Chapter 14

Was he getting closer? He sounded like he was getting closer. When I started to look back, I tripped. On what, I didn't know. Probably my own feet.

My hands and knees slammed the pavement. Before I could push myself up, the guy grabbed me from behind, and lifted me up into the air. I screamed and kicked, but he didn't put me down. Laughing like a maniac, he tucked me under his arm and started running toward the car.

I was crying now and screaming all kinds of things at him, words I knew I shouldn't be saying. But nothing made him stop. When we reached that one shopping cart, he tossed me into it. I tried to get up, but he shoved me back down. Pressing down on my shoulder, he pushed the cart tight against the car like he'd done with all the other carts.

He turned and gave the driver a thumbs-up. Then, he took a step backwards, out of the way. The engine roared.

I screamed.

And then, something happened.

Something dark and fast slammed into the guy with long hair.

It was another guy, a teenager from the looks of him. He had dark hair, dark clothes, and a dark look on his face, like he was ready to kill someone. He slammed the guy against the hood of the car and punched him hard in the face.

The long-haired guy tried to fight back, but all he did was look stupid, swatting at punches like he was fighting a giant bug or something. He started yelling for help. His voice was different now, all high and whiny. He sounded scared. I was glad.

The car-engine shut off, and the driver got out. He had red hair and lots of freckles, but he still looked at least eighteen, or maybe older. He dove for the guy in black, trying to pull him off his friend.

The guy in black elbowed the redhead in his face and did some crazy kick thing that sent the redhead flying backwards. The redhead landed on in a funny heap and then rolled over on his hands and knees.

"Fuck!" the redhead said. "What's your problem, man?"

The guy in black didn't answer. Instead, he turned to me. "You okay?" he asked.

I tried to answer, but I couldn’t. He was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. And he'd rescued me. Just like in the movies. I wiped at my eyes, hoping they weren't too wet. And then I nodded.

The long-haired guy was still lying in the hood of the car. His mouth was all bloody, and so was his nose. He pushed himself up and said, "Jeez Jake! What'd you freak out for? She's okay. It's not like we did anything to her."

Oh wow. So they knew each other?

Slowly, Jake turned to face the long-haired guy. "What?" Jake said.

With a big, dramatic groan, the long-haired guy pushed himself up from the car. He shook his head, and a big chunk of hair stuck to the blood on his face. He looked stupider than before, and I wanted to laugh. But I was afraid to laugh, because then I might start crying again. And I didn't want to cry in front of him, that Jake guy.

"Aw c'mon," the long-haired guy said. He shoved the clump of soggy hair aside and tucked it behind his ear. "We were just teasing her." He gave me a big, fake smile. "No big deal. You thought it was fun. Right?"

"No," I said. "I thought it sucked."

Jake made a small laughing sound.

The redhead pushed himself up from the pavement. He was cussing, mostly under his breath. But he yelled out, "What the fuck is she?" His voice got all snotty. "Your girlfriend or something?"

Still sitting in the shopping cart, I felt myself smile. It would be nice to be Jake's girlfriend. He was really cute. Like a movie star, all dark and handsome, and really strong.

"No," Jake told him. "She's a girl, you asshole."

So he noticed? That was good. My smile got a teeny bit bigger.

"And a kid," Jake continued.

I stopped smiling. Hey, I wasn't a little kid or anything. Next year, I'd be a teenager. Then, we'd be practically the same age.

Jake turned toward the long-haired guy and said, "So you're picking on kids now? What the fuck's wrong with you?" He glanced toward me. "Sorry."

Sitting in the cart, I straightened up at tall as possible. "You don't have to be sorry," I told him. "I've heard that word lots of times. And you know what? I said it too." I nodded. "Just a few minutes ago."

Jake smiled at me, and my stomach felt all fluttery. His smile was a lot better than Jeremy DeFoe's. "Good job," Jake said. He held out his arms. "Wanna get out?"

Before I could think about it, I pushed myself up and practically leapt into his arms. He felt really nice and smelled good too. But then, he set me down next to the cart.

He turned back to the two guys. "Alright," Jake said, "which one of you wants to go first?"

The two guys looked at each other. The redhead took a step backward. "What do you mean?" he said.

Jake pointed to the shopping cart. "Get in," he said.

The redhead took another step backward. "No way."

Jake turned to the long-haired guy, who stood a lot closer. "How about you?" Jake asked.

The long-haired guy swallowed. He shook his head. He glanced toward the car. "Uh, we gotta go," he said.

Jake turned to me. "You wanna see them go for a ride?"

I didn't even have to think about it. I nodded.

Jake started walking toward the long-haired guy, who said in a high, whiny voice, "Seriously, Jake! Quit messin' around!"

"I'm not messing," Jake said. He gripped the guy by his shirt and said in a quiet, but kind of scary voice. "Now get in. Or I'll put you in."

The long-haired guy glanced at the shopping cart, and then, he turned to his friend. He gave a nervous-sounding laugh. "Can you believe this shit?" he asked.

