Page 43 of Crash into me
It’s dark out, and a sheen of red and blue lights are pulsating from the treetops down the curvy stretch of road. In perfect timing, we dip into a small clearing just as three cop cars pass by, blaring their sirens.
But we didn’t anticipate the blue lights of a cop car shining over Foster’s matte black frame. “Hold on!” he shouts, peeling out onto the road.
I peek back, watching as two of the cars whip around. The other disappears from sight, heading towards the house.
“We’re going to run,” Foster tells me. I’m reminded of his rap sheet, the one Kent so blazingly laid out in front of me. I wonder if now he’ll make good on his threats.
But me and Foster will have to figure that out together.
“I think that’s obvious,” I shout, my body filling with adrenaline while his shoulders shake from laughter.
I don’t want to see the odometer, but I do. We rise from fifty, to sixty, to seventy, topping out at ninety-five on the dark, winding road. But I’m not scared, I’m free.
His head is intently looking forward, and luckily there are no cars out. The sirens grow distant as we zip away from them. “Are you scared?” he asks.
“No!”Never with you. I can speak my mind now. “Never with you!” I yell.
We come close to running away, but another cop comes wheeling from the opposite direction. He must have taken backroads to meet us here.
“Shit.”
Foster slows as the car gets closer. I look behind, finding no sign of the others. “What are you doing?” The adrenaline from the ride and the speed didn’t scare me, but getting arrested does.
He pats my knee carefully, letting me know everything will be okay. The window rolls down, and an angry looking officer is behind the wheel. “You better hurry up and get the fuck out of here before those fucking cops get you!” He laughs, his name plate reading Barnes.
Foster shakes his head. “We’re going. Tell them we went down Sycamore.”
Barnes clicks his radio, repeating what Foster said.
“Let’s get somewhere safe, Freckles,” he tells me, turning to tap my helmet.
19
It seems obvious that we would come here of all places.
No one will ever find us here.
I’m anxious seeing the tree and the scar I left on its bark from the crash. Foster’s eyes graze it, but only for a moment. I don’t know why we keep returning to something that hurts us, but we do.
We park the bike behind our tree. He grabs a bag and covers the bike with greenery, and we sink into the wood line, laughing the whole time.
My feet touch the sand, and I’m instantly transported to endless summer nights here with him. Tonight turned out so much differently than I had anticipated.
Everything is better now, set in stone. Nothing can take me away from him, not anymore. Thank God for Warren.
Foster scoops me up, carrying me towards the ocean.
“Foster!” I shout playfully.
“God, I missed you,” he breathes, carefully maneuvering to throw my phone from my pocket and his keys onto the sand.
Then, he throws me in the water. I peel off my wet clothes and dive back in as he gets undressed and throws a blanket from his bag onto the sand. I’m only wearing a bra and underwear, with the moon cascading over the obsidian water.
I melt as he walks in, slow and steady. “Foster—” He cuts me off with a finger to my lips.
“No explanations tonight. Tonight is for us. But…” He pauses for a moment. “Skyler, you need to stop setting yourself on fire to comfort everyone else.”
I nod. “Okay.”