Crash
Eight;
I stayed behind that ridiculous trash can for what seemed like hours, but was only twenty minutes, until Micah showed up. I heard him get out of his car, and I could just imagine him passing by the two men in the black car, wondering what the hell they were doing on our school’s campus. I heard footsteps behind me and turned my head a little to see that it was him. I sighed a little and stood up quickly. I positioned us so that his back was to them, and I was in front of him, completely hidden.
“Peyton, what the hell are you doing?” He asked as I kept my hands on both of his arms, making sure he didn’t move so I couldn’t be seen.
“I know I didn’t tell you exactly what I needed you for, but there are two guys over there who are looking for me, and I need you to sneak me out of here and I just need you to help me figure this all out,” I said panicky. He looked at me questionably. “Micah, please don’t ask any questions. I promise I’ll tell you everything if you just get me out of here.”
Micah took a deep breath, nodded and quickly grabbed me close to him. I jumped back a little, startled, but he gave me a sharp look and pulled me close to him again. I suddenly realized what he was doing and played along. I grabbed onto his torso and buried my face in his chest, having my hair cover my face. We then both turned and walked out of the school attempting to look like a couple. He was holding onto me as I wrapped my arms around him. I took a deep, shaky breath as we passed by the car, my head still looking down at our walking feet. Micah pulled me closer to him, and I felt him lean down and kiss the top of my head, which I somehow registered as him trying to be reassuring. I could feel myself shaking. It was somewhat embarrassing to be honest. I’m not usually the type of person who would get scared of things or people. I’d usually just face those dead on, so this was surprising to me, and I think to Micah, also.
Once we got to Micah’s truck, he placed me inside and then ran to the driver’s side and got in. I leaned down in his truck; my hair still covering my face as he quickly started it up and drove out as fast as he could. I breathed a sigh of a relief as we got onto the main road and turned over to look at him.
“Now, do you want to tell me what’s going on?” Micah asked. I sat back up fully in the seat and looked at the trees whipping past us.
“I just did something stupid to a big drug dealer in the town and now his entourage is after me,” I said in response. Micah just looked over at me while gripping the steering wheel tightly. His loud truck’s engine filled the silence before he finally spoke.
“Okay, first, we both know how freaked out you were back there, Peyton, so you don’t need to act like this isn’t a big deal to you because we both know the truth. Second, what the hell did I tell you about staying away from those people? How did you even meet this guy? I made sure Tyler Harrison was going to stay away from you.”
“Okay, first,” I began in a mocking tone. “You have no right telling people if they should or should not see me. We barely even know each other. Second, I learned about this guy before you went on your high horse and threatened Tyler.”
I sunk down in my seat angrily as Micah pulled over at the side of the road. No other cars were around and we were near a gigantic orange grove that I remember my brother and I used to frequent all the time when we were younger. When he actually liked me.
“Peyton,” Micah began. “Honestly, why do you insist on ruining your life?”
I turned towards Micah with a scowl and he just raised his eyebrows at me as if to say ‘Hey I ditched school to go pick your sorry ass up who was hiding behind a trash can, so you better watch what you say’.
I sighed and then looked out of the window.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “And what I definitely don’t know now is how to prevent myself from being basically pummeled by big scary men with obscene tattoos."
“Just stay with me and I promise you’ll be all right,” Micah replied. I rolled my eyes and looked back at him.
“How can I? We go to different schools, idiot,” I replied. “But thanks for trying.”
I then turned and opened the door and stepped outside. I pulled my jacket closer to my body and began walking down an aisle of the orange grove. The smell of orange peels filled the air as I stepped over piles of rotten, molded oranges. I looked up to the see the sky becoming filled with dark, deep clouds and I took a deep breath.
I heard footsteps behind me.
