Alix’s was gasping with adrenaline, relief, and fear. She twisted around, checking for Lisa.
Death Barbie had finally given up. The bodyguard was bent over, hands on her knees in the middle of traffic, red-faced. Panting and exhausted, staring after them.
Alix shivered at Lisa’s expression. The woman looked so pissed she could have been a demon pursuer from one of Jonah’s Xbox games.
“I am so dead,” Alix muttered as she slumped back into her seat.
“Buckle up,” Cynthia said. “Safety first, and all that.” She started to laugh.
“Safety first,” Alix said as she snapped the seat belt into place. “Is that what that was?”
“We’re alive, aren’t we?”
“That’s the bright side, I guess.”
“Yeah. That was a little more excitement than I was expecting.”
“Where’d you learn to drive that way?” Alix asked.
Cynthia grinned. “My dad got me lessons.”
“Fuckin’ A, he did.” Alix closed her eyes. “Please don’t ever do that to me again.”
Cynthia laughed. “I thought you wanted some excitement!”
“Yeah, well, I’ve got enough for a lifetime now. So thanks.”
“What? You don’t want to go back, do you?”
“No.” Alix closed her eyes. Her heart was slowing, the adrenaline leaking out of her, leaving her drained and a little depressed.
It had seemed like a lot of fun to engineer this game. Escape from Death Barbie—she’d thought of it in her mind, but now that it was done, she wasn’t so sure of herself. A couple of weeks ago she would never have done this. Cynthia, either, for that matter.
It was like having security everywhere—everyone minding her every move—had made her more rebellious instead of less. She was used to being trusted. And now having that trust stripped away was more than a little uncomfortable…. It wasn’t her.
Am I untrustworthy?
Alix didn’t like the thought, but the reality of ditching Death Barbie was starting to settle in on her. Watching Lisa running after her, full out, desperate not to lose the girl she was supposed to protect…
She’s the one who would have taken a bullet for you.
Alix felt ill.
Dad would be pissed, and Mom would be disappointed, and Jonah would think it was all a joke and be impressed that she’d actually rebelled against anything at all. But Lisa…
Lisa was the one Alix actually felt bad about.
Alix closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, trying to scrub away the feeling of guilt.
The Miata cut through weekend traffic. Cynthia drove expertly. Just like her studying, Cynthia took her driving seriously.
It was kind of funny. They were both such serious girls, and here they were, finally cutting loose with a high-speed escape.
Dad is going to kill me.
Cynthia pulled off the highway.
“Why are we stopping?” Alix asked.
Cynthia gave her a look as they pulled into a Home Depot parking lot. “You think Death Barbie didn’t get my license plate? They’re going to be looking for my car. We have to ditch it.”
Alix laughed incredulously. “Are you serious?”
“Aren’t you?” Cynthia shot back. “Your dad called the FBI when Jonah went missing for, like, three hours. You better believe they’re looking for us already.” Cynthia climbed out of the car. “Come on. I’ve got another car for us.”
“Seriously? You’ve got a plan for this?”
“What else was I going to think about all week? School?” Cynthia snorted. “If you’re going to plan an escape, you’ve got to do it right. It’s all about the details.”
“Jesus Christ, Derek’s right.”
“About what?”
“You are an overachiever.”
“I am not!”
“I’m pretty sure most people aren’t this OCD about going to a party,” Alix said as she trailed after Cynthia.
“Most people don’t have Death Barbie screwing up their social life,” Cynthia shot back.
Alix pulled Cynthia to a halt. “Hey, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to dis you. It’s just…” She sighed. “It’s just a lot, that’s all. My parents are going to worry.”
“It’s a little late to be freaking out about that, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I know. It’s just that I’ve never done anything like this before.”
“You think I went over the top.” Cynthia looked so crestfallen that Alix almost wanted to apologize just for criticizing her.
“Running the light might have been…” Alix tried to find words.
Cynthia groaned. “I know, I know. I just panicked. Death Barbie made me think of that old Terminator movie.” Cynthia hesitated. “Why don’t you leave that note we talked about,” she suggested, finally. “If they find my car before we’re back, they’ll still know you’re fine.”
Alix thought about it. “I could just text them…”
“No. Turn off your cell for sure. Leave it in the car.”
“Oh, come on. You don’t think they’ll track that, too, do you?”
“I don’t know what Williams & Crowe can do, but if you actually want to party tonight, I’d bet on paranoia.”
Cynthia led her back to the Miata. They found paper and a pen, and Alix wrote:
Dear Mom and Dad, Just need to blow off some steam. I’ll be back tomorrow.
PS—
She hesitated. PS??? What hell was she thinking?
PS—Sorry?
PS—You look after Jonah for a change?
“Will you come on, girl?” Cynthia urged. “This is like the slowest getaway in history.”
“I’m trying! This is hard for me. What am I supposed to say? What did you tell your parents?”
“Are you crazy?” Cynthia rolled her eyes. “I didn’t tell them anything. They think I’m sleeping over at your house.”
“Lucky you.”
Finally, Alix settled on:
PS—I’m sorry. Please don’t worry.
I’m fine.
“Better?” Cynthia asked.
“Yeah.”
“Thank God. Then dump your phone and let’s go, already.” Cynthia led Alix out of the parking lot to an adjacent one and another car, a beat-up orange monstrosity that looked like it had come out of the seventies.
“What the heck is this?”
“Dodge Dart.” Cynthia grinned. “Total death trap. Your dad would shit if he saw you in this.”
“Where’d you get it?”
“I borrowed it from a cousin.”
Alix shook her head. “I can’t believe how well you planned this.”
“Okay, so maybe I am an overachiever. Perfect SATs, and perfect getaways.” Cynthia grinned, a glint of wicked in her eye. “You ready to party?”
Alix stared at the car, still hesitating. It wasn’t just that she was going to be grounded for this escapade, with all kinds of “proportional” and “related” consequences that Mom and Dad loved to come up with (though ususally for Jonah); it was that it felt like, by getting into the battered Dodge Dart, she was crossing a boundary. Stepping across into some other place, becoming someone else. By blowing off everything that a sensible person would do, and getting into this car, it felt like she was breaking something permanently.
It’s just a damn car.
“We doing this?” Cynthia pressed.
Alix looked up at her friend.
Are we?
Alix grinned. “Definitely.”