Chapter 13

It was the summer I turned twelve, and I was standing outside the roller-skating rink, waiting for my mom to pick me up. She was late. She was always late. I hated that.

The rink had closed a half-hour ago, and I was the only kid left. But I wasn't scared. It wasn't nighttime, and I didn't see any strangers, so I was pretty sure it would be okay.

I looked around. The parking lot was huge and empty. No cars. No trucks. No people at all. I liked it a lot better when the roller rink first closed. Then, there were lots of cars and parents too.

Now, there was just me and a bunch of shopping carts, maybe ten or twenty of them. It was hard to tell for sure, because they weren't lined up or anything. It was kind of weird, because this wasn't even a grocery store.

In a way, I wished this were a grocery store. Then, I could go inside and wait by the candy machines, watching shoppers go in and out. It would be a whole lot better than waiting here all by myself.

I bit my lip. Was my mom ever coming? I waited some more and tried to think about other things. I counted the shopping carts. There were sixteen. Most were near the back of the parking lot, where nobody ever parked. Four of the carts were standing up, and twelve carts were knocked over.

After counting the shopping carts, I counted the number of parking spots. There were ninety-two. No wonder the lot felt so big. And it was feeling bigger and lonelier every minute.

I tried to think of something else, like Jeremy DeFoe. Today, he'd asked me to skate for a slow song. He was cute and a really good skater, but his hands were clammy. Or maybe my hands were clammy. It was kind of hard to tell for sure.

Too bad Jeremy wasn't here now. It would be nice to wait with someone.

I glanced around. There was a party store across the street. It didn't look very nice, but they probably had a phone. Maybe they'd let me use it. I could call my mom and remind her that I was here, waiting.

I had to call her a lot. Sometimes, when she dropped me off places, she forgot completely. Maybe this was one of those times.

If only my sister could drive, she'd come and get me for sure. But she was only fourteen, and besides, she wasn't even home today. She was at a friend's house, working on some big summer project for one of her honors classes.

If she were home, she'd definitely remind my Mom. Selena remembered everything. I tried to smile. Even if my Mom forgot, my sister never did.

Maybe I should run across the street to the party store. It wasn't that far away. But the street was super-busy. If I ran over there, and my mom came while I was gone, I'd get in big trouble. Or she'd drive away and forget me all over again.

I stuck my hands in the pockets of my jeans and waited some more. She still didn't come.

But suddenly, a bright orange sports car squealed into the parking lot. It wasn't new or anything, but it was super cool. It had big tires and a huge spoiler on the back. The windows were tinted really dark, and loud music blasted from the inside.

The car roared past me, heading to the back of the parking lot, by all those shopping carts. The car squealed to a stop, and the passenger door flew open. Some guy, maybe twenty years old, jumped out. He had long brown hair and bushy eyebrows, and he didn't look very nice.

He wheeled one of the shopping carts to the front of the car. He pushed the cart snug against the car's front bumper, so the car and the shopping cart faced the same direction.

He jumped back inside the car and slammed the door behind him. A second later, the car roared forward, pushing the shopping cart crazy-fast. The car slammed on its brakes, and the shopping cart went flying ahead, rolling faster as anything until it slammed into a dumpster and toppled over on its side.

Over the music, I heard laughter, loud and kind of scary, like they'd gone crazy or something. The car squealed backward to its original spot, and the same guy got out. He did the same thing as before, and another shopping cart went flying, this one straight into the side of the building.

They did this a few more times, sending carts all over the place. Staying close to the bushes, I edged toward them for a closer look.

The long-haired guy got out again and put another cart in front of the car. But this time, the car didn't move for a long time. And when it finally did, it drove the cart forward really slow, toward me.

I stood very still, not knowing what to do. Should I run? I looked around. I was a fast runner, but I couldn’t outrun a car. And if I did run, would they chase me? I definitely didn't want be chased, at least not by that car.

Before I could decide, the car pulled right up next to me and stopped. The shopping cart rolled just a few feet ahead, and then stopped without crashing into anything. The long-haired guy leaned the passenger window and said, "Hey, wanna have some fun?"

He said it all funny, like whatever he was thinking wouldn't be fun at all.  I took a step backward. "I can't," I said. "My mom will be here any second." Please be here any second. Please, please, please…

"Ooooh," he said in a snotty voice, "so you're waiting for your mommy?"

I glared at him. "I didn't say 'mommy'. I said 'mom.'"

"Well she's not here now," the guy said. "Wanna go for a ride?"

By now, my heart was beating so loud that I could almost hear it. I wanted to run. But if they were just teasing, I'd look like stupid, like a little kid. I wasn't little. I was in junior high.

Besides, where would I run? I glanced around. The stores on both sides were all boarded up, and the party store was all the way across that busy street.

So instead, I gave the guy a dirty look and said, "Leave me alone, butt-head."

The guy burst into laughter.

"Oh come on," he said. "Just a little ride."

"I can't," I said. "Now, go away."

This made him laugh some more. "Aw, why not?" he said.

My hands were sweaty, a lot more sweaty than when I'd been skating with Jeremy. I gave the guy another dirty look. "Because I can't get in a stranger's car. That's why."

"Oh, I'm not talking about the car" He gave me a big fake-looking smile. "I'm talking about the cart."

I looked toward the shopping cart. If the guy didn't seem so crazy, or if the carts didn't crash, it might have been fun.

I liked things that went fast. It was part of the reason I loved to roller skate. But this was totally different.

I pointed toward the party store. "Uh, I see my mom now," I said. "I've gotta go." I turned and started walking toward the road. And then, I couldn’t help it. My feet started to run. Behind me, I heard footsteps, and they were getting closer.