Page 4

VIOLET

“Please, Betty, not now,” I begged, as my car exhaled one last broken wheeze and chugged to a stop at the side of the road. As if she hadn’t made her point clear enough, she emphasized her protest to life with a loud and resounding bang.

“No, no, no,” I groaned as I tried to restart the engine.

This day was going from bad to worse. Jeremy still wasn’t answering my calls, and I was running late for the party because I had foolishly waited at home for my mom to call. As usual, something came up, and she had to cancel. I didn’t need my car breaking down on top of everything.

It was dark and below freezing outside, and if the car refused to start again, I knew I wouldn’t last five minutes without the heater on.

I had no choice but to get Betty going, so I kept trying to convince her to give life another chance.

“I promise I’ll be nicer to you, Betty. I’ll use that wax you like next time I wash you.

I’ll give you a nice oil change and check your tire pressure.

You’d like that, wouldn’t you? I’ll do whatever you want. Just please start.”

Betty chose not to respond, and the engine continued to click. She’d always been a temperamental old thing, but I had a feeling she was on her last legs. The move to Minnesota might have finally finished her off.

I tried restarting her a couple more times before I gave in.

It was clear Betty wasn’t going anywhere fast, so I tried calling Mia.

There was no answer. I also tried Jeremy, but unsurprisingly, he didn’t pick up either.

I even asked ChatGPT what to do, but the AI app simply answered by explaining there were various reasons a car wouldn’t start and advised I consult a mechanic.

I swore and jumped from the car to check under the hood.

This wasn’t the first time Betty had conked out on me, and I’d always managed to get her going again somehow.

Surely, she didn’t need to see a mechanic.

She was just being difficult. A frigid gust of wind slammed into me as I emerged from the vehicle, and I had to suppress a shiver.

The person who named Sunshine Hills must have had a sick sense of humor.

There was only one hill, and I was beginning to forget what the sun looked like.

I blew into my frozen hands and jumped up and down on the spot to stay warm as I stared at Betty’s engine.

I wasn’t sure why I thought this might help because I knew absolutely nothing about how cars worked.

But I was desperate. I wasn’t far from the party, but I didn’t want to leave Betty out here in the cold.

I considered calling my uncle for help but immediately rejected the idea.

He thought Mia and I were meeting some friends to see a movie tonight.

But here I was, on the outskirts of town, about as far from the movie theater as you could get.

He would freak if he knew Mia and I were going to a party with no parental supervision.

And if I called him for help, he’d find out the truth, and we’d both be grounded for the rest of the year.

Luke was taking his position as my temporary guardian far too seriously.

He really needn’t worry. It wasn’t like my mom would care.

I turned on the flashlight on my phone and held it over the car engine.

The light did little to help the situation.

I couldn’t see anything smoking or hissing, and there were no obvious chunks of metal hanging at awkward angles.

The engine looked very much like I imagined an engine should, and Betty’s mystery illness remained as inexplicable as it had been before.

“Crap. Crap. Crap.” I slammed Betty’s hood back down. “I thought we were friends,” I yelled at her. “How could you do this to me?” To make sure she fully understood my disappointment in her, I swung my foot at one of Betty’s wheels.

I swore again as the kick connected with the tire and my toes collided against the tip of my boot.

I hopped backward from the car on one foot, only to slip on the icy ground.

My breath caught as my feet flew out from beneath me, and I landed in a heap on the side of the road, snow flying up around me.

Luckily, the thick blanket of snow that covered the sidewalk slightly softened my landing.

I didn’t immediately move to get up. Instead, I stared up at the dark, cloudy sky overhead and started to laugh.

This day couldn’t get any worse. I hadn’t even wanted to go to the party, and now I’d be lucky if I was ever allowed out of the house again.

“Are you okay?”

A face appeared above me, blocking my view of the sky above.

I was wrong. Apparently, my night could get worse.

Because it seemed the most beautiful guy I’d ever laid eyes on had just witnessed me yell at my car, kick it, and fall over in the snow.

He was peering down at me like he thought I’d lost my mind.

He might have been right. I definitely wasn’t far off.

