I drove nonstop until the sun went down. As hungry and as tired as I was,I decided it was better to drive for as long as I could before finding somewhere to stay for the night. If there's something I learned with the League, is that there's nothing more relaxing than punching something as hard as you can, and riding a motorcycle. The wind blowing on my face was what would keep my nerves under control most of the time before a mission, and now it's what's keeping me from pulling the handle and driving back to my parents and Sofia. I knew running away was the best thing I could do to protect them, but somehow leaving them for the second time was harder than the first. The last month reminded me what it was like to be normal, and running now made me realize that wasn't a possibility for someone like me. No matter where I was or who I was with, danger would always follow up. I should have thought about that before escaping Nanda Parbatand taking the danger right to my parents' doorstep.
I found myself in a small roadside motel. I still had no idea where I was going, but in one way, driving without a destiny was probably the best way not to be predictable and leave a trail. In the front desk, I was greeted by a smiling lady who booked me in a room for the night and gave me fresh towels for a much needed shower. The bathtub was cleaner than most of the motels I have been through in my lifetime so I decided to relax there for a while. I thought about many different things but mostly where the road would take me. I was heading north, and that got me thinking of something my father told me about an old friend of mine that got a full music scholarship at Hudson University. New Carthage is a rather large city with a lot of people, so maybe paying them a visit and trying to blend in wouldn't hurt.
After getting out of the bathtub, I put on some comfortable clothes and closed my eyes to try and rest for a while. Contrary to what people must think, I never had trouble sleeping. I don't have nightmares or any kind of dreams. My nights were always calm and free - thanks to one of the things I learned with the League. Sleeping is a form of meditation, when you know your mind, you can clean it and even control it while you sleep. When I meditated for the first time, I remember feeling like all the weight had been lifted from my shoulders and I had never felt so calm. We used to meditate every morning before training, and I haven't done that ever since I left. Maybe that's what I need to help me deal with the nerves.
I woke up in the next morning and surprised myself when I looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was past nine in the morning. I quickly got up and changed my clothes, putting on a simple tank top, ripped jeans and my signature leather jacket, before leaving the room and giving the key back to the same lady from last night. She asked me if I didn't want to wait until lunch time but I thanked her and said I was already late on my schedule, so I paid her and left. I got on my bike and immediately started to drive, sighing at the feeling of peace again. After driving for most of the day, only stopping for lunch and bathroom breaks, I passed through a sign that indicated I was close to the state of New York and I sighed on relief. After that, it didn't take me long to get to New Carthage. When I got there, it was already late and I easily found a cheap motel to spend the night at. Unlike the previous motel, this one wasn't so clean, so I decided to just wash myself as quick as possible before getting some sleep.
On the next day, I was up early, even before the sun. I checked out on the front desk and drove until I found a Waffle House and ate some breakfast. Then, I decided to drive around and get to know the city a little bit. I passed through a few familiar places from when I came here with my father once and couldn't help but smile at the memories. I decided to park my motorcycle and take a walk around a small park, but ended up in a bookshop at the end of the street. I got lost between the many books and I only noticed how long I spent in there when I heard my stomach growl. I went to a Big Belly Burger I saw a couple blocks away from the store and quickly got my lunch.
Hours passed and it was dark again. It was around eleven when I exited a small sympathetic bar. I had yet to look for a better place to stay, or else I would end up on the same disgusting motel from the past night. I was walking towards the parking lot when I heard a muffled feminine scream coming from an alley on the other side of the street. "Just ignore it, Camila." I whispered to myself, trying hard not to look at the scene. "Keep walking." I whispered again, when I couldn't help but look. Two men had cornered a girl, and another one had his hands over her mouth from behind. I was one hundred percent sure he was holding a knife against her. "Come on, Camila, just ignore it." I heard a louder scream and the desperation on the girl's voice made me stop walking. I looked over and the three men were now touching her, trying to get rid of her shirt. "Fuck this."
I crossed the street, walking quickly. When I got to the alley, my eyes locked with terrified green ones. "I'm sorry to interrupt but I just got here in the city, I had a long day and it's getting cold so I would like to make this quick: walk away and leave the girl alone so I can just go and find myself a place to stay or I'll have to waste my energy and time on you." The three men started laughing and I sighed. I looked at the girl once again and rolled my eyes. I heard the girl gasp when my knuckles met the first guy's jaw, the cracking sound probably scaring her. The other two frowned in surprise as their friend fell unconscious on the ground. The one with the knife made a move to attack me, running towards me, but I easily dodged his hand, grabbing his arm and placing my hand on the back of his head, before knocking him against the wall hard enough to knock him out. I sensed how scared the third one was, and he tried to run, but I quickly kicked his leg and held his head against the ground. "Leaving so soon, mate?" I said, and pulled his head back before slamming it on the ground.
