Page 11 of Pick Me Up On Tuesdays

"Ethan. Buddy. Pal. I need you to listen to me very carefully when I say this: Put. On. Your. Seatbelt." Trust me, calling him buddy/pal sucked more than watching my phone fall in slow motion and still not being fast enough to catch it. But if that was going to act as an incentive, it was worth it.

He grinned. "What, are you scared?"

"YES. YES, I AM."

Ethan let out a long, dramatic sigh, like my wanting to not die in a fiery wreck was deeply inconvenient to him.

After several more seconds of glaring, he finally—finally—clicked his seatbelt in place.

"Happy?"

I nodded. "Ecstatic. Now let's—"

And then we took off so fast I briefly saw my soul leave my body.

The wind immediately attacked my face.

Because. No roof.

For the next few minutes, we sat in absolute silence. No radio. No communing. And definitely no flirting. But wasn't it sweet.

It was the kind of silence that made one aware of the awkwardness in the air.

Meanwhile, Ethan drove like he was auditioning for Fast & Furious.

I gripped my seat for dear life, my hair becoming one entity with the wind.

Then, out of the blue—

I saw it.

A bunny.

A small, fluffy, pure-hearted, baby angel of nature.

Hopping onto the road.

I gasped. "BUNNY!"

Ethan: "WHAT—?!"

Before I could explain, Ethan, in a move of utter overreaction, yanked the wheel so hard that I'm fairly certain we left this dimension for a moment.

The car veered off the road like it was personally offended.

Tires shrieked. I shrieked.

The car spun.

And then—

BOOM.

The airbag exploded on my face.

And that, my friends, is how a bunny almost turned me into a road confetti.

Chapter 5: A Car A Bus and A Brilliantly Bad Idea

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