His forehead crinkled as he waited for me to respond, and I realized I recognized that forehead. I recognized those eyes. Reed Darling was standing over me, and I suddenly wished the snow I’d landed in would bury me whole.

Despite the fact he’d overheard me calling him a pig only a few hours earlier, his expression didn’t brighten or flare with any kind of recognition. He didn’t remember me. It was hardly surprising. Guys like him didn’t notice girls like me. And I was totally fine with that.

“Well?” He tilted his head as he searched my eyes for an answer. He was probably concerned I’d hit my head too hard. I wondered if perhaps I had. I wasn’t feeling particularly lucid right now. This all felt like a bad dream.

“I’m fine,” I said, climbing to my feet as quickly as I could. From the way my head began to spin, I suspected I’d been a little too quick.

“Are you sure?” Reed continued. “Because I just saw you yelling at your car and kicking it…”

“Yeah, well, she had it coming,” I muttered.

My stomach dipped as I lifted my head to peer up at him.

Reed cast an imposing figure from a distance, but up close, he was overwhelming.

I often wondered what they fed the kids around here because there were lot of big guys in Sunshine Hills.

Reed somehow made the others look puny. If I didn’t know he was my age, I would have guessed he was at least in college.

There was also something intense about the way he held himself.

A kind of cocky self-assurance you only encountered in people who always got their way.

I tried to keep my expression as neutral as possible as I looked into his eyes.

It was pretty much my standard reaction whenever I encountered someone this gorgeous.

I made myself seem so disinterested in the person that they either thought I’d lost a few brain cells or that I despised them.

And Reed was so attractive I must have been looking at him like he was pure evil.

If the rumors Mia had shared were anything to go by, then maybe he was.

I probably should have slowly backed away.

I was alone on a dark street with a broken-down car.

Not a great time to bump into a guy who clearly had some anger issues.

I could even see the scar on his neck Mia said he’d received in a fight.

I didn’t move a muscle though and was surprised to find I didn’t feel all that nervous around him.

“Can I ask why she had it coming, exactly?” He smirked, crossing his arms over his wide chest.

I looked him up and down. There was sweat glistening on his forehead, and his cheeks were flushed.

He was wearing exercise gear, and his breath was slightly labored, so I assumed he was out running when he saw my glorious fall onto the sidewalk.

Rumors and reputation aside, there was clearly something wrong with him.

Anyone who voluntarily went for a run after playing such an intense game of hockey couldn’t be normal.

Why was he even still talking to me? I’d gotten up from my fall, and I was fine.

Perhaps he had a morbid sense of curiosity.

“Why did she have it coming?” I let out a short but slightly manic laugh that must have made him regret asking the question. “Because I’m having a really bad day and she quit on me in my hour of need.”

I probably should have stopped there, but the words kept tumbling out.

“She had it coming because my boyfriend, my mom, and my cousin won’t answer my calls.

And I can’t call my uncle because I’m not supposed to be out here tonight.

Hell, I’m not supposed to be in this freezing, miserable place at all.

But here I am, alone, stuck on the side of the road, stuck for my senior year.

Just stuck, and there’s no one here I can turn to.

So, yeah, I kicked my sweet old car, and if she ever starts again, I will profusely apologize, but until then, as far as I’m concerned, she had it coming. ”

I took in a deep breath as I finished my rant.

My frustrations had boiled over and spilled out, but it wasn’t just because of tonight.

A breakdown like this had been coming ever since my mom dropped me off and left.

I just hadn’t expected it to take place in a snowdrift in front of the state’s most notorious hockey player.

“I’m here,” he said, catching me off guard.

“What?”

“You said you’ve got no one here to turn to.” He shrugged, held out his arms, and looked himself up and down. “Well, I’m here.”

I frowned at him because I had no idea why he was still here.

He’d stumbled on me abusing my car and then watched as I unloaded my emotional baggage into the cold night air.

Not to mention that I could still feel snow caked in my disheveled hair, so I must have looked just as unhinged as I sounded.

He was here though, and he was smiling like I amused him rather than worried him.