"Fuck." I heard the girl letting out a breath. After making sure the three men weren't waking up anytime soon, I made my way back to the parking lot, not looking at the girl behind me. I was walking towards my motorcycle when I noticed that she was following me. I looked back at her and she stopped walking, but as soon as I started walking again, she was back at following me. "What?" I asked harshly, turning my attention to her and crossing my arms.
"I-I just wanted to say thank you." She said. I took a moment to look at her face and her eyes once again caught my attention. I quickly diverted my vision and turned back around.
"You're welcome." I said, and climbed up in my bike. I noticed she was still looking at me and sighed. "What?" I tried to sound annoyed.
"H-How did you do that?" I frowned at her and shook my head. The girl looked nervous so I softened my look. I didn't need to get her even more scared than she already was. "You saved my life and I don't even know your name." She quietly said.
"Look, I'm not a hero - I don't fly around with a cape looking for defenseless people to help. You just happened to get attacked in front of me. Therefore, you don't need to know my name, because I don't want people to know about this. Go home and try not to get attacked again." I told her and she only nodded, so I put my helmet and drove away. To the disgusting motel it is.
~/~
On the next day, I found myself driving around again, this time not looking for anything in particular. The air started to get chilly and I parked my bike so I could put my jacket on. Looking up from where I had parked, I realized I stopped right next to the Hudson University campus. The place was huge. I started the bike and drove through the gate, looking around at the people and the buildings. I tried to tell myself I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but I knew exactly who I was hoping to find.
I drove until I found a coffee shop and decided to get a drink before looking around for the music building. The sun was almost down, so the place was pretty crowded. Just as I was about to get in line, I heard a gasp from behind me. "If this ain't my favorite Meta!" I heard a voice say loudly from behind me and I immediately recognized. If this was anyone else I would gladly punch them in the face for exposing me, but there's no way I would do this to someone I know since I was born.
I turned around to face them and was immediately taken aback. "Dinah Jane?" I said, staring at her with my mouth slightly open. "For the gods, you look so different." The girl was absolutely stunning.
"And you sound weird, dude." She laughed and embraced me in a bone-crushing hug. "Oh no bish, wait." She said before pulling back and in a quick motion slapping my face hard. Say that I wasn't expecting it was an understatement.
"Ow!" It didn't really hurt as much as she intended to, but she did take me by surprise. "What was that about?"
"What was that about? You've been gone for like, forty years!" She practically yelled. I had forgotten how loud Dinah Jane could be.
"It was actually just nine-"
"Whatever bish! You have a lot of explaining to do. Do you have any idea of what happened to me when you went missing? Of course you don't! When everybody gave up on looking for you... I went through an emo phase because of you! I even dyed my hair red! Do you know how ugly that was? My emo-self thought I was the shit! And now my mom learned how to use facebook and she post them old pics all the time, dawg!" I couldn't help but laugh at the Polynesian. I honestly thought she was mad at me for a moment. "Don't laugh, I'm still mad at you." She playfully slapped my arm. "I'm glad you're here. Hey, why here though? Have you caught up with your parents yet?"
"I did. I had to leave, though. It is a long story for another time." I sighed.
"Is the answer to why you're talking like you spent the past nine years in the nineteenth century part of this long story? Because if you ask me, that's what's really bugging me, dude." I laughed again. Oh, how I missed Dinah Jane.
I nodded and she smiled brightly at me. "You can say that, yes."
"Back to work, Hansen!" Someone yelled from the back of the establishment and earned a "Chill out boss, I have rights and I'm on my break!" yelled back at him.
"I better get going, you need to work and I need to find a cheap place to stay before the night falls."
"Here you go. You can crash at my place, as long as there's a pepperoni pizza waiting for me when I get home at seven." She said while handing me her keys.
I frowned and shook my head. "Oh no, there's no need for that-"
"Yes, there is. You have a lot to tell me, and also... I miss my best friend." Her face softened and I could tell she was being honest. So I took the keys and smiled at her.
"I missed you as well, cheechee." I smirked playfully as I watched the biggest smile appear on her face.
"Awe, come here, chancho!" She said, hugging me tightly again, only this time I hugged her just as tightly. "Wow, take it slow she-hulk, this is not how I die." And we laughed together just like we used to when we were kids.
