Fighting Fate (6 page)

The sound of raindrops pounding against the roof of her car faded off a bit. If she was going to walk, now was the time. If she didn’t get moving, it was going to be dark soon. As her fingers wrapped around the door handle, the glare of headlights crested over the slight hill behind her. She let out a little sigh of relief. Perhaps she wouldn’t have to walk, or face potential criminals on the highway after all.

Her relief was short lived as the car sped closer, then slowed. She recognized the vehicle. Anyone from Laurel likely would. It belonged to Darren Montgomery. Sarah was suddenly wishing she’d taken her chances along the road ahead.

Her stomach knotted up with dread and she found herself cringing when the car slowed. Even in the fading light she could see that the green paint had mos a aint hatly been eaten away by rust. The car chugged so loudly she wasn’t sure if it had a muffler attached at all.

Slinking down in her seat, her heart rate quickened. She wanted—
needed
—help. She was just sure that Darren Montgomery was not the kind of person to offer it. If he was stopping, it wasn’t likely that it was out of the goodness of his heart. Not that she knew him well, but she was somewhat doubtful he even had a heart.

He was a senior but he had a notoriously bad reputation that had trickled down through the school so even a sophomore like herself was aware of it. It was a reputation that included an arrest record for drinking, a history of suspension for fighting and a trail of bitter, angry girls. If rumors were correct there was also a trail of not so bitter but rather
willing
girls. He was probably the last person she wanted to see right now.

She wasn’t afraid of him. Not exactly. It was more that she was enormously intimidated.

“Just keep driving,” she muttered to him under her breath. Suddenly a trek on the deserted road didn’t seem so bad. “Or not,” she conceded as the car braked to a stop.

Already her mind was skipping ahead. She wasn’t so sure she would get into a car with Darren. It just didn’t seem like a real wise thing to do. Not that she was sure he would even offer. Maybe he was just stopping out of morbid curiosity. She was sure he didn’t recognize her car but the fact that there had been an accident couldn’t be any more apparent. Not when her car was off-kilter in a ditch, wedged against a tree. And more likely than not, she realized he could probably make out her silhouette through the window.

Maybe she’d get lucky and he’d just allow her to use his cell phone.

That thought immediately snapped her into a better frame of mind. When a figure emerged from the car, she steeled herself for the impending confrontation. He hurried toward her. His chin was lowered to his chest, his shoulders scrunched up against the endless rain. A baseball cap and the rain streaming down her window obscured her view of him.

His pace quickened as he neared the car. She rolled down the window in time to catch a glimpse of him from the neck down. The upper half of his body was hidden by the roof of her car. A gust of wind blowing through the open window caused her to shiver.

“Hey!” she heard him say. “Are you okay?”

Before she could answer, he knelt down, peering through the open window. Long, dark hair curled around the edges of his cap. Dark blue eyes were crinkled around the edges, his concern evident.

“Cole.” Her voice was laced with relief, surprise and still a bit of trepidation. While Cole’s reputation wasn’t nearly as bad as his brother’s, she was still unsure of him.

“Sarah?” he said, sounding equally surprised.

“How do you know my name?” she wondered. EveHeyonderedryone knew who Cole was. She didn’t figure anyone knew who she was.

He cocked his head at her. “You’re kidding, right? Our school’s not
that
big.” He squinted his midnight blue eyes at her. His lips had turned down, frowning as he swung his gaze away, taking another look at her car. “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head.

He glanced back at her. “What happened?”

“I hit a deer,” she explained. “And then I hit a tree. Now my car won’t start. And I forgot my phone.”

“But you’re okay?” he demanded.

“I’m fine.” Her body had begun to ache and her nerves were frazzled. Her parents were going to be mad. She was going to be without a car for she didn’t even know how long. And most likely, the deer was dead by now. To her horror, she was on the edge of a crying fit. She was
not
fine. She didn’t know Cole well enough to admit that to him. He was a year older and while his reputation was better than that of his brother, it was still far from stellar.

“Can I maybe use your cell phone?” she asked.

