“You stupid bitch!” Calvin yells.
I sag into the steering wheel in relief. Ok, he’s alive.
Then panic sets in. I throw the car ingear, this time making sure it’s in Drive, and peel out, burning rubber and squealing tires as I go.
“Ellie!” Liv screams, holding onto the dash as I speed toward Travis’s. “Stop, you have to check on him!”
“Fuck that guy!” Pacey shouts. “Go, go, go!”
I can’t think or speak. I just keep driving, trying not to kill us as I fly down the road.
65
TRAVIS
We’re outside,bullshitting, when I hear the sound of my car barreling down the street. What the…Everyone goes silent, watching as Ellie fishtails like the Dukes of fucking Hazard into my driveway. Jesus Christ.
She jumps out, and I head right for her. “What the hell, Ellie?” But when I see her face, I straighten. Her eyes are massive as she rushes to me, bare feet slapping against the pavement. My nerves shoot up. “What’s wrong?”
She scratched it.
I take a calming breath. It’s just a car. I can paint over it. As long as she’s ok.
“I hit something! I’m sorry!”
My chest inflates with a heavy sigh.
“Ellie!” Liv screams, face pale.
My eyes dart between the girls.
“The fuck is going on?” Penn asks, rushing to Olivia, who instantly clings to him.
Ellie stares at me, her lips pinched tightly in a worried smile.
“May?”
“I ran over Calvin!” she cries, throwing her body into mine.
I tense, wrapping an arm around her back. “What?”
“I accidentally backed into him in the parking lot. I didn’t mean to!”
“Jesus Christ,” Tanner says.
“Uh, is he ok?” Liam asks. He’s probably the only one who cares. Well, he and Liv.
Ellie shrugs, her face still buried in my chest as her fingers dig into my shirt like I’m her lifeline.
“He was fiiine,” Pacey says, brushing it off like it was nothing.
“We left him lying there!” Liv shrieks. “We don’t know!”
“Where?” I ask.
“Whole Foods,” Ellie mumbles.
I pull back, bringing her eyes to mine. “Give me the keys. I’ll take care of it.” She nibbles on her lip, but I hold my hand out, and she reluctantly drops them in my palm. “It’s okay.” I kiss her before jogging to the car.