~/~
Dinah gave me the address to her apartment and it took me about ten minutes to get there. I took the elevator up to the third floor and quickly found the place. Once I walked in, I looked around, shaking my head at the mess the apartment was. Still the same Dinah. I took her phone and called the number the Polynesian gave me to order the pepperoni pizza. As I waited, I decided to clean the place a little bit. If I was going to stay for the night, I have to at least give her something back. There were leftovers all over her coffee table on the living room, so I started by cleaning that area. Then, I washed the almost endless pile of dishes on the kitchen.
After cleaning a few more places around the house I heard the doorbell. I paid the pizza guy and placed the box on the kitchen table, before heading to the living room and siting on the couch as I waited for Dinah to get home. I reached for my backpack and for the first time since I left, I took Sofi's iPod in my hands. I sighed before putting the headphones on and putting the songs on shuffle. And I couldn't help but laugh to myself when "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus started to play. I could clearly imagine my little sister jumping around in her bed while yelling out the lyrics. Sadness took over my mind as I reminded myself I once again left my sister. For a couple days I actually thought I could spend some time with her and make it up for the time we lost, but here was I again, away from her and not being able to watch her grow.
"Wow, I never saw someone looking this sad while listening to Party in the USA." Dinah said making me jump from the surprise, before plopping down on the couch beside me. She placed the pizza box on the coffee table in front of us and took a slice. "Thanks for the cleaning, by the way. You didn't have to. I was going to get a task force to do it for me." I laughed slightly at her comment, removing the headphones and putting the iPod down on the couch. "Now tell me, what did Miley do to you to get you all sad?"
I shook my head, smiling slightly at the taller girl. "Sofi gave it to me." I said, pointing to the iPod. "She wants me to learn all the One Direction songs so I can take her to their concert when I go back." I said, playing with my hands.
"Why did you leave?" Dinah asked seriously.
I sighed, looking down to my hands on my lap. "It's a long s-"
"It's a long story, I know. But I'm all ears, and I know you well enough to know that this is the face of a Camila who could use someone to talk to." She smiled genuinely at me and reached for another slice of pizza. "Here. Eat and talk." And between three slices of pepperoni pizza, I told her the whole story. What happened in the past nine years, how I managed to escape, why I couldn't stay back at Gotham with my parents. It was strange for me to open up to someone like this, but something about Dinah made me feel like I was thirteen again, lying on my bed with her beside me and talking about things we don't tell anyone but each other.
~/~
"What? So now he wants to pay people to get you to him so he can kill you when he could just pay people to kill you? Someone's dumb." She rolled her eyes playfully and I chuckled.
"The Head kills his own prisoners. That's how it has always been." I breathed out, suddenly thinking about what would happen if they ever got me. I shook my head, trying not to think of all the painful ways I could die in the hands of the Head.
"But you're not a prisoner. Didn't you say you were a warrior and shit?" She frowned.
"Yes, he always made it clear to me. I wasn't a prisoner but he never let me leave on my own will until the day I ran away." I explained and she nodded.
"Well, if anyone wants to take you down, they'll have to go through me first. No one's taking my best friend away from me again." Dinah said, making me smile softly at her. "You know, you should totally teach me some stuff. I bet I'd be a totally badass ninja." I laughed and she slapped my arm. "Stop laughing, I bet I could beat you up after learning a few things."
"You're too violent." I smirked playfully at the Polynesian.
Dinah gave me a look, raising her hand. "Uh, literally - look who's talking."
"First rule to become a Shadow warrior is to never use violence purposely against an ally." I said with a smug grin on my face.
"You're so full of shit, Cabello." She rolled her eyes at me.
I pushed her softly before answering with a "You're full of shit, Hansen."
"Oh yeah! Now you're talking like a twenty-first century person." She pushed me in return and I fell back on the couch.
It was my turn to roll my eyes at her. "Annoying."
"Okay now you're asking for a Poly beatdown, punk." And then Dinah Jane Hansen straddled and started to tickle one of the most highly trained meta-humans on earth.
~/~
We were both lying on the couch lazily, watching an old Friends episode after an exhaustive tickle fight. Dinah won, but only because I let her, obviously. It had nothing to do with how ticklish I am. "Did you see that big ass bike parked in front of the building? I bet it belongs to some tattooed hot guy, I better keep my eyes open."
"It's mine." I mumbled.
"Um?" She hummed back.
"The motorcycle. It's mine." I answer and I heard her sigh.
"Awh man, I really though today was my lucky day."
"What? Getting your best friend back wasn't good enough?" I mumbled again, closing my eyes. I didn't realize how tired I was until Dinah started talking.
"You're too annoying to be considered luck." She said and I felt something cold on my face, making me frown. I shot my eyes open and realized it was her foot, so I quickly slapped it away while looking at her with a disgusted expression.