“I really sure do know how to get myself in fantastic trouble,” I said aloud. “Not only am I deemed psychology-patient worthy, but my family is at the opportunity of falling apart due to the fact that my mother is having a wild affair. Also, now a bunch of drug dealing gangsters are out to get me because I put a knife to a dude’s neck and I have no one to talk about this to but a guy who I know nothing about besides that he’s the football quarterback of our rival school and stole our school’s stupid trophy.” I blabbered. I turned around to see Micah standing there, with his hands in his pockets. His dark brown hair was messy in its usual loose curls. “I guess being normal just isn’t my style.” I added with a smirk. Micah just looked at me for a second and all that could be heard were the sounds of some sprinklers in the distance, the thunder beginning to form and a car slowly driving by.
“You put a knife to a drug dealer’s neck?” Micah finally asked. I nodded and shrugged. “Well, you’ve got to admit, that’s pretty bad ass."
I rolled my eyes and shook my head.
“Not a good time to joke right now, Mike 'N Ike.” I replied. Micah did his stupid lopsided grin and began walking towards me. He pulled another orange off of a tree and chucked it down the orange grove aisle.
“Why didn’t you just pick up a rotten one off the ground and throw that one instead of taking that perfectly good one?” I said angrily. “Stupid boy.”
“I didn’t want to get my hands dirty,” Micah replied.
“Says the football player... nice.” I said while shaking my head. I sighed. “I guess we should just go back, it’s about to rain.”
I turned away from him and started to walk back to the car when he suddenly grabbed my wrist to turn me around. He looked down at me and then out of nowhere, pulled me into hug. I paused, surprised for a second, but I didn’t pull away as we embraced in the middle of an orange grove as the thunder began to get louder and louder. Micah moved his head to whisper in my ear.
“Even if we do go to different schools, and even though you hate me like 80% of the time, I will protect you and I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”
He pulled away from me and I looked, shocked, back up at him.
“Sadly, I honestly don’t think anyone has ever cared about me enough to want to do something like this for me, Micah. Ever.”
“Well, good,” He replied. “I like being the only one.”
He then reached out and grabbed the back of my neck, quickly but confidently placing his lips completely on mine, while pulling me close to him. I pulled his body even closer to mine and the thunder roared even louder. The rain then began clichéingly pouring, falling onto our heads as I wrapped my arms around this almost stranger’s neck, and for once in my life, allowed someone to care for me.
“Peyton, what the hell are you doing?” He asked as I kept my hands on both of his arms, making sure he didn’t move so I couldn’t be seen.
“I know I didn’t tell you exactly what I needed you for, but there are two guys over there who are looking for me, and I need you to sneak me out of here and I just need you to help me figure this all out,” I said panicky. He looked at me questionably. “Micah, please don’t ask any questions. I promise I’ll tell you everything if you just get me out of here.”
Micah took a deep breath, nodded and quickly grabbed me close to him. I jumped back a little, startled, but he gave me a sharp look and pulled me close to him again. I suddenly realized what he was doing and played along. I grabbed onto his torso and buried my face in his chest, having my hair cover my face. We then both turned and walked out of the school attempting to look like a couple. He was holding onto me as I wrapped my arms around him. I took a deep, shaky breath as we passed by the car, my head still looking down at our walking feet. Micah pulled me closer to him, and I felt him lean down and kiss the top of my head, which I somehow registered as him trying to be reassuring. I could feel myself shaking. It was somewhat embarrassing to be honest. I’m not usually the type of person who would get scared of things or people. I’d usually just face those dead on, so this was surprising to me, and I think to Micah, also.
Once we got to Micah’s truck, he placed me inside and then ran to the driver’s side and got in. I leaned down in his truck; my hair still covering my face as he quickly started it up and drove out as fast as he could. I breathed a sigh of a relief as we got onto the main road and turned over to look at him.
“Now, do you want to tell me what’s going on?” Micah asked. I sat back up fully in the seat and looked at the trees whipping past us.
“I just did something stupid to a big drug dealer in the town and now his entourage is after me,” I said in response. Micah just looked over at me while gripping the steering wheel tightly. His loud truck’s engine filled the silence before he finally spoke.
