We sat in silence as he drove out of the parking lot.

I was thankful he didn't ask for an explanation when I had nearly begged him for a ride home, quickly gaining composure as I picked myself up, shaking off the nuclear meltdown I was experiencing.

The evocative melody of some rock song was playing in the background softly and his Cherokee smelled like motor oil and cheap cologne. He also drove a jeep, albeit a few years newer than my own and his was a pine green, almost blue. The interior was a dark green and while the seats were scratched and worn, they were soft, and I found myself relaxing into the material.

My eyes flicked to the dashboard where a headless baseball player bobblehead stood stuck to the scarred plastic. Just above it swinging slightly from the rearview mirror was a small hangman's noose. A cracked smile formed on my lips at the peculiar set of ornaments.

Despite my conclusions I'd drawn about Judd Birch the night I met him, he drove meticulously and kept his hands on the steering wheel. A small part of my brain was annoyed at being wrong, but it also piqued my interest. What else was I incorrect about? Unsure if it was my mind trying to disassociate from the situation with my mother or genuine curiosity, I decided to press my luck.

"You really saved my ass back there. I never thought I'd be happy about being hit by a car," I rubbed the back of my neck, pulling my hair over my right shoulder to rest against my breast.

Is that the best you can do?

Judd snorted and rolled his eyes before returning them to the road.

"Don't think anything of it," he growled. He merged easily onto the highway easily sliding into the closest lane and joined the long line of cars trying to get out of the city. It was a thirty-minute drive back to the suburbs.

"And if I do?" The voice that arose from me was not my own. The creature speaking was finally coming down from the fight-or-flight reflex and was left feeling raw and emotional and only wanted something warm to curl up against.

His eyes flickered to mine for a fraction of a second before realigning ahead. Something in me purred when he didn't respond. Was he considering his options?

We started to slow down, nighttime traffic picking up and forcing the highway to a crawl. I didn't think I'd ever be thankful for heavy traffic until now.

"You'll be disappointed."

I could feel a frown forming at the sides of my mouth now as he met me with a scowl of his own.

I hmphed and crossed my arms and settled further into the seat, feeling like a child who'd just been told no at a candy store. Judd was a brick wall. An alluring but cantankerous brick wall.

"Who were you running from?" The question hung in the air for thirty seconds. His expression was unusually soft when I turned my head to face him momentarily before turning to investigate the car to my left. A woman was sitting in the driver seat with her left hand propped up on the door and a half-finished cigarette hanging from her fingers. An infant was strapped in directly behind her, playing with a toy contently unaware of his surroundings.

"I wasn't running away." Was I? This was not where I wanted this conversation to go.

"So, you just jump in front of cars for fun?" He was sarcastic but his words held the slightest hint of concern.

"I'm a thrill seeker, what can I say?" I reverberated with a sigh. This entire night wasn't going how I planned at all. First the fight with Cynthia, and now twenty-one fucking questions with Leah's brother.

"You put up a pretty good front," he complimented sardonically, his lips pulling up in the corners. A crack formed in the wall.

"It's not a front," a flash of annoyance flashed in my eyes.

"Relax tiger, I'm not trying to attack you. I saw how afraid you were when you were talking to my dad. You had that same look when you were running out of that restaurant. You're not that hard to read despite the mask you wear," I wanted to crawl in a hole in die as he brought up the incident. Goddamn him, he was inquisitive. His attitude was suddenly more laid back and easy.

"I'm not afraid. I'm not scared of shit; not your dad, not anything. And especially not my bitch mother!" I snarled with enough ferocity to shake the seat I was planted in. Who the fuck was he to analyze me?

"So, it was your mom." If he felt the heat from my fire, he didn't show it. In fact, he was perfectly calm, almost playful.

"Jesus Christ if I knew you were going to try to play psychologist, I would've just let you kill me," I groaned, throwing my head back. I didn't need another fucking lecture or life lesson.

Judd chuckled and glanced down into his lap before looking over at me again.

"Just making friendly conversation."

"Oh? What happened to hating small talk?" I fired at him mockingly, bitterness seeded deeply in my words.

He thought about it for a moment, breaking eye contact.

