe two. I was pretty much doing circles around a neighborhood until I could figure out where to go.

Two little boys played in a driveway with their parents watching over them in lawn chairs. An old man was cutting his grass while his wife trimmed the hedges. I wondered why my parents couldn’t be normal like that. How awesome would it be to come home with your parents gardening, or just enjoying the day?

Before I could start looking like a stalking lunatic, I picked up the pace and headed towards the end of the street. Every house sat closely to the next one, leaving little space in between. I wondered why people spent so much money on houses when they had no space for it.

Maybe I was jealous a bit. I’d never lived in a nice house like that. As a matter of fact, my parents and I have lived in the same place since I was born.

A couple of blue birds flew by, chirping at each other in a sweet conversation. I watched as they chased each other from tree to tree, only to end up back in their nest somewhere.

It was only a matter of moments when I heard a rumble coming towards me. I expected the car to pass me but the rumbling followed. I turned my head to see a black Camaro behind me. Whoever was driving behind the tinted windows revved the engine up.

I flared out my hands, gesturing for them to pass me, since they clearly had enough space to drive around.

When the window rolled down, I saw Philip’s face hidden behind reflecting sunglasses. His smile pretty much lit up my whole day at that very moment. “Philip! What are you doing here?” I squeaked, replaying the words in my head, and regretting them more each time.

“Looking for you!” He said, revealing those beautiful blue eyes and tossing the glasses aside. “I saw you weren’t in swim class and Julia told me where you lived.”