I relaxed back on the couch again and sighed. "Oh, please. You love me, Dinah Jane." I mumbled, closing my eyes once again.
"Suck my balls, Cabello." She mumbled back, and that was the last thing I heard before falling asleep.
~/~
I woke up on the next day on the same spot I fell asleep at last night, only to notice Dinah was no longer occupying the opposite side of the couch, and there was a warm blanket over my body. I got up from the couch, yawning and took my backpack before making my way to the bathroom. I took a long needed shower. I got dressed, and saw Dinah's almost lifeless body sleeping on her bedroom, before making my way to the kitchen. I prepared breakfast for both of us, and as soon as I finished my cup of coffee, the Polynesian walked in. "Oh, I didn't know you could cook, I'm definitely I'm keeping you." Dinah said as she sat down by the table and started to attack the food.
I sat down beside her and started to eat as well. "The perks of having to survive by yourself on the other side of the world."
"Shit, I have class in less than two hours. I'm not saying you should, but it would be totally cool if you could give me a ride in your awesome bike." She raised her eyebrows at me. "Please..." She pouted playfully and I rolled my eyes.
"Fine." I said and she jumped on her seat excitedly. The girl opened her mouth to say something but I interrupted her, already knowing what she was about to ask. "And no, you can't drive my bike." She immediately pouted. "That's not going to work."
"You suck!" Dinah exclaimed, before sticking her tongue out at me.
~/~
Almost an hour later, Dinah was finally ready to leave. I got up in the motorcycle and handed her my helmet. "If this is going to become a habit, I better get myself another helmet."
"It's not like you're gonna get hurt if you fall." Dinah said and shrugged. I started the vehicle, and laughed when the girl jumped behind me. "Fuck, this shit is loud, dude!" It took less than ten minutes to get to Hudson University, given that I knew the way this time. Dinah pointed me the directions to where her classes were, and I parked in front of the large artistic building. "Are you gonna stick around or what? At least for lunch, I want to introduce you to everyone."
"Everyone?" I asked, running my hand through my hair. "I don't know. I still have to buy some things, look around the place. I still need to settle down somewhere."
"We discussed it already, Chancho, you're staying with me. You don't have a saying on that."
"Okay, then I guess I'll be held captive once again." I joked and Dinah laughed. "I still have to buy things, since I'm going to stay with you. Your guess room is empty except for a bed, of course." She agreed.
"But you're still coming back here for lunch. Do me a favor and get yourself a phone. I don't know how y'all ninjas communicated there but over here that's what we normal people use." I contemplated if I could use a phone without having it tracked, but I realized I could manage to keep it safe. I nodded and took the helmet from her hand, getting ready to leave. "Yo, Lauser!" I heard Dinah yell, calling someone over, but I didn't pay attention until the girl was close enough to me. "This is the friend I told ya' about. Mila this is Lauren and Lauren this is Camila."
I looked up to the girl in front of me and the air got caught up in my lungs. The green eyes staring at me were the same I saw two nights before, and soon I recognized the raven haired girl. The sun reflecting on her skin made her face clear to me and I came to realize she was even more beautiful than how I remembered. "I- I know you. You're the girl that saved me the other night." She said. Her voice wasn't trembling unlike the night we met, so I could admire how soft and yet raspy her voice was.
I was snapped out of my trance when I heard I loud laugh from beside me. "Mila saved you? Why didn't you tell me?" We both shrugged at the same time, and we shared an awkward look. "So you two already know each other?" Dinah frowned.
"Not exactly. We didn't introduce ourselves." The girl answer and I nodded. I watched as she looked down at her phone, then back at us. "I've gotta go, though. Class is about to start." She said, before fixing her green eyes on me, somehow making my heart beat faster. "Nice to meet you, Camila." She said and bit her bottom lip. I couldn't help but look down at her lips and think about how nice my name sounded leaving her lips.
Once the green eyed girl walked away from us, I released a breath I didn't know I was holding, earning a suspicious look from my best friend. "I-I have to go. I'll meet you back here before lunch, yeah?"
Dinah nodded slowly, placing her hand on her chin as she watched my uneasy state. "You're not getting away, girl. We gonna talk later." She said as I climbed on my motorcycle.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." I said as I started the bike, and drove away before she could say anything else. I soon caught myself thinking about the girl, Lauren, and her captivating green eyes. Then I realized how hard it will be to not get questions from Dinah if I continue to be this nervous wreck while talking to the raven haired girl.
A/N: First of all, thanks to everyone who read the story and enjoyed it. I'm having a really good time writing this and I hope you like this chapter. I'll probably take a longer period to post the third chapter (because college) but I promise it will be up until Friday.
See you guys on the next chapter :)