His jacket was becoming soaked. Still squatting outside of her window, he shrugged. “Don’t have one. But I could give you a ride somewhere…?”

How could he not have a cell phone
? She wondered. A quick glance behind him at the rusted car that he was driving, a car that wasn’t even his, made her realize maybe he couldn’t afford a cell phone. She instantly felt bad for asking.

“A ride?” she echoed.

“A ride,” he confirmed as he hitched a thumb over his shoulder. “You know, in the car?”

She debated for a few seconds too long and he hoisted himself back up to his full height again.

“If you haven’t noticed, I’m getting drenched,” he said as he backed away. “So I’m going to the car. If you think you might want a ride, you better decide pretty damn quick. I have somewhere I need to be.”

He quickly climbed the slope leading out of the ditch. Sarah grabbed her backpack, threw her door open and scrambled after him.

“Thanks,” she said as she slumped down in the passenger seat.

“No problem.” He glanced over at her and frowned. “I thought you said you weren’t hurt.”

“I’m not.”

He twisted the rearview mirror her direction and then ran his thumb across her cheek, right over the scrape from the tree branch. His touch made her shiver, probably because his fingers were so chilled.

“Oh that. That’s nothing,” she said, grimacing at the sight of her own blood. Gross.dthlood. G She pulled off her gloves before she hastily dug through her backpack for her package of tissues. “Just a scrape from a branch.”

He shrugged and then put the rearview mirror back into the proper position.

“Where to?” he asked as he started the car.

“I live on Maple Street,” she said. “Is that too far out of your way?”

“It’s fine.” He pulled back onto the road and they rode in silence for several long, uncomfortable minutes.

“What are you doing out here?” Sarah finally asked. “You don’t live down this way, do you?” Cassie had never mentioned it.

“No. I was just dropping Darren off at a hunting shack. It’s…it’s that way,” he said vaguely as he motioned back the way he’d come.

“What is he hunting this time of year?” Sarah asked with a frown.

Cole raised his eyebrows at her but remained silent.

Oh, right
, Sarah thought.
Hunting is probably the last thing they use the shack for
. She fought back a shudder of unease as she tried not to think about the myriad of questionable activities that could be taking place there.

Cole reached for a knob on the dashboard. “Are you warm enough? The heater in here sucks.”

“I’m fine,” she said. “Thanks for stopping. I’m sorry about your clothes. I mean, I’m sorry you got drenched. Are you going somewhere important?” As if that was any of her business, she realized.

“I’m heading in to work. It’s not a big deal. Sometimes Darren lives out of his car. I think there’s a change of clothes in the backseat somewhere,” he said.

“Where do you work?” she asked.

He flicked a glance her way. “Keeler’s Lumberyard. Actually, Darren was supposed to work tonight. They’re doing inventory after hours. I’m covering for him. That’s the only reason he lets me drive his car.”

Sarah was quiet again after that. She didn’t want to seem nosy by asking too many questions. Yet making small talk with boys wasn’t exactly something she had a lot of experience with.

“So what were you doing out this way?” Cole finally asked, breaking the silence.

“My friend Cassie lives down the road. We stayed after school because we volunteer in the Tutoring Center. I had just dropped her off when the deer ran out,” Sarah explained.

“The Tutoring Center, huh?” Cole asked with a smirk. “You one of those brainy girls?”

Sarah blinked at him, unsure of how to answer. If she said yes, would that sound conceited? If she said no, would that imply that she thought of herself as stupid? Wait, by ‘brainy’ did he mean…
nerdy
?! If that’s what he meant, that was just plain mean.

“Or maybe you aren’t,” he decided. “Not if it takes you that long to answer a simple question.”

“I’m not a nerd.” Oh god…had she said that out loud? Please. No.

When he burst out laughing, she knew she had. “Whatever you say, Sarah.”

He was still chuckling as he glanced over at her. When his eyes slid over her body, the action took her by surprise. Suddenly she thought he was wrong. The heater in the car worked plenty well. Perhaps too well, even.

“Right or left?” he asked.

“Hmm?” Sarah wondered.

