6:59 (18 page)
Authors: Nonye Acholonu,Kelechi Acholonu
“And where are you?” Hudson shrieked on the other line.
Crap. I'd forgotten about my sneaking out. “I snuck out,” I said truthfully.
Hudson moaned loudly on the other line. I heard her cover the phone and tell Armando the news. He gasped. She got back on the phone. “Are you
crazy
?” Hudson cried. “You snuck out with Cam and Anjolie! They're Gray Eyes! They're going on a mission â an illegal one â and chances are you'll get dragged into it somehow! You have to come back before they scout you!”
Too late. “They're already on their mission,” I sighed. “I'm driving the getaway car.”
Hudson shrieked and told Armando. Armando yelled in the background, disapproving of my actions. “Tell her that she's screwed!” he yelled.
Hudson got back on the phone. “You're screwed,” she said, as if I hadn't heard him. “You can't drive the getaway car! You drive ten miles underneath the freaking speed limit!” She was screaming at me, past the point of hysterics. I could picture her tugging at her hair like she always did when she was in freak-out mode. “They're going to catch you, Olive. You don't have telekinesis. You're so stupid sometimes. I can't believe you. Who in their right mind does this! You're probably the most idiotic, stupid, no-brainedâ”
I held the phone away from my ear, not wanting her to break my eardrums. Or wanting to hear the truth. I knew what I was doing was stupid â I'd already established that. But the more I heard her scream at me, the more I wanted to do this.
“âdie if they catch you, you know that? They won't think twice! And what if you're arrested!” Hudson was still screaming. I was thankful when Armando snatched the phone away from her.
“Olive, you can get out now,” he said in a calmer, but still angry voice. “I advise you to drive like crazy right now and do
not
look back. You'll be breaking a lot of laws and I'm almost
certain
that you're going to jail if you wait for Cam â but there's a chance you could get out if you leave now. Forget the speed limit, forget that you're on this guy's property, forget everything. Just drive now!”
“What about Cam?” I asked, biting my lip. He'd told me that he needed me to help him out. He's not a full Gray Eyes. What if he couldn't get out?
“Forget Cam! He got you in this mess without thinking. He put you in danger and that's a jerk move on his part. You have a chance to get out.
Take it
.”
I sighed, rubbing my eyes. “Okay,” I whispered into the phone. “I'm leaving.”
Armando yipped in joy and told Hudson the change in plans. Hudson sighed happily. “Good choice, Olive. We'll be waiting for you here, okay?”
I nodded even though they couldn't see me and hung up the phone. I placed it in my pocket and went to start the ignition but I saw motion at the corner of my eye. My head whipped to the right and I gasped.
Cam was sprinting out of the house, two others following after him. He held a black bag like the other two and they were all headed towards my car.
Hands shaking, I turned on the ignition and shifted the car in drive. When I looked back at Cam, I saw that five men in suits were running after them, shouting and shooting. Memories of the last time Cam was getting shot at flashed through my mind and for a second I felt as though I were going to faint again.
But I didn't.
I cleared my throat and peered at them as they ran down the long driveway. The other two with him didn't look as if they were trying to kill him; in fact, they looked like they were running
with
him, trying to escape, too.
I narrowed my eyes, searching for Anjolie among the crowd that was spilling onto the front lawn. I spotted her running out of the house in her dress and heels. When some guy grabbed her arm, she punched him in the face and kicked another guy in the groin. Then she grabbed up the hem of her skirt, kicked off her heels, and ran for the car.
All of them were escaping and I was their only hope of getting them away.
Cam got to the car first. He jumped through the window as I unlocked the other doors. The two other Gray Eyes with him catapulted into the backseat, panting heavily.
“Drive!” Cam cried, trying to right himself in the passenger seat.
My gaze shot up to where Anjolie was, running for her life down the long driveway. She was stopped by a few guards and she fought them off with her purse. When the guards were down, she bolted down the driveway.
“Drive!” Cam cried again when he saw the guards closing into the car.
“What about Anjolie?” I cried out, trying to steady my shaking hands. “She's headed for the car!”
