Chapter 18: Scrape

The bag that Sharla packed is disconcertingly small. Patrick said sleeping bags, right? After he said no tent, I think. The bag looks just about big enough for two small sleeping bags. She mentioned that we'd get that alarm device, too, right? I don't think anything else could fit. It's definitely concerning.

Patrick, for one, doesn't seem to look worried at all. He's grinning madly as he drives away from his house, not in the direction of town. I did notice that he didn't take the purple car, this time. We're currently sitting in the tangerine coloured luxury sports car that he bought sometime last month. I'm scared to even breathe in it, everything looks so expensive.

I'm brought out of my thoughts by a poke in the ribs. I jump away, then glare at him. He smirks. "Todd. Relax. I'm barely even speeding."

I chew on my lip and focus on breathing, but then get scared that I might fog up the windows or something, so I try to breathe shallower. A moment later, I receive another poke. I turn to glare again. "You can just talk to get my attention. We're the only people here, and this car has a roof so it's not as loud."

"You're still tense, and I'm actually going the speed limit right now. Seriously, chill."

"I can't help it. This car..." I feel my leather against my palm and realize my hand has slipped off my leg onto the seat. I quickly clasp both hands in my lap tightly, praying that I didn't ruin the seat with my sweaty palm.

He's watching me. "Todd, I chose this car for a reason."

"Why?"

"Because of this." He cranks the steering wheel to the side, driving straight off the road. I let out a small squeak as the car jostles over rocks and bumps.

"Patrick!"

"Yes?"

"Do you even realize how expensive this car is?"

"Of course. I bought it. Calm down, I'm rich. I've got my eye on another one, actually, it's this really nice champagne colour..."

I squeak again as he steers towards a clump of trees. "What are you doing? The paint will get scratched-"

"Todd, relax. This is why I didn't bring one of my more recent cars!"

I cringe as we reach the forest line and a branch immediately claws across the passenger window, scratching along the entire length of the car with an audible scraping noise. "Patrick-"

"If I call you cute again, will you stop worrying about my car?"

I go red immediately, my mind also spontaneously filling with questions. Does that mean he just said it earlier to shut me up? Or maybe he just learned that was the result? Does his question count as flirting, or does it counteract the sincerity of his earlier statement?

"And besides, we're almost there, so you can calm down a bit."

I don't know how on Earth he can say that so casually after basically calling me cute (or did he? Does that count?). Once again, I wonder what it's like inside his head. What does his train of thought even look like? How much of what he says is true?

The car slams to a stop, throwing both of us forwards. My hands land on the glove compartment, and I quickly pull them away before remembering that he just basically mutilated the rest of the car, so it probably doesn't matter how many fingerprints I may leave on the interior.

"Come on, I don't want to be stumbling around looking for a place to sleep after it gets dark."

I quickly get out of the car, pulling the bag of supplies that Sharla packed for us out as well. Patrick has walked a few feet away and is looking out. I go to him and find that we're on a bit of a platform, looking out onto an even more tree-crowded area.

"Are we sleeping up here?" I ask, and he turns to look at me, casually taking the bag. I let him, though I really don't mind carrying it (though, it is a little heavy. Maybe that's just because I was so tense for the entire drive).

"No, we're going to go down there. It's a nice view from up here, though, isn't it?"

I look out at the forest, already anxious at the idea of sleeping down there with nothing but a sleeping bag for the next few nights. "Yeah. Pretty."

He glances at me, smirking a little, before starting down the extremely steep hill. It's only a few degrees away from a total drop off, and he's essentially sliding down (which implies loose dirt, which seems very dangerous), but he seems to think he's invincible, as he does with apparently everything, and doesn't bother stopping or trying to slow down. I carefully take a step after him, finding that the dirt is indeed very loose and not very safe at all.

I wait until I'm sure that my footing is solid before daring to take another step. I continue this pattern, as well as turning my feet to give me more balance, and leaning back as much as possible to keep my centre of gravity- well, centred. My pulse is still speeding up every time one of my feet slides even a little, which is basically every step, and my breathing is even shallower than it was on the ride here.

"Todd! Come on, you'll be fine!" Patrick calls up to me, because he essentially slid down the whole hill with no regard for his safety and therefore got down a lot faster than I will at my snail's pace.

"Not everyone-"

My foot skids harshly, and I practically leap backwards, my pulse skyrocketing as I completely lose control and fall onto my back, sliding down the hill. I try to keep myself at least semi-upright (this hill is steep enough that this is the closest I can get to lying on my back), because falling forwards would mean tumbling down headfirst which would basically be an instant trip to the hospital and my parents finding out about everything.

I near the bottom of the hill, still scrambling for control, and realize that Patrick is right in my path, as usual pretending he's indestructible. My eyes widen.

"No, don't-!"

I ram into him, completely knocking him over and slamming all air from my lungs as we both hit the ground. I struggle to breathe for a few seconds before I manage to inhale, then immediately start coughing. I can feel my pulse pounding in my ears as I fight to get a decent breath of not-dust. There's a cloth over my mouth, suddenly, and I suck in a huge inhale before lapsing into another bout of coughs. On my third breath I finally manage to stop, giving my sore lungs a chance to kind of recover, and end up panting.

I become aware of his arms around me a moment later, and push myself up to look at him. He's examining my face, though not in his way- more concerned.

"You lunatic. Are you okay?" I manage to gasp out.

"Am I okay? You just fell down a hill."

"And you decided to put yourself directly in my trajectory. Are you insane?"

"You would've been a lot worse off if you'd hit the ground. Momentum equals mass times velocity. Momentum is conserved or lost, so velocity is a lot less if there's more mass."

I stare at him, all pain momentarily forgotten from the shock. "You actually listen in physics?"

"No, it's on the formula sheet. But my point is that you're a lot less hurt this way."

"Sure, but now you're hurt too." I take another breath, then muster up the strength to roll off of him (my body is not happy about moving).

"Todd, I'm fine. Are you bleeding?"

I look at my hands. Both are scraped raw, with a few lines of blood. "Only a bit."

"Anywhere else?"

My back burns a little, so I carefully lift up a dusty and ragged corner of my shirt and peer at it. "No blood. Just scraped."

"Alright. How's your head?"

"Fine. I didn't hit it. It's just... pounding. I can feel my heartbeat."

"I know, so could I. Can you move?"

I groan a little. He smirks a little and decides to accept that as an answer.

"Fine. I'll carry you."

I shake my head. "I'll be fine. Just help me up."

He grips my forearm and pulls, and I'm so glad he didn't try to grab my hand- that would have stung. He wraps an arm around my waist tightly, pulling me against his side. "Do you want to go back?"

I consider that for a moment. It feels like a shame after all the anxiety I suffered on the way here, and this is clearly part of his actual schooling. So I take a deep breath and swallow.

"No. I'm good."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." And to my surprise, I am.

What did you think of the chapter? The millionaire (kind of) calling Todd cute again? How about Todd falling down the hill? And the millionaire intentionally getting in his way to break his fall? Any theories as to what might happen next? Let me know in the comments!

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