The redhead looked at his car. He looked at Jake. And then, a split-second later, he dove into the car and powered up the engine. The car squealed backwards, turned sideways, and sped out of the parking lot like two seconds later.

The long-haired guy stared after the car. His mouth fell open, and his head tilted sideways. The wet clump of hair flopped over his mouth, giving him a weird fake moustache.

I heard myself giggle.

Jake turned to the give the guy a long look. "We're waiting," Jake said.

The guy's shoulders sagged, and then he started trudging toward the cart. With a huge, overdramatic sigh, he grabbed the edge of the shopping cart and climbed in. He was kind of tall, and his long legs flopped over the sides. He looked really stupid.

Jake turned to me. "You wanna push?" he asked.

I gave it some thought and then nodded.

"Okay," Jake said, "What you gotta do is this. Grab the handle, run as fast as you can toward those bushes." He pointed at the big green bushes that lined the walkway in front of the skating rink. "Then, when you're almost there, let go." He smiled at me. "Okay?"

The guy in the cart gave another big sigh. "This is such bullshit," he said.

Jake turned toward him. "What's that?" he asked.

The guy rolled his eyes. "Nothin'"

"I thought so," Jake said.

Jake gave me another smile. "Whenever you're ready," he said.

I walked toward the shopping cart and grabbed the handle with both hands.

"Don't chicken out on me," Jake said. "Alright?"

Nodding, I gave the cart a little push. It was a lot heavier than I expected, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. I leaned forward and pushed it as hard as I could. It moved faster, and I started to run.

I ran as fast as I could toward the bushes. The guy was holding on to the sides of the cart with both hands, and his long hair was flying behind him. When I got close to the bushes, I let go of the handle. The cart sailed forward, and the guy gave a little girlie scream. A split-second later, it crashed into the bushes and fell over. Muttering stuff under his breath, the guy crawled out and stumbled to his feet.

He looked over toward Jake, who was walking across the parking lot toward us. The long-haired guy put his hands around his mouth and hollered out, "Alright. I did it. You happy now?"

"Ask her if she's happy," Jake called back.

With another big sigh, the guy turned toward me. "You happy?" he said.

Well, I was a lot happier than I was a few minutes ago. "I guess so," I said.

"Good. Because I'm outta here." He turned, and stomped away, heading away from the roller-skating rink. When he disappeared around a corner, I turned back around.

Jake was standing behind me now. "I'll tell you a secret," he said.

I looked up at him. "What?"

"Remember the guy with the red hair?"

The driver. Oh yeah. I remembered, alright. I nodded.

Jake grinned. "I know where he hangs out."

"Really?" I said.

"Yeah." Jake leaned down until our heads were nearly at the same level. "And you know what?"

"What?" I asked.

"Tonight, I'm gonna pay him a little visit."

I smiled up at him. "Really?"

"Really," he said. "But you've got to promise me something."

"What?" I said.

"You're not gonna hang out here alone anymore."

"I wasn't supposed to be alone," I told him. "My mom's just late. That's all."

He frowned. "Want me to wait with you?"

"Okay." My face was feeling a little hot. "I mean, if you really want to."

He didn't answer, which kind of bummed me out, because it would have been nice to hear that he wanted to stay. But he did wait with me, just like he said. He walked toward the building and leaned against it.

He looked really cool. I did the same thing. I probably didn't look as cool as he did, but I still felt cool, hanging out with someone like him.

He didn't say a lot, but he listened to me when I talked. And then, way too soon, now that I was actually had someone to wait with, my mom's car pulled into the parking lot. With a sigh, I turned to tell Jake goodbye.

But I couldn’t. He was gone.

It made me sad. I couldn’t remember thanking him, but I should have. If I saw him again, I definitely would. And someday, when I was older, maybe I'd even marry him. The idea made me smile.

I was still smiling when my mom rolled down the car window and said, "Sorry I'm late. Can you believe I completely forgot?"

Oh yeah. I definitely believed it. I walked around the car and opened the passenger door. I got inside. That's when I saw that the knees of my jeans were all torn up, probably from when I fell. One of my knees had a big bloody scrape that had leaked blood all over the torn fabric. Funny, I hadn't even noticed.

Even funnier, neither did my mom. Normally, that bothered me. But not today. Just before she drove out of the parking lot, she turned to me and asked, "Did you have fun?"

I gave it some thought and felt a giant smile spread across my face. "Oh yeah," I said. "Best time ever."

And I meant it.

After that, Jake had a funny way of turning up on Saturday afternoons when I was stuck waiting. I never told my mom about him. I never told my sister either. Somehow, I knew she wouldn't like me hanging out with a boy so much older.

Later, when I got a little older, I started running into Jake at other places too – sometimes at the beach, sometimes at other spots around town. Sometimes, he'd let me hang out with him and his friends. Either he liked having me there, or he just didn't know how to make me go away – at least, not until a few years later.