Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight draft

It was something else. That was for sure. I was trying to comprehend why he walked when he had something this wickedly amazing.

        The car was a sleek black, so sleek you would have thought if you sat on it you would have slid right off. Two identical, thick white stripes ran down the hood. The interior was a creamy beige, complementing the dark exterior.

        This was a nineteen-sixty-nine z twenty-eight Camaro. A Camaro!

        “Where did you get this?!” I gasped, when I saw it. It had been hidden in the garage, apparently.

        “It was a present from my parents, for my sixteenth birthday.” Trevor said, rubbing the back of his neck.

        “They just gave you a car?” I was still in shock.

        “Not exactly like that. What they gave me was a ghastly hunk of metal.” He patted the hood affectionately, as if he didn't mean to offend the car.

        “What do you mean?”

        “They agreed to give me a car under one condition: I had to work for it. It didn't look like this when I got it. That's for damn sure. My dad owns several auto shops and this came in one day. He asked told the owner the price to fix it up and it was a no-go, too much, so he asked how much the owner would sell it for. He never told me how much it cost him. He just told me it was up to me, whatever I decided to do with it, but if I didn't take care of it, he was going to take it back.” he explained. “I wasn't about to let this go. It's too beautiful of a car.”

        “Your dad owns auto shops?” I was still staring at it.

        “Yeah. Julius Prescott, the one and only.”

        I recognized the little jingle from the commercials vaguely; Prescott Auto – Your one stop shop for all your auto needs!

        “I had no idea...”

        “It's nothing to me though. The only good thing that came out his popularity was my baby here.” he grinned and rubbed the hood again. I almost expected a purr of agreement from the car.

        “Are you going to get in or what? I don't know about you, but I'm about to have a nic-fit. Luckily, for you and me both, I just happen to have two left.” he flashed another grin, handing me one, and then lighting it for me before lighting his own.

        “Hell yes I'm getting in!” I opened the door and all but jumped in.

        The seats were extraordinarily comfortable. Everything about it was classic, except one thing. It had an extremely expensive looking radio complete with CD and cassette player.

        “Buckle up.”         

        “Well, yes sir.” I rolled my eyes at him.

        “Women...” he responded to my eye roll.

        “Men...” and I rolled them again.

        “Children, too?” he offered and I couldn't help but laugh.

        He turned and put the keys in the ignition. It started with a lively roar, then he revved the engine a couple of times before peeling out of the driveway.

 

 

        “I want to have some fun. What do you say.” Trevor looked at me, with an odd gleam in his eyes.

        “I guess it all depends on your definition of fun.”

        “Let me see then.” He put his fingers to his lips and wrinkled his forehead in a mock concentration. “Fun – driving to open field and seeing what this baby is really made of.” he gripped the steering wheel and revved it again.

        “Really?” I would've jumped out of the seat in excitement if I hadn't been restrained by the seat belt.

        “Good Lord, kid. You act as if you've never been in a car before.”

        “Well, the ones I've been in have been rather s****y.” I wondered for a minute if I could talk him into replacing Adrian for all vehicular needs. Bye-bye crusty van...

        “I must be Santa Claus to you right now then.”

        “Or better.”

        “Glad to be of service.” he shot another smile and chuckled.

        I just smiled back at him, not saying anything. To me, it seemed like this was the first time in so long that I was enjoying myself, even if some things were still persistently dwindling in the back of my mind. I still pushed them away, refusing to let them cast a gray cloud on my sunny day.

        “We're only missing one thing for this.” Trevor reached behind him, groping around the back floorboard until he found what he was looking for. A CD case. We had arrived at our destination already. The drive had been abruptly short.

        “Music?”

        “Absolutely! Fuel the fire. It only adds to the rush you get from driving like a rabid maniac.”

        He stuck it in the CD player, waited for it to load, then promptly skipped through, not bothering to see what number it was.

        “What is this?”

        “Cracker. That's what this is.”

        “Specifically?”

        “Get Off This.”

        “This is your “rush”? It's twangy.”

        “It's good, thank you very much. It's all a matter of opinion anyway. It's fun to drive to, for me.”

        “Alright, you win.” I sighed wearily.

        “Are you ready?”

        “I'm waiting on you to shut up and drive, slow-poke.”

        “Damn, yes ma'am.” his eyes widened and he turned to look back through the front windshield, preparing himself.

        He roughly threw the stick shift into the right gear, and revved the engine harder this time. And like that, we were spinning wheels, a cloud of dust and gravel trailed behind us.

        Dirt flew everywhere, even fair sized chunks of grass. We circled in donuts and jumped small hills. It was an indescribable feeling. A blast, fun, a good time. All of those weren't enough, even put together to describe how good it felt, just driving like this. Finally, something matched the speed in my head.

        “You're not afraid of breaking this thing?” I had to yell over the combination of the engine and the radio.

        “She's a monster. Nothing will break her except God himself. With that said, I pray he doesn't!”

        The day was turning into dusk. I felt a twinge of disappointment, knowing I would have to go back home soon. That thought made me cringe a little internally. Trevor stopped the car, letting it idle.

        “This was really spectacular.” I looked at him, then back down at my lap.

        “I thought so myself.”

        We looked back at each other for a quick second. I guess it was a second too long, for something beyond unexpected happened.

        In a whirlwind, he cradled my face with his hand and kissed me. I pulled back immediately.

        “I'm sorry, Vi–“

        “Just take me home. Now. Please.”

        I didn't look at him once the whole way home and I didn't even say goodbye when I got out of the car.