"I'm not really sure."

I sighed falling silent in defeat, suddenly no longer interesting in keeping up this debate and Judd following suite immediately. He seemed almost deep in thought, just like when we were in my car at school.

There was a tinge of unease hanging in the air that wasn't there before and I shrunk down in my seat in humiliation. I wanted to be anywhere else but here.

You're so stupid.

We were sitting parked in front of my house forty-five uncomfortable minutes later. Judd's scowl was back in full force, matched by my own. My house was dark and the only car in the driveway was my own.

Thanking him curtly for the ride, I got out and slammed the door with force before stomping up to my door eager to be inside alone. I didn't look behind me, but I did notice the hum of Judd's Jeep didn't begin to fade until after I was safely in my living room with the door shut and locked behind me.

I rolled my eyes at the chivalrous action and prepared for bed. I'd had more than enough human contact for the day. It wasn't until I was crawling into bed that I noticed I didn't have my phone.

"Oh, son of a bitch."

**

I was sitting in homeroom chewing on my lip. Did I ask Leah for my phone? Or should I go right to the source? If I asked Leah, there would be a million questions thrown at me along with a dirty look or two I'm sure. On the other hand, how did I ask Judd? I never saw him at school, besides the one time Leah had asked him to buy her alcohol. I'd have to go to their house.

Leah was there minutes later, all smiles and conversation.

"Do you want to work on our project some more tonight?" I interrupted her babbling after a few seconds.

She was looking taken aback but was happy to oblige.

"Did you have some ideas?" she beamed hopefully. We hadn't gotten very far at all and it was due in a week.

"Definitely. I'll just feel way better once it's done," I lied through my teeth, the fib sitting heavy on my lips. I hadn't thought about the project since the day we worked on it.

"Awesome. It'll just be us tonight, I'm babysitting Nick and his friends I hope that's cool?"

"Yeah whatever girl we'll make it work!" Even better. She would be busy with the children and I could sneak up to Judd's room and demand my phone back. Maybe he didn't even know he had it? It could be sitting on the floor of his Jeep waiting for me to reclaim it. There was only one way to find out.

**

Leah and I arrived at her home just as her brother and his companions did. Judd's car was nowhere to be seen out front and I cursed under my breath. Nick's friends were a tall awkward brunette kid with glasses and terrible posture and a little redhead girl that was yelling about something as they came in the house.

"Hello ladies," The tall kid introduced himself flirtatiously as Andrew and the girl as Jessi. Nick explained they would be playing video games upstairs while we worked on our homework in the living room.

Dismissing themselves, they clambered up to Nick's room to leave us to our own devices.

Thankfully I'd had all day to come up with ideas for the assignment, so I wasn't a total liar. We started discussing our options and with a little teamwork, we had a general outline completed within a matter of hours. Just as we were finishing up, the kids came down to complain about being hungry.

Leah rolled her eyes, her gaze landing on me before she spoke. We were nestled on one of the couches in the living room.

"Pizza okay? My parents left me fifty dollars."

"Yeah that's fine with me," I agreed. There was still no sign of Judd and it was nearly five thirty. Where the Hell could he be?

Leah picked up her cellphone and ordered the food while I took the opportunity to grab the remote and flick on the television in front of us. Flipping through the channels and mentally chuckling about the fact they still had cable television I found a Frankenstein film playing.

"Score!"

"That's what she said." Judd was entering the house with a sneer plastered to his face. Oddly enough, my heart was no longer in chest instead somewhere down by my feet as he strode in confidently. Leah was finishing the food order and wasn't paying him any mind thankfully.

He strode by, the scent of him wafting through the room. He smelled like weed and the same cheep cologne from last night. It was mouthwatering.

"Thanks for last night," he said loud enough for Leah to turn and watch us. He ducked down and threw my phone in my lap and planted a kiss on my cheek before standing with a snicker and sauntering upstairs without so much as a glance back. I felt my eyes get huge and my jaw hit the ground, Leah's own features mirroring mine. She hung up the phone and stared at me without saying anything.

"L-Leah I promise you I can explain..." I started, holding my hands up innocently as the shock wore off and her features turned angry.

"Devi what the fuck!?"