Haner to Save the Day

Jo sighed and rolled her eyes heavily. She questioned how she always seemed to involve herself in odd situations. She remembered months ago when her life was normal and a certain someone hadn’t invaded her peaceful way of life.

“You can’t make me go!” Veronica cried, hugging the bed post tighter. The young girl placed herself in a odd situation, sitting on the floor and attaching herself to her friend’s bedframe. If anyone walked into her room, she was sure her face would turn so red she could invent another shade.

Jo sighed, sitting cross-legged in front of Veronica. She opted for a gentler approach. “You’re being dramatic. Besides, don’t you want to go and have fun for once?”

Pursing her lips, Veronica decided in an instant—no she did not want to have fun. Jo still hadn’t shared where it was they intended to kidnap her. Maybe if it was only the two of them, even Nick, she would feel secure and safe; but the reality of the situation was Jimmy brought up the idea. As much as she loved Jimmy, she didn’t trust that he wouldn’t take them into potentially dangerous situations.

“You have to goooo,” Jo whined, jutting her bottom lip out. Clearly, speaking to Veronica like an adult wouldn’t get them anywhere. She needed to nag her ears off until she decided to go.

“I’m getting on your bed. My butt hurts,” Veronica muttered, finally removing herself from the post. Once she sat down on the bed, she looked nervously at Jo. “What do I say to my parents? I can’t lie to them.”

“Say you’re sleeping over here. They already know me so they won’t say no.”

“I can’t do it,” Veronica groaned. The risk was too much for her brain to comprehend. Though she could never picture her parents wasting their time at an illegal track meet, the possibility was too great. She couldn’t even ask her sister to help, not that she would want to help anyway.

Jo began pacing back and forth in her room. She was in a daze, forgetting Veronica was with her. “I’ll sweettalk your parents in Vietnamese…I’m really good at that. Then we’ll do your makeup and you can borrow my stuff. Nick’s gonna have to stay and keep watch. Then we’ll jump out the window and-”

“Hold on!” yelled Veronica. Jo looked over to her as though she had grown another head. “We’re not jumping out of anything!”

Jo rolled her eyes. “Relax. Jimmy can catch us. I do it all the time.”

An hour later, Jo smiled at herself for her many accomplishments. One, she spoke to Veronica’s parents and they obliged happily, wanting their daughter to spend more time with friends. Two, Veronica finally agreed on a hot outfit to wear to the race—a halter top and shorts. Three, Jo wrestled Veronica to the ground and did her makeup with a lot of yelling mixed in.

While Jo began getting ready, Veronica sat nervously on the bed. She wrapped little strands of her hair around her fingers and pulled, then repeated the process. It was a bad habit she always acted out when she was extremely stressed. So many things could go wrong and get her into trouble with her parents. She wasn’t sure what the punishment might be; she had never seen her parents punish Alana before. Would it be a stern conversation with them voicing their disappointment? Would they ground her and not let her work? Would they take Jack away forever? Either possibility, she shivered in fear and messed with her hair again.

“Stop doing that,” Jo sighed, placing her hand over Veronica’s hands. Jo looked down at Veronica’s lap and saw a bunch of little strands of hair. She was beginning to have doubts on whether she should continue persuading her friend to go out. However, she knew if she left the house by herself, Jimmy would be tremendously disappointed.

Not too long after, Nick tiptoed into the room, sliding inside like a snake. “Okay,” he said lowly. “Mom and dad are asleep. Brian called and said he’s outside. But make it quick!”

Veronica crept over to the window, peeping Brian standing in the grass with his hands in his pockets. He saw her figure in the window and waved. Narrowing her eyes, she turned away and sighed. She could feel this ending terribly. Before she could protest, Jo walked towards the window sill and opened it as wide as she could. She motioned for Veronica to follow her before she jumped out. Gasping, Veronica sprinted over, worried her friend somehow hurt herself. To her surprise, Jo was already on the ground, walking towards Brian’s car. Veronica could only groan; this meant she was the next one to jump. Closing her eyes, she jumped from the window, waiting for her death to crush her, but that feeling never arrived. Peeking one eye open, the first image she saw was Brian peering down at her with a small smile on his face.

“You’re not dead,” he chuckled, carrying her over to the car. She didn’t appreciate that he was treating her like a damsel in distress but decided to save her arguing for another moment. She also wanted to get away from her house as quickly as possible to lessen the opportunity for her parents to see her sneaking out.

“My, my. Fancy seein’ you here,” Jimmy quipped with a southern drawl.

Veronica giggled and punched his shoulder. “Stop being weird.”

“I need food to fuel the weird!” he yelled.

“We’ll go to the coffee place,” Brian muttered.

Somewhere between a few seconds and an eternity of an awkward silence did Jo wrap her left arm around Veronica’s shoulder and smirked at her. “So when are you gonna tell us about your date?”

Veronica felt her face betray her as she felt herself grow hot to the point she began using her hand to fan herself. She tried to move away to the other side of the car, but Jo’s grip on her was too strong. She didn’t like the interrogation and chose not to answer. She wasn’t going to kiss and tell, literally. As she began to plot different ways to sneak out of answering Jo’s question, Brian decided to chip in.

“Have you ever gone to a drag race?” She shook her head midway before realizing he probably couldn’t see her. “It’s fun. You bet on cars and win some money. I think you’ll like it.”

Finally, they Brian rolled up to the coffee shop he had searched for. Veronica almost didn’t notice Jimmy open her car door because she was so preoccupied of the wonderment of seeing a restaurant open so late at night. But as they neared closer to the front door, she could see there was a very long line of customers waiting to get their late-night fix. ‘I hope it’s good,’ she thought to herself as they began their wait in line.

Whether it was the buzz of the coffee or the anxiety, Veronica wasn’t sure, but she knew she was starting to feel nervous. Fully expecting expensive Italian and German cars, Veronica felt dismayed when all she saw were tricked out Hondas and some nicer Japanese cars. As she thought about it, it would’ve been silly to see such luxury cars in the back of a Toys R Us lot. The cars weren’t terribly expensive that it would hurt her heart if any of them crashed, but the drivers and their girlfriends seemed confident of their “babies” with their trash talking.

Seeing so many people who knew all about the races left Veronica feeling intimidated and nervous again. She looked down at her cup of frozen coffee before taking long sips.

“Does anyone want any?” Veronica asked, knowing Jimmy would probably steal her drink somewhere down the line. Brian was the only one who accepted, trying to take it away from her. “Get your own!” she screamed and jogged away from him with her cup of coffee. Brian laughed and ran after her, effectively catching her.

“Hot potato!” Jimmy yelled, opening his arms as Brian threw her to him.

Veronica screeched, holding onto her friend for dear life. “I’m gonna throw up!”

Jo sighed and shook her head. “We’re missing the races!”

“Roger that. Superman away!” Jimmy announced, running with Veronica clinging onto him to the crowds of people.

Eventually, the battles began. Each race lasted all of ten seconds. Before each began, everyone made bets except for Veronica. It took annoying coaxing to convince her to try it out, leading to her winning the smallest pool available: five bucks. Veronica continued for about four more pools before she was satisfied with good chunk of 100 dollars in her pocket. While she was finished for the night, the other three weren’t. And, the coffee wasn’t helping her stay awake like she hoped it would. She looked around for Jimmy, hoping to use him as a pillow, but she only saw Brian sitting on a nearby bench. Deciding she could hate him a little less for one night, she rested her head on his shoulder. The last thing she remembered before fully falling asleep was Brian screaming, “Ha ha, my coffee now!”