Across the Universe

ii.

CHRISTOPHER MCKINNEY LOOKS stunned for about a second and a half, before sobering up. He glances at Nixon, standing like a deer in the headlights, grabs her hand and dashes through the backdoor.

They keep sprinting, up until they reach a house right at the end of the road, beside the intersection.

He looks at her. "Come on. This is my house."

Nixon folds her arms and raises her eyebrows. "Nuh-uh. I'm not falling for that. You gonna sell me out to Luke, or something?"

Christopher throws up his hands. "No! Jesus, who do you think I am?"

"I dunno?" she folds her arms across her chest. "Listen, just drive me back to O'Neil's, would you?"

"No, no. You owe me an explanation," he says, eyebrow quirked.

Nixon huffs in frustration, looking down the road and contemplating just running for it. Unfortunately for her, O'Neil's had been quite a drive away from the estate and there was no way she could run that far. "Fine," she says, throwing up her hands. "My name is Nixon O'Neil. I'm from Oakland."

He glances at her. "You're a runaway, aren't you?"

She grits her teeth. "Maybe."

"Where are you headed?"

She shrugs. "Nowhere."

He raises his eyebrows, unimpressed. "Come on."

"Las Vegas," she lies. "Are you done playing detective now?"

Christopher looks at her, biting his lip. "I want to come."

"No."

"Come on!"

"Are you crazy?" she exclaims. "I mean, do you think I'm crazy? Aren't you going to NYU?"

He rolls his eyes like it's obvious. "I'm not going to stay in Las Vegas," he says. "I just wanna get out of this shithole town. No one would care if I left anyway. Plus, I've got money, okay? I can help pay for like gas, and shit."

Nixon narrows her eyes. "What's in it for you?"

Chris just scowls at her. "I just said that I wanna get out of this shitty town. Come on, man, I didn't even ask what you were running from." When Nixon looks surprised and confused and extremely reluctant, Christopher runs a hand through his hair. "Fine. Forget it. Come on, I'll take you back to O'Neil's."

Nixon frowns, raising an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

He nod-shrugs. "Yeah. Whatever."

He opens his door, Nixon follows inside, and the car ride is tense and quiet. She can't help but feel a little guilty. Here she is, using people left and right, without blinking an eye. Here she is, judging people and making the worst out of them. Maybe she is her mother's daughter, after all.

"What is it you hate so much about this place?" she asks quietly. "If I could, I'd live here in a heartbeat."

He looks surprised at her moment of honesty. In fact, she is too. She doesn't know what it is about him that makes her feel so guilty. And so honest. Maybe it's because he reminds her a little bit of Kevin. "You ever feel like you could just disappear, and no one would ever realize it?"

"I wish I could disappear and no one would ever realize it."

He smiles wryly, glancing at her. "Well, that's what it feels like to be me. My step-father arranged for me to be shipped off to New York tomorrow. Literally, two days after graduation. And you'd think, 17 years and you're used to his shit. But it still hurts." He laughs, scratching his neck awkwardly. "Wow, that was emo."