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Zoe
Zoe was beyond shocked to receive a message from Chevon. She answered immediately. “On it.” Except that Jason wasn’t in the classroom. She looked around in case she’d missed him, though the chances of that were slim.
Where could he have gone? He had picked her up and driven her to school like always. So why was he so late to class?
She got excused to go to the bathroom and then wandered around the school looking for him. She checked the library, which was silly. He never went to the library. She checked the gym and the weight room. She didn’t dare check the boys’ locker room or the boys’ bathroom. As she stood outside the latter, staring at the door, wondering how to proceed, Levi came out. He stopped quickly when he saw her.
Without thinking, she asked, “Is Jason in there?”
He grimaced. “You’re kidding.”
“No, it’s not like that,” she said quickly. “Chevon is ...” She stopped, unsure if Chevon’s predicament was supposed to be a secret.
“Chevon is what?”
“She’s in trouble, and she asked me to find Jason so he can go get her out of it.”
Levi lowered his voice. “What kind of trouble?”
She hesitated again.
“Spit it out.”
Fine. “She’s trying to walk to school, and she’s really cold.”
He looked disappointed.
He had a point. That didn’t sound like an exceptionally dangerous predicament when she said it aloud. “Well ... I don’t think she should get too cold because of the ... you know.”
Understanding registered on his face. “Oh right.” He looked up and down the hallway. “Come on, I’ll take you.” He took off.
After a brief hesitation, she followed. “Do you have your mom’s car again?”
He looked back over his shoulder without slowing down. “Are you making fun of me?”
“Of course not,” she said quickly. “My mom won’t even let me touch her car.” She had to hurry to keep up with his long legs. “Are we just going to go out the front door?” She didn’t think that was a good idea.
“Of course not. Do you think this is my first rodeo?”
She followed him into the cafeteria.
“We’ll go out the back.”
“And then what?” She didn’t understand how they were going to drive anywhere without a car.
“Then we’ll take Kendall’s car.”
Kendall had bothered to come to school that day? “Are you still friends with him?”
“Definitely not. But I can still take his car.” Then more quietly, Levi added, “And then once we get Chevon dropped off at school, we can drive it off a cliff.”
They scurried through the dark gym and then out the back door, and sure enough, there was Kendall’s car sitting there looking all innocent.
Were they really going to steal a car? Zoe only hesitated for a few seconds. Then she figured that Levi would be the one on the hook for it if they got caught.
Kendall’s keys were above the visor. Levi didn’t even look anywhere else first.
Zoe shut the door. “Kendall’s fairly predictable, huh?”
“Usually.” He started the car and backed out.
“You’re not the least bit nervous about getting in trouble?”
He shrugged. “Maybe now that you mention it. I usually don’t think about that stuff.”
She smiled. She found this endearing.
Levi looked at the gas gauge and swore. “Figures.”
Zoe reached into her pocket and felt her lunch money. “I have a few dollars.”
“No, let’s get as far as we can go. If we run out of gas, I’ll call my mom. I’d rather walk around the peninsula than squirt any money into his tank.”
Zoe smiled again, caught herself, and forced herself to stop smiling. She wasn’t supposed to be having this much fun. “Do you know where she lives?”
“Of course. It’s a small peninsula.”
“Have you lived here your whole life?”
He gave her a long look, and she grew nervous that he wasn’t watching the road. Finally, he answered her. “Sure have.”
They met a police car, and Zoe stiffened.
“Relax. If we get stopped, I’ll say I kidnapped you.”
She giggled. “That probably wouldn’t help matters much.” She tried to think of something else to say, but her mind was blank. In her hurry to go rescue Chevon, she hadn’t thought about the fact that she was getting into a car to be alone with Levi. Now that she was here, she felt a little awkward. “Want some music?”
“Sure.”
Relieved, she reached for the knob.
One and a half bad songs later, they saw Chevon walking down the road in a T-shirt.
“Oh yeah,” Levi said. “She is cold.” He gave it more gas.
Chevon hesitated but then hurried toward the car and ripped the back door open. “Thank you,” she said, sounding completely unlike herself.
Levi reached down and cranked up the heat. “Slide toward the middle. It’ll be warmer there.
Chevon did as she was told, and Levi turned the car around.
“You okay?” Zoe turned to look at her.
“Yeah. Scared me to death when I thought you’d brought Kendall. I thought I’d have to choose between him and freezing to death.” She looked at Levi. “Thanks, Levi.”
“No prob. My plan is to park this car right where we found it. So don’t mention to Kendall that he helped rescue you.”
She snickered. “I am so cold.”
“Been there. You’ll feel better soon.”
Wow. Zoe sneaked a look at Levi. He sounded as if he really cared. Were he and Chevon close? She didn’t think so. She’d never seen them anywhere near each other.
Levi’s plan worked. They parked the car, he placed the keys back above the visor, and then Chevon thanked him again.
Zoe echoed her, “Yeah, thanks, Levi.”
Levi gave her a small smile, which was somehow a little sad. “You’re welcome.”
Chevon pulled on the school’s back door. It didn’t open. “How are we going to get in?” She obviously hadn’t tried sneaking into school an hour late before.
“Hang on. I’ll run around to the front and then come let you in.”
“But you’re going to get caught,” Zoe said.
“No, I won’t. I’m not going in through the front door. I’ll knock on the shop window. They’ll let me climb in.”
Zoe laughed. “Are you serious?”
He ripped his flannel shirt off and handed it to Chevon. “I’ll hurry. Jump up and down till I get back.” Then, with surprising speed, he sprinted toward the front of the building.
Zoe watched Chevon put on Levi’s shirt and was stunned to realize that she was a little jealous.
