Filed to story: Crushing on My Enemy Stepbrother
I grin to myself, inching my way down the highway, keeping my eyes on the long line of red lights in front of me.
‘OK, I’ll come’ I agree, ‘what time is it?’
Mateo makes a loud whoop and I’m pretty sure he added a fist pump he is so excited.
‘Game starts at four, so if you meet the girls at your locker after classes end, they’ll get you to the bleachers and in a good spot to watch all the action.’
‘I’ll be there, just let Ruby and Maeve know that I’m tagging along so they don’t leave me behind’ I reply, more because I’m worried about being that lonely loser sat by herself than I am about finding a half decent seat on my own.
The jock laughs, ‘they won’t leave you behind Miami, don’t you worry that sun bleached head of yours.’
I shake my head to myself, smiling as my turning comes up, ‘I’m going now’ I tut, ‘before you say something that could be construed as offensive.’
Mateo’s laugh surrounds me, ‘nah girl, aint nothing offensive about this man, I love the blondes. There is just something about all that gold spun hair that does it for me, you know?’
Rolling my eyes, I hover my thumb over the disconnect button on the steering wheel.
‘Bye Matty!’ I shout, cutting him off as he starts to make another comment about blondes.
Turning down the off ramp, I’m thankful for the quieter streets and I speed up slightly, moving along the street, following the route back to our house.
The further I go, the less cars I see coming from the opposite direction and as I pull up to a four way intersection, with my light on red, I check the other directions, seeing who has current right of way to try and work out when my light will turn green, impatiently tapping my thumb on the wheel as I watch a couple of cars move across the front of me.
Glancing up at my rearview mirror I notice that a car is pulling up behind me. I think it might be an SUV, but it’s hard to tell as the vehicle doesn’t have any lights on, whatever it is, it’s bigger than what I’m driving. I frown as it gets closer, the vehicle doesn’t seem to be slowing down and seconds later, I feel the contact as they drive into me. I’m instinctively about to unbuckle my seatbelt so I can get out and make sure the driver is OK and check the damage, but the SUV doesn’t stop, instead, it starts to shove the back of my car, inching me over the line and toward the centre of the intersection.
‘No!’ I yell, slamming my foot onto the brake as hard as I can, but I’m still moving forward, the SUV revving its engine, shoving me harder. The loud blare of a truck horn has me swinging my gaze to the right, my eyes widen at the huge semi that’s bearing down on me, and I know he doesn’t have enough time to stop.
Panic seizes my chest as I quickly throw my car into gear and slam my foot onto the accelerator, shooting across the traffic lights, the semi barely missing me as I cut in front of him. Rolling to a stop on the other side, I suck in deep breaths, looking behind me just as the car that hit me comes across, gaining speed as it crosses the intersection, and then slamming into me again with force as I scream.
Grappling with the steering wheel, I fight to stay in control as the SUV forces my car forward, over the verge, the front end hitting the broad trunk of a tree. I’m thrown forward as my airbag goes off, hitting me in the face like a brick wall, and leaving me dazed.
I hear the sound of a car peeling away as I lean back in my chair, reaching up to my face and finding it sticky. Looking down at my fingers, I see a smear of red and I confusedly rub my thumb over it, trying to work out what it is.
A banging on my window makes me jump and I turn slowly to find a man in a suit looking through my window.
My door swings open and the stranger leans closer, looking over me worriedly.
‘Are you OK?’ he asks, ‘I saw that car hit you and then drive off, are you hurt?’
I shake my head slightly, ‘I’m OK’ I mumble, fumbling for my seatbelt so I can take it off. ‘I need to ring . . . my . . Caleb . . he’ll wonder . . ‘
My voice trails off uncertainly, ‘and I reach into the cup holder, picking up my phone, holding it out to the stranger to show him.
‘Uh, would you like me to ring for you?’ he asks, ‘I’ve already called the cops, but I can ring this Caleb for you.’
I nod, smiling weakly, ‘would you mind, I . . I don’t know his number though, i’m sorry.’
The stranger smiles, taking the phone from me, ‘I’m sure it’s in your phone book miss, if you just unlock it for me . ‘ He takes my hand carefully and presses my finger firmly to the bottom of my phone before pulling it back and pressing my screen repeatedly, holding it to his ear and listening.
A siren sounds behind me and the flashing lights of a police car pull up, a female officer climbing out and hurrying toward me as the man who stopped to help me, steps aside, talking quietly into my phone.
‘Are you OK miss? Can you move? Does anything hurt?’ the officer asks brusquely.
‘My face hurts’ I mutter, ‘but I don’t think anything is broken.’
The woman nods, crouching down beside me, ‘I already have a medic on the way who will check you over, is there anyone I can call?’
I shake my head sluggishly, ‘he’s ringing my Caleb’ I mumble, ‘he’ll come and get me, I know he will.’
The officer nods, asking if I can get out of the car before helping me out, supporting me as she leads me back to her squad car and places me in the passenger seat.
The stranger comes over, handing the officer my phone as he says something about Caleb but I’m struggling to concentrate on their conversation. I hope he is saying that Caleb is coming, I want to go home, he’ll get me home, I know he will.
Caleb’s POV