The Forever of Ella and Micha - By Jessica Sorensen Page 0,6
about them. It’s actually kind of annoying.” She shoots me a grin and I flip her the middle finger.
“Is it just old cars?” He makes a careful turn down the off-ramp. “Or is it cars in general?”
“Fast cars.” Like Micha’s poor Chevelle lying in pieces in his garage back home. May it rest in peace. “One’s that will kick ass in a race.”
He cuts me a sideways glance. “Now I’m starting to get concerned about letting you borrow my car.”
“I won’t race it.” I cross my heart with my finger. “I swear I’ll be easy on it.”
He winks at me. “Don’t worry, I trust you.”
The way he says it makes me uncomfortable and Lila gives me a knowing look in the rearview mirror.
We keep quiet for most of the drive. Blake doesn’t have the air on and the black leather seats get hot and stick to the back of my legs. When we pull up to his girlfriend’s house, which is in the suburbs where every house and yard looks similar, I’m sweating.
His girlfriend runs out of the house and throws her arms around him, nearly knocking him to the ground. She’s petite with red streaks in her hair and a piercing through her nose. She waves at us and then Blake backtracks to the trunk. Maneuvering over the console and into the driver’s seat, I pop the handle and he gets his suitcase out, before shutting it.
He walks around to the driver’s-side window and waits for me to roll it down.
“Be careful,” he reminds me in a serious tone and I nod.
Flashing me a grin, he heads off to the house as Lila dives over the console and into the front seat.
“Be careful,” she says in a low, mocking voice. “I’m trying to be so sexy.”
“He didn’t sound like that.” I pull out onto the street.
“You’re so blind.”
“And sometimes you see too much.”
I merge out onto the freeway and into the fast lane, but resist the urge to punch the pedal to the floor and get us there in half the time. Lila takes a nap with her head resting against the window and I bask in the peace of being on the road until we brink the edge of town, which glows against the night.
I nudge Lila’s shoulder to wake her up. “We’re here.”
She blinks her weary eyes and sits up in the seat. “What’s up? Where are we?”
“We’re in LA. Or on the outskirts of it anyway,” I say as her eyes sweep the towering buildings and the considerable amount of traffic in front of us. “Can you look up the address on your phone?”
She cracks her window, letting the warm air blow in. “Can’t you just call him and tell him you’re coming?”
“I want it to be a surprise.”
“Why? Are you trying to catch him doing something wrong, like, say, with Naomi?”
“No.” I flip on the blinker and check my mirror. “I trust Micha.”
“But you don’t trust her.” A large truck honks its horn and Lila glances out the window. “I don’t blame you. From the stories you’ve told me, she seems a little sketchy. In fact, maybe while we’re here, we could have a little talk with her.” She pops her knuckles and I bust up laughing.
“Oh my God, what have you been watching?” Tapping the brakes, I slow down the car to match the traffic.
“How to beat the girl who’s hitting on your best friend’s boyfriend.” She grins at me and retrieves the phone out of her purse. “What’s the name of the place?”
“The Slam,” I tell her and she arcs her eyebrows. “What? That’s what it’s called?”
“Are you sure it’s not called The Slam-er?” She laughs cleverly.
I roll my eyes. “Ha-ha. You’re so funny.”
She enters the location into the GPS and frowns at the long line of cars in front of us. “It says it’s like five miles into town… It’s going to take forever.”
My eyes narrow on the road as the traffic crawls forward. “No, it won’t.”
“Hey.” Lila stabs a finger at me, reeling in her seat. “You promised Blake you wouldn’t race his car.”
I down shift and the engine purrs to life. “I’m not going to race it. I’m just going to shoot the gaps.”
She secures her seatbelt over her shoulder. “I don’t even want to know what that means, but I swear to God, if we end up driving into the median, I’ll never talk to you again.”
“O ye of little faith.” I rev up the RPMs and swerve over