Shit.

Seth stood beside Emma, his arms folded across his chest. He swallowed once, looked away, hoped he wouldn't see it when he looked back, and then looked back.

"Dammit."

Totaled was too nice a word for it. The truck had been folded like a lawn chair, and looking at how the far the side had caved in, Seth seriously wondered how he was walking on his own two feet right now.

Emma put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm guessing you're gonna need a ride to school, then."

"Um, yeah. Yeah, I will on Monday. I can run to the gym this weekend, but..." Seth trailed off rather than let an incomprehensible string of curses flow from his mouth. This was going to be expensive to fix. In fact, he really didn't think that fixing it would be cheaper than buying a brand new vehicle.

But that didn’t matter. The MRIs the doctors wanted to do in a few weeks would pay for it. One small step for Seth’s bank account, one giant step for neuroscience. He sighed and glanced up at his house. The two-story suburban split-level looked just like every other home in the neighborhood. Picturesque in a way that spoke of dreams that were settled in exchange for stability. It even had a white picket fence.

Despite the dullness of it, in the setting sun, it did look pretty, and his bed was in there, so that was good enough. Except that Seth wasn't tired. Far from it. In fact, since he'd left the hospital, he'd only felt more and more energy in him. He would have to go for a run or something before he went to bed.

"You good, Seth?"

Seth looked over at Emma. "Yeah. I'm good."

"You want to hang out tomorrow?"

"I'm supposed to train with Andrew."

"You were in a coma for over seventy-two hours. I'm sure he'll understand."

"I'm antsy. I need to fight. Train. Something."

"Fuck?" She arched an eyebrow.

Seth bit his lip and looked away. "Yeah. After training, though, okay? I'll call you and you can pick me up. You know where CFA is, right?"

"I can Google it."

"Cool."

Emma stepped up and hugged him, planting a soft kiss beside his ear. "Rest up, Seth. Okay?"

"Yeah." He watched her walk to her car and drive away. He still stared at the street after she left.

The only way he was going to have a vehicle senior year was if he did those tests. He'd tell Dr. Crews on Saturday, if she was at Emma's house. He needed a vehicle. Shoot, he needed one for next week. Having a girl who wasn't even your proper girlfriend drive you to homecoming was less than the greatest thing, to say the least.

And there it was, the uncertainty about him and Emma, only complimented by the swirling void within his heart that had yet to be filled. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he took it out.

I heard you're out of the hospital. You okay?

Madeline. What the hell. He'd told a few people, but why would she show concern now, of all times? They were done. Screw her. Seth resisted the strong urge to spike his phone on the ground. He didn't need another expensive broken item.

"Seth?"

Seth turned to see the front door open, his father standing in it. He wasn't wearing the suit jacket, but he still had his white dress shirt and slacks on. His sleeves were rolled up, and he had his reading glasses on. Working late from home.

"Yeah, dad."

"Come on in, son. It's dark out, and you're grounded." His father stepped back inside and closed the door. Seth's jaw unhinged off his face and he stormed into the house after his father.

"What the hell?"

Kevin turned around angrily in the entryway, an accusing finger held up. "Don't argue with me, son. And watch your language."

Seth wiped the angry expression off his face. It would just fuel the situation. "Why am I grounded?"

"For reckless driving."

"I got T-boned." Seth resisted the urge to growl.

"I entrusted you with that truck almost two years ago. And you repaid me by totaling it. I got that for you on your sixteenth birthday."

"No, you co-signed on the loan, and I paid it off, so it's mine."

"I still won't have you driving like you were."

"How I was? I went straight on green and some asshole wrecked me from the side. Did you even ask questions? Dr. Crews told me the truck driver of the other vehicle flew out of his cab and splattered on the pavement. He was drunk. I got hit by a drunk driver and you're going to ground me for it?"

Kevin's face darkened. "I'm your father, and as long as you live under my roof, you will follow my rules."

"If the same logic applies, then I've got to follow the bank's rules, because I know we haven't paid off the mortgage."

Kevin slapped Seth. It didn't hurt physically. His dad wasn't a fighter of any kind. Baseball had been his high school sport, so sure there was some whip behind it, but Seth had taken far, far worse. No, the slap burned him inside his head, brought forth those primal emotions of not being good enough, now wearing the adolescent mask of anger produced by surging testosterone and traumatic events.

Seth clenched his jaw and closed his eyes.

"To your room. You're grounded."

Seth pulled out his phone and started texting Emma to come back and pick him up. Kevin slapped the phone out of his hand and it crashed into the wall.

Seth smashed his heel straight into his father's stomach so hard he flew back and smashed into the wall of the entryway. A dusty shoeprint stained the perfect white dress shirt. Kevin stared at him in shock. Seth clenched his teeth so hard it hurt.

Seth snatched his phone off the ground and bolted out the door, his feet pounding the pavement at a speed his father would never be able to keep. Houses in the night blurred by as tears streaked out of the corners of his eyes. His legs churned over, and over, his ears tuning out all noise except the ragged draw of his breath and the thumping of his heart.

Eight hundred meters turned into a mile. A mile turned into two and Seth was still sprinting alongside the backroads towards the country, his chest burning with effort. Three. Four. Seth came to a halt and stopped, putting his hands on the knees of his now sweat-soaked jeans and looking back. He couldn't even see his neighborhood now.

Vrrrm!

Seth jumped backwards as the motorcycle on the road beside him revved. He swallowed. The headlight was off, and out here in the country, in the light of the stars and the moon, he could barely make out the rider. They were wearing all black, and the stars glinted a little in their visor, the main tell that a person was there.

"Again, you should try out for girl's track."

"Nicole? What the-"

Nicole revved her bike's engine again and flicked on the headlight. "Hop on, track and field."

"Were you following me?"

"Yes. Your hearing is horrible."

Seth sniffed and wiped his face, hoping she couldn't see the tears.

"And who runs in jeans anyway, you're weird."

"Yeah, and you were sitting on my truck."

"I was standing on the side of the road." Seth could hear the smirk in her voice.

"Bull."

"Hop on, or do you want to run another four miles?"

Seth looked back down the dark country road and considered how tired his legs were. He nodded, then hopped on the back of the bike.

"Don't get frisky," she said as he grabbed hold of her waist. "But do hold on."

They raced off into the night.