I dedicate this chapter to you all. I reached 1,000,000 reads on March 17th, 2014. Thank you.
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The wind howled in my ears, the melancholy melody whistling through the trees. A light rain padded my cheeks, each drop fading as quickly as it had come. It was a strange day to visit the graveyard. But I figured, what better time? There won't be one. One thing that has taken me longer than forever to figure out is that there will always be a reason not to do something. I just have to want it bad enough to not care.
"Hey, Pear." I sat down with a huff and gazed up at the clouded sky. Perry sat by my side, his face a stony mess of words and dates. "Nice day, huh?"
I chuckled.
"School's out. It let out last Friday." I bobbed my head side-to-side. "I have nothing to do anymore, 'sept for going to the Rider's. Our efforts were wasted, by the way. Nate's gone.
"But I have a hypothesis." I shrank into my sweater and cracked a mischevious sneer. I had thought it over time and time again, but I still remained stuck on how I was going to carry out my plans. "See, Nate joined this club. I'll spare you the details, but I know where they're gonna be next. A place called Riverside, and I'm going. I'm going, I'm going. I'm going to find him and knock some sense into that pea brain of his."
Perry remained silent.
I glanced over at his tombstone. "Your middle name is Kansas? That's weird, Pear."
My jokes turned sour and I grimaced at the sky. The rain had stopped.
"I'll get him back. I promise." I stood. "You didn't die in vain. I'll make sure of it. Bye, Perry."
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"You're serious."
"Just do it!"
"I'm not very comfortable with this."
"Taya, I didn't ask if you were comfortable with this. I asked you to do this."
Taya crinkled the skin around her eyebrows, turning them up in the middle. She began to pace the room, her pig-covered socks making her slide on the wood panels of my bedroom floor.
"Since when did 'Crazy Taya' get harnessed? I was under the impression that you'd be all for it." I sighed, keeping an amused eye on her. "I guess I'll have to find someone else to help me, then."
"No, no, no! I'll do it!" She screeched, her whines turning into grumbles. "Better me than anyone else. At least you know this witness 'didn't see anything'."
Before I could respond, she peeled off the plastic backing and slapped the tattoo along my collarbone. Taking a damp sponge, she lapped it along my chest for a good two minutes, and ever so gingerly, she took the soggy paper with two fingers and carefully plucked it off.
"Great." She blew her bangs out of her face and flopped onto the bed. "Now I'm an accomplice. What the heck is that for, anyway?"
"The club where Nate is staying has a very... reserved VIP list." I lied through my teeth, apparently convincingly, for she made a face of disgust and buried her face in the fluff of my pillow. I glanced down at the sleeping dragon, impressed with the color payoff. Taya must have had a steady hand, for I can't see any imperfections with it.
Well, at least now I'm committed. There was only one tattoo like that that came in the pack, and I don't want to have to drive out again.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I slipped it out all too quick to avoid any pestering questions.
"Hell-"
"You think you're so cool, asshole?!"
Stop. Who was speaking?
"Um, who is this?" I coughed and looked at the caller ID. 'Unknown'.
"No one you know." The person spat. "No one you need to know."
And unfortunately, I recognized the voice through all of the slurring and strange gurgles.
"Jason, what's wrong?" I sighed and sat on my bed.
"Nothing!" He shouted into the receiver so that Taya glanced over and looked at the phone. "Ok, something. You're just... I don't like you."
"Okay?"
"No, I lied. I do. But I hate that I do, because you always walk all over me!" He whispered as if someone were listening to him. "It's like whaaaaat in the afternoon, and... I'm already drunk!"
He laughed. I groaned.
"I... I want to kill you. Yeah. That's what I want to do. Then there'd be no more problems, no more confusing, and you'd go bye-bye!"
"Confusing is not a noun."
"Who gives a camel, you fuckass?" He belched. "I hate you!"
My heart cracked, and a black aura filled in. The pang of unsure guilt, that I may have caused this breakdown of-sorts, stung like one-thousand angry bees. "Jason, you're drunk."
"No! I'm not. You're just not-drunk which is why you don't understand what I'm 'msaying." He said with a slight Irish accent. I wonder where that's from.
"Okay. Where are you? I'm picking you up."
"No you're not! You can go to hell!" He shouted, and I heard muted cheering in the background, along with a variety of cups clinking.
