three || two-seaters & texas

Ramona

Getting out of the mall was easier than I expected, the amount of Losers we came into contact with I could count on both my hands. Standing at the spinning door, I watched the decorative plants outside move slightly, indicating there was a small breeze, something I couldn't wait to feel on my dry skin.

I felt a hand on the small of my back and looked back to see Wolf. He had given the bags to Bear and Junior when we were in front of a bigger than life looking Loser - or Corpse as they referred to it.

He nodded his head to the others, who were already outside and moving to a blue van. "You scared?" He asked me.

I shrugged and pushed my left hand into a side pocket of my bag, removing a set of car keys. I held it up to show him.

"You wanna take your car?" The corner of his mouth lifted and I nodded. "Got a'lotta gas?" I nodded, remembering the liters I had in the trunk. He smiled, "Then we's can ye car."

He nudged me softly and I started moving to the door, pushing on the handle to walk the circle out,Wolf following closely. I froze as I felt the first actual fresh air in almost a month hit my face, my hair flying out behind me in waves.

Wolf chuckled, "Is gotta feel amazin' to ya."

I smiled a toothy grin and continued walking to the parking lot where I found my car sitting in the same spot I left it in. Pressing the button on my keychain, the silver Audi TT Cooper unlocked. I turned to Wolf and raised my eyebrows in question, Will you ride with me?

He followed me with a curt nod to the car and I threw him the keys. He caught it and looked back to the van. Lioness stood by the passenger door. "Are you driving with her?" She called. Wolf nodded.

She walked to us, "I'll come with."

Wolf held his hand up and shook his head, "It's a two-seater."

Lioness pouted and stomped her blue sneakers against the tar. Wolf shook his head, "Get in the van, Vessie."

She huffed and stormed back to the van. Wolf looked at me again, "Sorry about tha', she's like tha' sometimes."

I shrugged lightly, letting him know it's cool.

He nodded softly and clicked his tongue, opening the car door. I opened mine and got in, putting my bags down at my feet. Wolf started the engine and suddenly loud music enveloped the car. I winced and turned the volume nob to the left, giving Wolf a shy smile.

He pulled out of the spot and drove out of the mall parking lot. He smiled at me, "Why don'tcha put that music on again, just'a bit softa?"

I nodded and turned the volume up again, letting the song play from the start. After the guitar intro played, I could hear Wolf's raspy Southern drawl softly sing along to the song.

He looked at me, "This is probably my favourite Rainbow Kitten Surprise song." I smiled and he smiled back, "First Class, am I right?"

I nodded and held my hand to my heart. He saw and asked, "This your favourite?"

I nodded with a smile.

He turned the volume up more and I let my head against the window as the song played, making me feel as if I'm in a music video.

I looked into the side mirror and saw the van behind us, following my car.

Suddenly the Audi abruptly stopped. I looked up to see a Loser in the road, eating away at a lump of meat on the ground. Wolf put his hand at the back of my headrest and reversed. He drove forward again, driving past the Loser. It looked up as we passed, our eyes locking for a moment. The glassed over dead look in its eyes made me remember what I took for granted.

I pulled my iPhone SE from my leather jacket and plugged it into the car. The small drained battery icon showed up and I sighed, knowing it's charging.

"Wha's the point of tha'?" Wolf questioned.

I looked at him and then away. Hating the fact that I couldn't speak. I wanted to tell him, that it was the only way I can communicate without signing or writing. But my vocal chords didn't vibrate the way it should. Instead, a soft desperate gasp left my chapped lips.

Wolf's eyes widened and shrunk again. "M'sorry," he apologized.

I frowned.

His cheeks reddened and he chuckled, "I keep askin' you questions, knowin' you can't talk."

I shrugged.

"You're used to it. It should hurt you, Mona," Angie said brushing my hair down my back.

I pushed her off, "It doesn't. Just mind ya own business."

I could feel Red smiling at me but ignored her.

"Almost there," Wolf said.

I picked up my iPod and went through my songs. I found Rihanna and played the song I wanted to.

"Oh nana, what's my name?"

Wolf looked at me with a raised eyebrow, "Rihanna?"

