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Jay thought that, considering he hadn’t ever driven a stick shift before, things went fairly well that first time. He killed the engine several times, but never in heavier traffic than a parking lot or residential street.

“This ain’t so bad…” he muttered, waiting patiently for the street light at the center of town to turn green.

“Oh yeah,” Zoey yawned widely, patting her mouth with a palm to accentuate the gesture. “If you like just rolling around…”

“Well what do you suggest Miss Ziglem?”

Jay glanced over in time to see her trickster grin creep up to show almost all of her teeth. Reason screamed for him to be weary, but his mouth imitated her contagious expression as she bit her lip in excitement.

“Why don’t we see what our baby can really do?”

She instructed him through town and to the rural area outside, coaching along with directions and shifting reminders.

“You’re doing so good Jay, just remember not to rush that clutch,” she touched his shoulder briefly, leaning forward in her seat eagerly. Jay tried hard to concentrate on the road instead of thinking of how warm his shoulder now felt. “So, the rest of your way is clear.” She smiled slyly, her eyes sliding over and one eyebrow popping above the plane of the other. “Let’r loose Baby.”

Even as Jay’s mind screamed “BAD IDEA!”, his foot popped the clutch and he accelerated faster than was wise for a beginning driver. He jumped at the high-pitched scream that came from the passenger’s seat, but he needn’t have worried. Zoey was laughing joyfully, rolling down her window so that her loose hair tornadoed around her head like a dust devil.

“Ow ow!” she howled out the window, nearly sitting on the door edge. Jay wanted to tell her to sit back down before she fell out, but decided that would be like crushing a bird in his fist as it flew past. He fought to remain focused on the steadily twisting and curving dirt road rather than the sharp, white hipbones poking out of their confining fabric three feet to his right.

He wasn’t really paying attention to where they were going or how far away from September they were until a sign informing them that they had entered Wisconsin blinked cheerfully at them in the headlights.

“Shit…” he muttered in awe, the weight of this new development settling on his mind.
According to the dashboard’s clock radio, it was past ten o’clock. “Your dad’s going to kill us you know…”

“Probably,” she shrugged, running her hands through her wildly mussed blond hair. “So no more harm’ll come from it getting a bit later, right?”

“Course not,” he found himself replying. It occurred to Jay that Zoey’s power of suggestion was a dangerous thing, as he doubted he would offer much resistance, had she suggested he drive off the next bridge, but he couldn’t bring himself to care too deeply.

Several miles down the road, Zoey pointed him in the direction of what appeared to be either a bar with outdoor music or a barn dance; Jay couldn’t be sure which. They parked far enough away that they had to weave their way through the maze of other cars parked in the gravel lot. When they were closer, Jay saw that the former of his two guesses was correct. In front of an establishment dubbed “The Angry Moose”, a live band was entertaining a cleared part of the lot full of people dancing, drinking and talking.

“You sure no one’ll notice we’re here?” Jay eyed the adults nervously. He’d rather not draw attention to themselves and have someone report them for being out past curfew. He doubted that Mr. Ziglem would be too pleased if he had to drive out to Wisconsin to pick his daughter up, and he didn’t want his mother to panic if the police called the apartment.
“I’m sure,” Zoey raised her eyebrows pointedly at a group of teenagers no older than themselves paying for drinks at a temporary outdoor bar.

“Oh. Good.”

“Mr. Slater, are you worried?” she teased him, shoving his arm lightly.

“Well… I dunno. Maybe a little.”

She smiled, jerking her head toward the band. “They’re not bad. Wanna dance?”

Jay swallowed hard, but pulled up a grin. “Sure. Ain’t much of a dancer.”

“Me neither.”

“Then I’ll make you look good darlin.”

She laughed, then grabbed his hand and dragged him out into the very center of the mayhem.

She had lied. She could dance. Either that or everything she did seemed perfect in Jay’s eyes- Which, he had to constantly remind himself, was probably more accurate.

“These guys aren’t bad!” she called over the music, leaning in closer and standing on her toes for a moment so that he could hear her. “I’m not normally into country, but they’re good!”

“Honey- what other kinda music is there?”

She laughed and Jay felt his face flush beyond belief as she dropped her hands down his back to fit them comfortably in his back pockets. Hoping she didn’t notice how nervous she was making him, he settled his hands on her waist and tried to follow the fluid motions she made.

“Hey- mind if I cut in?”

An tall boy who couldn’t have been any younger than eighteen sneered down at Jay, his eyes flicking obviously at anything on Zoey but her face. Seeing a flash of intimidated fear in her eyes, Jay set his jaw, shifting his weight to address the boy face to face.

“I do mind.”

The boy laughed, raising a cigarette to his lips and blowing the smoke into Jay’s face.

“Come on Jay- let’s go…”

“Oh you ain’t goin anywhere sweetheart.” The boy grinned down at her again, still ignoring anything above her neckline. “Come on Baby- just a dance. I ain’t askin you to strip.”

“Hey- back off would ya?” Jay felt a rush of heat that, for the first time all day, had nothing to do with Zoey’s proximity. He stood up as tall as he could, which wasn’t much of a threat to the boy’s six feet. “We’re leavin- alright? Don’t make this into somethin you don’t wanna finish here.”

The boy’s smirk hitched up another few degrees as he glanced Jay up and down. “Well maybe I do wanna start somethin. Question is, is this piece of ass worth it to you-“

Looking back, Jay had no idea what he was thinking. All he knew was that in what seemed like a split second, the older boy was on the ground, clutching his bleeding mouth and Jay’s own hand was burning and aching in a way he had never felt before.

“Jay!”

Zoey’s voice broke through the commotion caused by the boy falling and knocking into people around him.

“Jay! Come on! We have to get out of here!”

Snapping out of his momentary paralysis as the boy sat up, eyes furious, Jay grabbed the hand tugging at his sleeve and pulled Zoey through the crowd toward the parking lot. He could hear shouting and cursing, not far behind them, but didn’t dare look back to see how close the older boy was.