I was getting agitated. "Where are you?"
"O'Connor's Fork and Drink." He said with a regretful sigh. I was on my heels and panting my rage through my nostrils as soon as he had finished.
"O'Connor's?! You know that's in the bad neighbourhood! Why would you go there?"
"How do you know I'm at O'Connors?!"
"You, you just told me, Jason."
"Oh. Well then, I'm not! So don't come snooping for me. Especially at O'Connors." He said with a huff. "For no reason... Whatsoever. I'm not there. So... Don't look.. there. Bye."
The line crackled and cut off. And in that moment, I realized Jason, unlike my initial thoughts, had his problems as well. I was under the impression that nothing bothered him in the slightest. He was that easy go lucky guy, and everyone, virtually everyone, genuinely enjoyed his company because he was that much needed place holder, just to fill up space.
But he was deeper than that. And if it took me this long to figure that out, I really was as dense as I hoped I wasn't.
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O'Connors was the gateway to a dark descent. It was the first place that every city reject went to before they came out on the other side, completely transformed and sly. It was for this specific reason that I sped twenty miles over every speed limit so that I was able to get to him in twenty minutes instead of one hour.
The outside was littered with people of all shapes. Some were blotches, pushed up against a wall. Others convulsed violently along the ground, appearing as if it were some sort of ancient inchworm ritutal. I shuddered unconsciously on my way in, and was blasted by the scent of caramel cookies, downtown liquor, and hard scotch.
"...know rocks are softer than she is."
My ears perked up at the familiar noise, and I lifted my head to find Jason seated among four others of his age in a wall-bolted booth. His face was pale and his eyes were red, yet a sloppy smile was thrown on his lips as if tossed there by a free and inaccurate hand.
I saddled up to the booth as normally as a galloping mongoose, and instantly caught the attention of three boys. Jason stared forward with a scowl, as if he were intentionally not looking towards me because he had known all along that it was I who was standing there.
"Jason." I warned, my toe tapping in my shoe. "Jason, get up. We're going home."
"No." His eyes flashed maroon, and he faced me head on. "No, my friends are here, and I'm staying."
"No you're not."
"You can't tell him what to do." The blonde of the bunch said, and pushed Jason further into the seat, as if he were somehow going to spill out if not harshly contained.
"It's ok, Jerome. She was just leaving." Jason narrowed his eyes at me, and flicked his head over to the door. It was an invisible flick, one that we had specifically trained ourselves to master, but was unnoticeable by any other person. We thought it was fun at first, but now I'm only feeling a dash of sick irony bubble up in my stomach.
"Not without you."
"It's a little late to be saying that, don't you think?" He slithered his arms in front of him and x-ed them over one another. "Just go. You're not wanted here."
I felt tears sting my eyes, and Jason's eyes widened a centimetre.
I gave 'Jerome' and his posse the most hateful look I could muster, and they limped away like little children that had been stung by a bumble bee. Jason stood erect, fashioning a face that was paler than a ghost. Well, he looked like he could have seen a ghost.
"So. That's what you have to say?" I could barely get the words out without blowing up in flames. I had never been so angry before in my life, and I wanted to let loose a thunder bolt that would electrify everyone, just to show how enraged I was.
"Look, I'm sorry. But it's about time someone said that to your face." Jason bit his lip and tugged on his baseball cap. "You're really, really fucked up, and you've fucked me over, too."
"How did I do that?!"
"You know damn well." He said with a mechanical chuckle, and laughed obnoxiously at the ceiling, drawing a few uninterested sneers. "I'm done with you."
"No you're not because I'm not done with you." I gritted my teeth and grabbed onto his jacket arm, as he had begun to walk away.
"Well you gotta be, Els!" He said as loudly as he dared, his ears heating and his face reddening. He cooled himself, and looked at his shoes before staring me directly in the eyes. And then, I wished he never looked at me at all. "I'm not gonna be that lame guy that's always tailing after you all the time. I didn't sign up for that."
"You don't have to be."
"But that's what you make me!" He hissed and stuck his nose in my face. The rage radiated off of his skin, and I cringed away from it, latching on to a dirtied wine glass that was overturned on a nearby table. Anything to keep from looking him in the face. "I thought, all that time, we were really hitting it off. But then you give me more and more reasons to wake up. And I'm sick of it. So you can go fuck yourself."