“We’re at Maple Street. Do I turn right or left?” Cole slowly asked.

“Left,” she muttered. She hadn’t been paying attention. She had been too flustered over the look he’d given her to think about anything else. She hadn’t realized that they were almost to her house.

“Are you sure about that?” he asked.

She glanced at him, not liking one bit how his eyes glittered with humor. He didn’t wait for an answer as he took a left. Obviously, he’d been teasing. She decided then that he’d probably gone from thinking she was brainy to thinking she was an imbecile.

“It’s that one. The gray one,” Sarah said as she pointed. She was already taking off her seatbelt and preparing to launch herself out of the car. First the accident, then riding with Cole. She had never, in all of her life, been so relieved to get home.

*
*
*
*
*

Her parents had taken the news of her accident far better than she had thought they would. Of course, they had repeatedly let her know how grateful they were that she was okay. That was followed by a lengthy sermon regarding the purpose of her cell phone. She endured the lecture without complaint because she knew they were right. From here on out, she would do a better job of keeping track of it. She didn’t want to find herself in a circumstance similar to yesterday’s. Not ever again.

Having to accept a ride from Cole? That was a situation she never would’ve imagined herself in.

Cole.

After she had dashed into her house, she realized that she’d been too flustered to properly thank him. That was unfortunate because hunting him down at school was not an option. She figured he wouldn’t be too thrilled if she approached him.

Not that she would.

She had spotted him once that morning. He’d been in front of her, halfway down the hallway. Toy hallwa her surprise, a swatch of hot pink had flashed into view as other students darted around him. The splash of color was hanging out of his back pocket. She tried not to think about what that hot pink could be.

She had other more important things to think about.

Such as the regrettable paper that was in her hands.

She was frowning as she stood in front of her locker, right before lunch. Her frustrated gaze swept over the assignment. She was mentally chastising herself over it when it was plucked from her grip.

“A C-?
You
?” he asked, nearly choking on the laugh that accompanied his words. “Didn’t you say you were a tutor?”

She looked offended when she said, “I tutor English. Not American History.” She glanced around to see if anyone had overheard Cole blurt out her embarrassing grade. She reached toward him, easily plucking the paper out of
his
hands this time.

“Oh, touchy about that, huh?” he asked with a cocky grin. “Maybe the tutor needs a bit of tutoring.”

“Why? Are you offering?”

He shrugged. “Sure.”

She rolled her eyes at him because she couldn’t think of a retort. She turned away so she could tackle her locker combination, and so she could hide her nervousness. Over her shoulder she said, “Did you need something?”

She had no idea why he had approached her. She’d been unprepared and now her hands were trembling slightly.

“No, but I thought you might.”

She turned around to face him again. He pulled a pair of hot pink gloves out of his back pocket.

She reached for them, realizing she had obviously dropped them during her hasty exit. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

And as long as he was standing there she said, “And thanks for the ride yesterday too.”

“No problem. Were your parents pissed?”

She glanced around, cringing. She didn’t want to get into trouble because he was using inappropriate language in the hallway. She scowled at him and he grinned.

“No, they weren’t
mad
.”

“That’s cool,” Cole said.

She nodded, unable to think of anything to say. Until yesterday, she’d never really paid much attention to Cole. She knew who he was by sight, of course. But she hadn’t realized that his eyes were such a deep blue. Orlemeep blu that when he smiled, his eyes took on a sparkle. She really hadn’t realized that standing so close to him would cause an unprecedented fluttering in her stomach.

Nor had she realized it would render her speechless.

She continued to stand there, staring, feeling more mortified by the second. With great effort, she pulled her eyes off of him. She dared a glance around, wondering if anyone was watching as she made a complete fool of herself. She grimaced because people were milling about everywhere.

“Well then, Miss Chatty, I’ll see you around,” he said. She simply nodded. He walked a few steps before he turned around. To her embarrassment, she was still staring after him. He didn’t seem to mind. “Hey,” he said, “I wasn’t joking about the tutoring. I bet there’s a whole lot I could teach a girl like you.”