“
Just drive
!” Cam begged, and then his foot came out of nowhere, slamming down on the accelerator.
The car lurched forward and hit sixty miles per hour in seconds. I shrieked and grabbed the steering wheel, swerving onto the road and steering through the darkness. Cam kept his foot firmly pressed on the gas as I maneuvered through the dark streets. A few gun shots hit the rear of the car but in a second, we were gone.
Olive
“We got out,” Cam breathed, a smile spreading over his tan face. He spun around and high-fived the others in the back.
I clutched the steering wheel. Cam had thankfully taken his foot away from the accelerator and allowed me to drive at a normal speed. Now I was staring at the road with wide eyes, wondering when my heart was ever going to beat regularly again.
“And we've got all the stuff,” the guy Gray Eyes said from behind me. He tore the beanie off his head, revealing a shock of dark-brown hair.
“El Rey is going to
love
us,” the girl said. She looked a lot like the other guy next to her. Maybe they were siblings. I didn't care to find out.
All I cared about was getting my breathing right again.
Cam smiled at me. “Nice job out there, Liv,” he said. “Well, except for the part when you
wouldn't drive
. But other than that, nicely done.”
“We left Anjolie,” I said, remembering how she'd been running for her life away from the guards.
Cam snorted and the others in the back laughed. “She'll be alright, trust me,” Cam said, pushing his fingers through his limp hair. “Why? Because she's the boss?” I asked, still clutching the steering wheel.
“They told you that, too?” Cam asked, rubbing his temples. So now he knew that I knew pretty much
everything
. “Well this makes life much easier, I guess,” he said when I didn't answer. “Yeah, she's the boss so she can get out.”
“How come
she
can and not you guys?” I asked.
“Because she's skilled. She's been doing this forever.”
“Why was she running for the car, then?”
“That, I don't know. But if she gets caught, she can get out.”
I sighed, loosening my grip on the steering wheel a little bit, relaxing. Monica told us that she had more abilities than the regular Gray Eyes. Maybe her extra abilities could help her out? I hoped so.
***
As we drove, Cam compared stolen stuff with the others in the back. He'd taken the watches, the guy captured some necklaces, and the girl thieved a huge bag of money. They were giddy from the feeling of accomplishment.
“You can drop us off here,” the guy said as we approached a fast food drive-in. “I think we're far enough away.”
I pulled the car into the parking lot and cut the engine. “Thanks for getting us out of there, chick,” the girl said, following the guy out of the car.
Cam clicked open his seatbelt and grabbed his bag of watches. “Yeah, thanks, Liv,” he said, opening the car door. “I owe you one.”
As he was stepping out of the car, I grabbed his arm. “Wait,” I said. “Where are you going?”
Cam looked at my hand on his arm and grinned. “I'm leaving,” he said simply. “You have to get yourself home.”
“You do, too!” I said, pulling my hand away to hide my stupid blush.
Cam sat back down. “You want to take me home?” he asked, his eyes softening. “But I thought you didn't want to be a part of this.”
“I still want to take you home, though,” I said softly.
Cam's grin widened and he shut the door. “Thank you, Liv. You're a great girl, you know that?” Then he took my hand and laced his fingers through mine, causing my heart rate to spin out of control.
I sat there, staring at our entwined fingers, contemplating if I should kiss him or not. I mean, he
was
my boyfriend. Well, technically, no.
Cameron
was my boyfriend. But they're the same person, right?
“If we're going to go home, you should probably drive, Liv,” Cam said with a sly grin. His thumb stroked the skin on my back of my hand.
“I⦠I can't drive with one hand,” I said stupidly. Yes, I know I'm probably the only person in L.A. that can't drive with one hand.
Cam slid his hand out from under my hand and slumped back into his seat. “Sorry about that,” he said.
I nodded and started the engine. As we were about to pull out of the parking lot, Cam caught my arm. “Are you hungry?” he asked, staring into my eyes with his crazy-beautiful gray ones. “It feels like I haven't eaten in days.”
“We just ate, though,” I said confused.
“Cameron probably just ate,” Cam said. “But
I
didn't.”