I nodded and started song from the start, "Oh nana, what's my name?" I pointed to him when she said my.

Wolf frowned and I repeated the process a few more times until he laughed aloud.

"Oh my, I almos' didn't getcher there, doll! Name's Texan," he smirked - but not in an evil way, rather in a way where he said Hey, I recognize my own stupidity! - and glanced at me, "Which just so happens where I'm from."

I laughed inaudibly. He seemed interested in the way I laughed loudly but no sound came out. I blushed profusely and looked away.

He nudged me lightly on the arm with his elbow, "S'there any way you can tell me y'name?"

I licked my lips and nodded, opening the glove compartment. Inside I pulled out my license card and held it up for him. He took it in his left hand and kept driving, his right hand on the wheel. His eyes switched between watching the road and taking in all the information on the small plastic card.

"Ramona, Ramona, my oh my, says here you're from Texas? Why I've never met you before - then again, Texas is big," he chuckled. "You're just about a few months younger than me. I'm a Feb babe."

I smiled at him, holding my hand out for the card.

He grinned and said, "I ain't done yet."

"Says here your surname is September, you don't happen to be related to Markus September?"

I nodded, Texan knew my uncle, who's been dead for the last 3 years.

"What ever happened to him?" He asked softly, almost as he was asking himself.

I touched his shoulder and swiped my finger across my neck.

"He's dead? You just assumin' or he been dead a while?" He seemed shocked.

I held two fingers up.

"Darn, how'd it happen?"

My eyes grew and I scratched the back of my neck.

He chuckled, "Awh man, don't worry 'bout it. Y'can write it down some other time."

I nodded, relieved. Then I noticed Rihanna was still on repeat. I blushed again and picked up the iPod once more. I went on my favourite playlist and put it on shuffle. Until We Go Down by Ruelle started and I wished I could sing along.

Texan took a turn and I gasped, the road was blocked by overturned and broken down cars, some even black from fires. My hand went to my mouth and I frowned.

"Jeez, looks like everthing's gone to shi-"

"Red," Angel interrupted her, "Is an apocalypse. What'd you expect? It ain't 'xactly gon' be sunshine a'roses."

Red rolled her eyes, "I know that. I just didn't know 'twas gon' be this fast."

"I know. S'only been four months, yet everything's lookin' like a dump," Texan muttered, once again reversing back into the road we came from.

"Thought we could take a short cut, since it's gettin' late. Guess not," Texan sighed and drove on into a new road, passing a building with blacked out windows.

"Hey, why don'tcha lie down a bit, I bet we'll be there soon, but then bags under ya eyes are lookin' designer," Texan chuckled and I smiled sheepishly.

I turned in my seat and laid my head down against the headrest. My eyes were closed but I couldn't fall asleep, I simply put new meaning to the words resting my eyes.

After almost ten minutes of feigning sleep, another song came on, Want To Want Me by Jason Derulo.

Then Texan chuckled, "My God, haven't heard this one in way too long." And so he started singing along in a voice much too grunge to match up to the R&B artist's.

I smiled at his goofiness.

"He sure is somethin'," Angel commented softly in my ear.

Red rolled her eyes, "Oh come on, you've known him an hour and you're already in love?"

I scoffed, "Of course not. I just think he's nice. I don't want to date him."

"Sure you don't. It's not like you haven't been takin' note of his sharp jawline and his cute red nose and his beautiful dark eyes and his - his impossibly perfect dirty blond hair. 'Course you're in love with him," Red exclaimed angrily.

Angel stomped her foot, "She ain't in love. She's simply criticizin' his beauty. The man's a walkin' piece of art. It'd be a crime not to stare!"

They both went quiet, Red whispered an insult softly, "Darn winged rat." And so did Angel, "Small minded troll."

"Shut up you two, you're supposed to be fightin' me. Not each other," I told them. And so they did. Not one of them uttering a single word until Red decided that she 'doesn't need this' and disappeared, only leaving behind a small wisp of smoke and it wasn't long before Angel followed.

Sighing, I felt a hand softly touch my elbow. I looked up to Texan and waited for him to talk.

"We're here," he whispered.