I couldn't bite back the tears anymore. They trickled down my face, hot and sticky, and splattered on the floor.
"Look at me." He said, and placed his palm on the flat of my cheek. I raised my eyes to meet his. He gave me the phantom of a smile and patted my face before letting his arm drop to his side. "I don't know you anymore. To you, I'm Jason. That guy in your science class. We've talked a few times, maybe said 'hey' in the hallway once or twice, or even bumped into each other a few times outside of school. Who knows. But I am not that guy I was when you were in the hospital. I will never be him again."
The pain in my chest made it difficult for me to stand upright, and I felt myself grappling for a support, only to come empty handed. I tightened my knuckles and looked at his back as it disappeared behind the greasy glass of O'Connor's entrance door.
"Wait! Jason!" I ran blindly after him, realising a warm trickle had begun to flow from the sky. It dotted my skin like polka-dots and it provided me with the little comfort I needed in that moment. Jason turned around, however back-pedalled so he progressively got closer to his car. "Stop walking!"
"I don't take orders from you anymore."
"Okay, fine!" I caught up to him and let my lungs burn with the thrilling absence of oxygen. "Okay! Just one thing and then you never have to talk to me again."
He shifted the weight between his feet, unable to get comfortable within his own skin. He peered at me from beneath his visor, and cocked his chin. I knew I was going to regret toying with both of our emotions later, but I could sincerely think of no other option.
"Kiss me."
"Wh-what? Ela, no!" He stammered and backed away until I had cornered him against his truck.
"Please. Just kiss me."
His eyes softened and I could almost hear the dispute in his mind. There was an angel on one shoulder and devil on the other, but the problem was that I couldn't tell which was preaching for me.
The rain stopped.
In that moment, I looked up at the cleared sky, and saw a blue New York Yankee's visor flapping through the wind. It was only then that I realised Jason had thrown it up in the air.
His mouth was hot on mine. It was as if we thrived for something unknown. But the whole experience was completely alien to me already; I didn't plan on figuring that out.
Everything about it was physical. Moist. Rough. Foreign. Beautiful.
He regained his senses, although I had never lost mine, and stumbled away from me. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and stared at me with an unreadable expression. I couldn't place it, and I hated that.
"What do you want from me?" He bit down on his lips and when he released, they were big sausages.
"Come with me to a place called Riverside. It's only about an hour away if we take the freeway." I begged and sat on the hood of his car. I was testing the waters. I wasn't sure how our lives would play out from here on, but I knew that this moment decided it all.
"You just asked me to... and now you're asking me to take you to a town called Riverside?" He shook his head to try and comprehend the wild ideas. "What's next? Slay a dragon?"
"Actually, drink a magic elixir to turn into a dwarf."
"Now that's even worse." He laughed and threw his head back. He furrowed his brow as if in deep thought, and let them relax into a pleasant medium afterwards. "Ok. We can go. But only for a price."
I sighed. "What price?"
"To never do something like that again." He stared at me with such intensity, my throat tightened. I barely uttered an 'ok, I promise' before I couldn't feel my fingertips. He fashioned a boyish grin, and gestured to the passenger side door. "Well then. Hop in."
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The street-lamps had started to become more spaced out along the street's sides, therefore making the time we spent in darkness feel longer than what was comfortable. Something unnerving was going to happen. I felt it in my bones. An ominous air wafted in through the heater which had been turned on full blast, and I suddenly questioned my judgment. It wasn't cold outside.
Jason had a still expression on his face, void of any emotion. He glanced at me, and pulled into a parking place that was a block away from a public pool.
"Here we are." He peered through the windows and tightened his knuckles on the wheel.
"Give me your sweatshirt." I whispered and helped tug it off from his shoulders. Slipping it on, I flipped up the hood and slithered out the door. "Stay here. I'm going to go find Nate."
"This is about Nate." He stated, looking me dead in the eye. Oh. That's right. I hadn't told him why we we came all the way out here. Certainly not to see the truck show, that's for sure.
I was glad that he was calm. The Jason I've known my entire time of knowing him would have freaked out and demanded that I stayed, or he would have slammed the door and sulked until he did something that he regretted.
But this Jason stayed in the car, and allowed me to live my life as I wanted. And because of that, the freedom that I had because of my broken leash, made my heart beat faster.
