Chloe sucked on her bleeding index finger, lost in thought, then closed the hood.
The third attempt finally seemed to have worked.
Chloe started the engine and hit the gas pedal a few times.
YES!
She checked the time on her cell phone.
Mom and David would be back from their date in about three hours, which meant David's mustache would be back in two and a half hours. They'd probably be tipsy, in a good mood, and maybe go at it again like rabbits.
Chloe had long since gotten over being disgusted or depressed about it, but knowing that her mother had an active sex life made Chloe a little sad because she missed Rachel. More than a little.
Carefully, so as not to hit the wall, she backed up with the car.
Then she got out quickly and began to clear some sheets of paper from the back bench.
She filled a bucket of water and cleaned up the caked dirt.
Over a hole she had overlooked to mend, she stuck a glittering skull sticker that Rachel had liked and Chloe had pretended not willing to share it.
Finally she drove out of the garage and washed the car, it felt good, she could see the progress of her work and she felt great.
With her shirt full of soapy water, she didn't even register the incoming call, until she picked up the cell phone and realized that Rachel had left her a voicemail.
Her heart was pounding when she heard Rachel's voice.
"Hey, we got through traffic faster than expected. I'll be in Arcadia in about twenty minutes. Do you want to do something together later?"
SHIT!!!!!!!!!!
Chloe swung herself behind the wheel, while the light was still turning red, she looked in the rearview mirror and saw how shiny her skin was, she threw her arms up and looked at the huge stains of sweat, she pulled with one hand her shirt over her mouth and nose and shivered slightly.
Crap! She had no more time to shower and no more time to change into other clothes.
Now her cell phone beeped again.
It was the alarm she had set herself so that she wouldn't be late. So that she would arrive freshly washed and pretty, shining like a new penny, at the bus station.
Rachel had been gone for three weeks. If she saw Chloe like that, she'd get right back on that bus and drive back to her mother.
What if she changed her mind?
What if she didn't like the surprise at all?
What if she had just returned to Arcadia Bay to pack her things and then move in with her mother? Would Chloe still be allowed to come, or was Rachel no longer interested? But no, she had asked if they would do something later ... TOGETHER... Chloe hadn't answered at all. She had completely forgotten about it, out of sheer panic.
Oh shitttt!
She dug the cell phone out of her pocket, looked at the display and at the same time scratched very lightly on a garbage can on the side of the road.
"Yes" she typed, but then missed the send-button.
With a 'fuck it' in mind, she threw the phone back in the seats behind her and focused on the road, a little more gas and she'd make it to the station before Rachel would have a chance to call a cab and then, her heart sank.
James Amber's car just parked in the front row parking space and their family driver got out, waving his hat towards the bus, that just arrived.
With a touch of genius, Chloe decided to drive around the parking lot, she would intercept Rachel, she was a spy, an assasin, a secret agent. Chloe fucking Price.
She stopped at a ditch, tires screeching.
The first people already received their suitcases, the driver puffing and snorting and now she could see the Ambers driver again out of the corner of her eye, she could never remember his name, but she wouldn't let anyone spoil her surprise.
She stuck her head in the back door and then she saw Rachel, immersed in a book, she hadn't got off the bus yet, probably wanted to wait until the first people left.
"Psst, hey! Pssssst!" Rachel looked up, her mouth opened in a cartoon O.
Then she beamed with joy. "Chloe!"
"Sssh, get up, come on, hurry!"
Rachel raised an eyebrow in surprise, but then didn't question anything, but quickly slipped off the bus, Chloe took her arm and pulled her towards surprise.
"What's going on?" Rachel whispered, looking over her shoulder. Now she saw her driver too. "Chloe, wait, this is ..."
"Not that important," Chloe whispered to her, then pushed her right in front of the car.
"But my suitcase ... and my book is still-"
Chloe built herself to her full height, took a deep breath, then said, "Tadaaa," then handed the keys to Rachel.
Rachel took the keys and then looked in amazement from Chloe to the car and back again.
"But..."
"Welcome home. I've missed you," Chloe said softly.
"Is that ... is that mine?"
"Yes. If you like it."
"If I like it," Rachel repeated in disbelief.
"Do you remember how we watched The L word the day before you left and you kept watching the intro because you liked the Mustang so much?"
Rachel smiled and sang softly "girls in tight dresses who drag with mustaches ..."
Chloe smiled too and opened the driver's door. Rachel got in and looked around as she had in Chloe's truck in the junkyard many months ago.
As Chloe leaned back in the passenger seat and looked at Rachel's face, she found that Rachel had closed her eyes.
"What is it?" She asked, briefly a little concerned. "Don't you like it?"
Rachel kept her eyes closed but put a hand on Chloe's leg.
"I didn't want to come back," she said finally. "California is my home, I belong there. There were so many things I wanted to do with my mom, but we ended up just sitting and talking in her new apartment."
"Oh," Chloe said, and fear spread through her. She could smell her sweat now and wished she hadn't picked Rachel up. Maybe she should have just stayed at home or in the junkyard where she belonged ...
"I came back because of you Chloe. I came to take you with me.
But then I was worried that you didn't really want to leave, that you had changed your mind while I was gone, I read the entire trip because I had to distract myself somehow. And then you didn't answer my message and I thought you didn't want to see me. And now you're here ... and you've built a car that will get us out of here. "Rachel opened her eyes and looked directly at Chloe.
Chloe wanted to say something. She always wanted to say something, but often the result was bullshit or nothing at all.
"I love you Chloe. I want to drive to California with you and officially introduce you to my family that you don't know yet."
Chloe swallowed, it was one of those moments when nothing came out.
She nodded. That had to be enough as an answer.
"I love the car, but I am even more grateful for you."
As Rachel started the engine and pulled out of the ditch, the Ambers driver watched them go and shook his head in despair, Rachel's suitcase in one hand and her book in the other.
Chloe tried again for a moment to remember his name.
Then she took Rachel's hand, which was still on her leg, and laughed. Who gives a shit ?!