I cut the engine. “How does that work?” I asked, facing him.
Cam shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. “I don't really know. I think it's because he's a completely different person than I am so that must mean he doesn't share my digestive system? I don't know. And I honestly don't give a crap.”
I laughed. “I would! I mean, what goes on in that body of yours?”
“What do you mean?” Cam asked.
“Do you guys, like, talk to each other? Do you share the same mind?” I asked, remembering a book I read when the two souls conversed with each other in their mind. Did that happen with Cam and Cameron?
Cam shook his head, laughing. “
No
,” he said. “I have barely even seen or heard of this Cameron guy, to tell you the truth.”
“How?” I cried. “You guys live in the same body!”
Cam laughed a hardy laugh, closing his eyes. “You're getting all riled up about this, babe,” he said, causing my stomach to go all squishy-squashy when he called me
babe
. “I'm as confused as you. All I know is, I've always woke up when it was dark out, and always passed out after dawn. I could never really see Cameron because when I'm awake, he's⦠dormant? I don't know. But I
have
seen him in pictures. Kid looks just like me!” He winked at me.
“Oh, shut up and get your food.” I rolled my eyes and he rolled out of the car.
When he came back out, he was carrying two large bags and two drinks. He slid back into the car and handed me a bag. “I got you a burger and fries, Liv. Thank me later.”
I held the bag happily, surprising myself with my intense surge of hunger. Seemed like Monica's organic fruits and bread hadn't filled me up at all. I tore into the bag and shoved a handful of fries into my mouth. “Thank you,” I said through a full mouth.
Cam nodded, taking a huge bite out of his burger. We sat there eating, slurping, and licking our fingers like animals. I hadn't realized I was
that
hungry. Neither did Cam.
“I like it when a girl eats,” he said, wiping his hands on his pants. “It proves not all of you eat flour and water for a living.”
I laughed, covering my mouth with a napkin. “What type of girls do
you
know?” I said with wide eyes. I wiped my mouth.
“The Gray Eyes girls,” he said, crumpling up his bag and tossing it out the window. “They don't eat. They sit around picking at meals and chewing lettuce.”
I laughed. “That explains Anjolie's rail-thinness then, huh?” I said, taking another bite of my burger.
Cam shook his head. “No, no, no,” he said. “Anjolie
eats
. She's worse than you, babe. She eats, like, ten meals a day and doesn't hold back for anything. She's skinny because she's a freak.”
I gasped but smiled anyway. “She's not a freak.”
“You don't know her,” Cam said. “She eats like an elephant, she lifts weights like a bodybuilder, she runs every day, and she can fight better than anyone or any
thing
I've ever seen. She's a monster. And monsters are freaks. So, transitive property, Anjolie is a freak. It's simple mathematics, Liv.”
I laughed again, clutching my stomach. Cam was really funny. It had been awhile since I've laughed this hard. I liked laughing. “If Anjolie's a freak, then what am I?” I asked.
“Babe, you're in a whole other ballpark,” Cam said, grabbing the hand that held my burger. He took a bite. “You are in no way a freak. You should be proud of that.”
“That's good to know,” I said, taking a bite from the same spot Cam had just bitten. I chewed slowly, savoring the taste.
Cam watched me eat, a soft smile on his face. When I'd finished my bite, he took a napkin and wiped my cheek. “Had a little ketchup there,” he said softly, his hand lingering at my cheek.
“Thanks,” I said quietly, staring into his gray eyes.
Cam stared back, his smile widening. “No problem,” he whispered. The two of us sat there, inches away from each other. Silence fell over the two of us as we stared at each other. The squishy feeling in my stomach returned and I felt electric shocks shoot up my spine. Cam stared back, his breath kissing my cheek. His eyes danced between my eyes and my mouth, lingering on my mouth for a few seconds. He was going to kiss me.
What was he waiting for?
Then Cam leaned closer to me, his mouth centimeters away. Just as my eyes were about to close, I saw Cam lift my burger up to his mouth and saw him take a bite.
Then the two of us keeled over in laughter.