"If I'm not back in one hour, call the police." I said firmly, and locked the car door behind me, not giving him a chance to respond.
The street was relatively quiet. An obnoxious dog barked a few blocks down, echoing throughout the neighbourhood. It didn't help to ease the hairs that were standing erect on the scruff of my neck.
I crept through the darkness like a shadow on wheels, quiet and lethal, and found myself at a small intersection. To my right, a small road that led into town. To my left, an alley the width of two small children. But the reason why I chose to go left was simple.
I heard the revving of an engine.
I broke into a run, ignoring the overturned trash bins and shattered windows. I felt good: right, left, left, straight forward, and right again. I ran for what seemed like miles in that one alley, and I felt so good, so much better than I had in months. My determination burned my veins, and I almost broke out in happy tears.
I knew he was here. I could feel his heartbeat. Or maybe that was mine.
I stumbled upon a brick wall, a small black door smacked down right in the middle. I checked to my left and right before proceeding and knocking on the door. It opened a split second later, the chain lock still in place. A roguish pair of eyes scowled from through the crack and he trailed his eyes from my hood to my shoes and up again.
"Go home, little girl." He spoke in a low shout, and closed the door. I had to blink three times before knocking on the door again. He opened it, the blues of his eyes popping out against the bleak darkness of everything around them. "What do you want?"
"Uh-m." I muttered, coughing and clearing my throat. No time for having no balls. Come on, Ela! Grow a pair! "I'm... I'm part of the Bastille!"
He cocked an eyebrow and looked at my chest. My face flushed and I covered my bust with my arms and made a slightly aggravated noise.
"Show me."
"Excuse me?!"
"Your ink."
"What?"
"Your ink! Show me, or you're not getting past."
My ink? Oh! He must mean the tattoo! Hopefully I didn't sweat it off...
My scalp burned as I stripped of my sweatshirt, and dropped my shirt's collar. I couldn't even look down. I was sure some of it rubbed off. I was sure of it. My heart was out of control, and I couldn't feel my toes. I barely kept my two feet on the ground, until he coughed and closed the door.
I've failed.
The next second, I heard the rattle of chains and the door swung open, and I was blasted with the warm embrace of heat.
"Didn't know Rider was allowing allowing chicks, but whatever." He nodded his head in the direction I was supposed to go, and I pulled on my sweatshirt and followed his instructions. Inside, it looked like the hallway of a highschool. Black lockers, closed doors, and the overall mood of misery and death.
Sounds about right.
A door, so foreign yet so familiar, stood at the end of the hall. I zeroed in on it, and ran as fast as I could and ripped open the door.
A jumbled go-kart track greeted me, along with the accusational stares of twenty eyes I've never seen before. The probed me and seeped through my clothes, and I forced my legs to move, else I could feel that I would turn right around and run back to Los Angeles.
And when I do, I promised to myself that I'd bring Nate with me.
I slinked as casually as I could toward the mass of people near the helmet stand, and bounced my head to the music that sounded a ways away.
A bald man turned around and grunted, "Can I help you?"
"I'm looking for-"
"What the hell?"
A familiar black-haired maniac pushed Mr. Potato Head out of the way and gave me the most wide-eyed look I'd ever seen, I'd wager that even does would look at him strangely.
"Nekou?"
He glared at the ground, and I deciphered muffled whispers throughout the crowd behind him. He lugged me away and behind a stone pillar.
"How are you here?" He hissed once we were safe.
I stretched my collar just enough, and he groaned through his teeth.
"God dammit." He dragged his hands through his hair and over his face. "Why are you here? Nice to see you, by the way. Hope you're well."
"I'm very good, in fact. The weather has been pretty nice recentl-"
"Don't bullshit me, Ela." He growled and had to walk away before he slammed his fists into my face. "This isn't a joke!"
"I never said it was!"
"Is there a problem over here?" The bald man returned, suddenly more than six inches taller and more muscular. Do they all look the same, or are my eyes betraying me?
"No, everything's fine." Nekou retorted and the guy shrugged away. "You need to leave. Now."
"Why?!"
"You don't realise how much danger you're in right now." He glanced back and forth, fear coating his face. It was an irregular expression, one that I'll never forget. It's weird to see invincible people crumble. "Why are you here?"