“Okay, first, we both know how freaked out you were back there, Peyton, so you don’t need to act like this isn’t a big deal to you because we both know the truth. Second, what the hell did I tell you about staying away from those people? How did you even meet this guy? I made sure Tyler Harrison was going to stay away from you.”
“Okay, first,” I began in a mocking tone. “You have no right telling people if they should or should not see me. We barely even know each other. Second, I learned about this guy before you went on your high horse and threatened Tyler.”
I sunk down in my seat angrily as Micah pulled over at the side of the road. No other cars were around and we were near a gigantic orange grove that I remember my brother and I used to frequent all the time when we were younger. When he actually liked me.
“Peyton,” Micah began. “Honestly, why do you insist on ruining your life?”
I turned towards Micah with a scowl and he just raised his eyebrows at me as if to say ‘Hey I ditched school to go pick your sorry ass up who was hiding behind a trash can, so you better watch what you say’.
I sighed and then looked out of the window.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “And what I definitely don’t know now is how to prevent myself from being basically pummeled by big scary men with obscene tattoos."
“Just stay with me and I promise you’ll be all right,” Micah replied. I rolled my eyes and looked back at him.
“How can I? We go to different schools, idiot,” I replied. “But thanks for trying.”
I then turned and opened the door and stepped outside. I pulled my jacket closer to my body and began walking down an aisle of the orange grove. The smell of orange peels filled the air as I stepped over piles of rotten, molded oranges. I looked up to the see the sky becoming filled with dark, deep clouds and I took a deep breath.
I heard footsteps behind me.
“I really sure do know how to get myself in fantastic trouble,” I said aloud. “Not only am I deemed psychology-patient worthy, but my family is at the opportunity of falling apart due to the fact that my mother is having a wild affair. Also, now a bunch of drug dealing gangsters are out to get me because I put a knife to a dude’s neck and I have no one to talk about this to but a guy who I know nothing about besides that he’s the football quarterback of our rival school and stole our school’s stupid trophy.” I blabbered. I turned around to see Micah standing there, with his hands in his pockets. His dark brown hair was messy in its usual loose curls. “I guess being normal just isn’t my style.” I added with a smirk. Micah just looked at me for a second and all that could be heard were the sounds of some sprinklers in the distance, the thunder beginning to form and a car slowly driving by.
“You put a knife to a drug dealer’s neck?” Micah finally asked. I nodded and shrugged. “Well, you’ve got to admit, that’s pretty bad ass."
I rolled my eyes and shook my head.
“Not a good time to joke right now, Mike 'N Ike.” I replied. Micah did his stupid lopsided grin and began walking towards me. He pulled another orange off of a tree and chucked it down the orange grove aisle.
“Why didn’t you just pick up a rotten one off the ground and throw that one instead of taking that perfectly good one?” I said angrily. “Stupid boy.”
“I didn’t want to get my hands dirty,” Micah replied.
“Says the football player... nice.” I said while shaking my head. I sighed. “I guess we should just go back, it’s about to rain.”
I turned away from him and started to walk back to the car when he suddenly grabbed my wrist to turn me around. He looked down at me and then out of nowhere, pulled me into hug. I paused, surprised for a second, but I didn’t pull away as we embraced in the middle of an orange grove as the thunder began to get louder and louder. Micah moved his head to whisper in my ear.
“Even if we do go to different schools, and even though you hate me like 80% of the time, I will protect you and I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”
He pulled away from me and I looked, shocked, back up at him.
“Sadly, I honestly don’t think anyone has ever cared about me enough to want to do something like this for me, Micah. Ever.”
“Well, good,” He replied. “I like being the only one.”
He then reached out and grabbed the back of my neck, quickly but confidently placing his lips completely on mine, while pulling me close to him. I pulled his body even closer to mine and the thunder roared even louder. The rain then began clichéingly pouring, falling onto our heads as I wrapped my arms around this almost stranger’s neck, and for once in my life, allowed someone to care for me.