"Where's Nate?" I gripped his hand in mine, and squeezed to convey how intent I was on finding him. Nekou looked taken aback for a moment, and then gave me a crooked sympathetic smile.
"Damn. So you're here because of that loser." He laughed. "Didn't know his bitches were that loyal."
Okay. I'm going to try and explain what happened next, but I'm having a little bit of trouble.
I remember feeling a rush of fire coat all of my muscles and unbearable rage took to my brain, corrupting it with black. I slammed my forearm against his chin, pinning his head to the stone. That way, he wasn't capable of speaking. If his tongue had been between his teeth, that would be another story.
"Listen here, you little shit." I seethed. "Is he here now? I didn't come all this way for nothing! I'm going to find him!"
"What's your problem?" Nekou gasped, clawing at my arm. "He's not here!"
"Do know where he is?"
Nekou's eyes had twirled inward and the edges of his cheeks began to purple. The second before he was going to pass out, I released my grip and he tumbled to the ground.
"He's not here." Nekou wiped his mouth. "You need to leave. You're in so much danger, Ela. God damn! You've put him in danger now!" He jumped to his feet, and glowed with red. "These guys, they won't think twice about killing you. And because you came for Nate, he's liable for you. Which means you've put him in danger."
"Wh-what?!"
"You don't get it, do you?" Nekou breathed deeply, hoping to maintain homeostasis. "Why do you think we race? Huh?"
"For fun?"
"Wrong." He took one step towards the crowd. "For defiance. With every wrong answer, I'm going to disappear, and you're not going to see me again."
"What?!"
"Why do you think Nate left?"
"Because his dad forced him? I don't know!"
"Wrong again." He took an unfairly large step, and I raised my fist in the air. He seemed unphased. "Because of you."
"Because of me? How?!"
"Do you remember a few months ago, you got in the crash or whatever?"
"Yes..." I trailed my tongue along my top row of teeth. "Why are you bringing that up?"
"Well, he thought you died. That's when Nate died. Well, theoretically. My B-F-F Nate is in his place now, and I'm the only one that knows that he had ties to you. We found out you were alive after you did that music-thing, and then I didn't hear from him for a week." He stretched his arms, and looked over at the cars that were taking off the starting line like darts. "He came back, of course. They all do."
"Where is he now?"
"Not here." He began to walk away but turned for a last statement. "But believe me. He never wants to see you again."
"How do you know?"
"Do you want to talk to him?"
My heart stopped. I could feel my blood thud in my ears, and I fell to my knees. The pressure had gotten to me, and time had frozen. I could see the dust falling from the ceiling, and I dropped my eyes to the ground.
"Yes."
Nekou smirked and pulled out his phone. He dialled a number, of course it was concealed when he handed me the phone, and I plastered it to my ear.
"Hey."
His voice. It was so unbelievably fulfilling that my tears sprang up as if out of no where. I sniffled for a second, and switched the phone to my other ear.
"Nate?"
The line went blank for a second, and then I heard the scrambling of papers.
"Yeah?"
"Um. What?" I stuttered. "Yeah?"
"What?" He questioned. His voice was a little deeper. "Who is this?"
"Um." I laughed a low, sick giggle at the fucking irony of it all. Did he.. forget the sound of my voice? Forget me? "Do you remember me?"
"That's a little hard when I don't know who I'm supposed to be remembering."
His voice... It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard. It reminded me that I hadn't wasted my life tracking him down, crying over him, and starving myself until I saw the whites of my ribs. I wanted to cry even more now. My heart began to swell in my chest just from that painstakingly familiarity of his voice. I breathed it in and let it fill my ears.
"And I know you might be gone," I sang into the receiver, my voice cracking octaves. "But you're far from forgotten."
It was the song that Rosie and I spent hours composing. I know he's seen it. Everyone I know, practically on the planet, has seen it.
"Listen I know you're confused. Fuck it; I don't know what do." I started the first verse, my tears now blotting Jason's jumper. "But I'm better now that I'm alive."
"Is this Ela?" He pondered after he let me sing for a minute or so. A burp of giggles flowed through my mouth, and I swallowed them down. He would ask that.
"Yes!" I breathed a sigh of relief. "It is."
"Oh." He said, an uncertain sense of amusement spicing his tone. I didn't like it, and it made my brain twist into knots as to why it was there. "What's up?"
"What's up?! Oh nothing! Nothing at all! Just that I've been searching everywhere for you the past four months!" I cried, biting back my screams. "Where have you been?"
"Around." He gave a moment's pause before speaking. He let that settle before he spoke again. "Also, you kind of interrupted me in the middle of a Breaking Bad marathon."
I couldn't believe my ears. Was this really Nate? I asked myself that question, but it was undeniably him. I was sure of it. I'd never forgotten the way his voice sounded.
"I'm sorry? But it's kind of you who should be apologising to me right now."
"Why should I apologise to you?" He blatantly spoke, not concealing his lack of compassion for the conversation. My soul soured and I suddenly was very aware of Nekou's smile. "What do I have to be sorry for?"
I looked around and brought the end of the phone to my lips so he would catch every word. "For stranding me alone for four months after you said you loved me? For acting like we're old friends when we weren't just friends?! For being like this after I spent so much time looking for you?! And for lying to me!"
"I have never lied to you." He slammed the words into the phone with a quick rush. "Why start now? So everything I'm about to tell you is one-hundred-percent the truth. What more do you want from me?"
I remained silent.
"I don't want to see you. I want you to stop looking for me, and I want you to go home." He dictated with a severe confidence. I bit down on my tongue to keep from shouting at him. "That's all."
My breathing had begun to quiver, as did my body. "This isn't the time for jokes."
"I'm not joking." He let go of a steamy exhale and took a sip from some sort of beverage. "Your obsession with me is borderline stalker-ish. And now, since you probably hate me, you can get over me and carry on with your life. I was a waste of your time, anyway. You were a waste of mine. Just give up and go home."
"You-you said you would never l-lie to me." I choked out and chomped on my finger to keep from showing my distress.
"That is true. I never lie." He agreed. "Well, I'm going to hang up now. Walter White doesn't have anything else to wait for."
"No." I shook my head. "No, you're not. You never lie? Fine. Let's put that to the test. Do you still care about your family?"
"My family?" He laughed whilst stretching his vocal chords. "Nah. They're fine on their own. Hey, you know what's really nice in summer? Fishing. Especially in the Mexican Gulf Coast. I had a friend a while ago that took me up there and we caught these amazing fish."
"Stop it. Where are you right now?"
"Am I really required to tell you my private information? That's some personal stuff you're asking there." He joked. "I'm gonna get back to my show. Man. He's really lost everything. Must have been really happy before he turned the hill. I've always wondered what it would be like to try crystal meth. Maybe I just might."
My jaw dropped. This isn't the Nate I know.
"You didn't hear that." He let a laugh go. "Well, ciao."
"You hear me you sick sonofabitch!" I screamed into the now disconnected phone conversation. "You can't tell me that I never mattered! Why are you doing this?!"
"Okay, that's enough." Nekou held out his hand for the phone, but I smacked it away. He staggered a few paces, and glared at me with enough hatred to kill a baby sheep.
But I didn't care. I needed to find him. Or else, I would die. I knew that. He was the center of my existence, and he only proved that after putting on that lame act.
But... What if wasn't an act, Els? What if he's really forgotten about you?
These thoughts piled into my head, and I screamed as two brutes dragged me from the place. They flung me through the door, and bolted it behind me in a matter of two seconds. I wasn't aware I'd skinned my knee.
My entire body was numb.
I ran blindly through the alley, screaming his name, hoping desperately that I was dreaming the worst dream of a lifetime. I couldn't even read my thoughts.
This wasn't happening. It just wouldn't happen. I had been transported to a parallel universe where love didn't exist and people were honest but they weren't.
His name flew out of my vocabulary. My brain stopped functioning. The world no longer mattered, and all of the fucking opinions that I was sure to be tangled with if I were to be spotted like this.
Matted hair. Sore palms and bleeding eyes. They were so cracked they were red and oozing blood.
I didn't recognize myself in a car mirror. I kept running until I reached Jason's car, where he had fallen asleep inside.
My brain didn't process to stop running. I couldn't think, couldn't speak. What was my name? Who was I?
I brewed all of my energy to get me to stop running from the bloodthirsty monster that was chasing me, urging me with the temptations to succumb to my despair. I did stop, but not with enough time. My shoes skidded on the sidewalk, and my eyebrow smacked into the right-side mirror of Jason's rusted Toyota Tundra.
After that, I don't remember much.
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