Beyond the Broken Angel

CHAPTER EIGHT

— car ride —

July 25th, 1937

SELENE WAS GAINING adjectives. Devious. Manipulative. Sly. Or, at least, those were the adjectives Giselle gave her as Will drove down the road to the grocery store.

Giselle knew what Selene was doing when the woman had implored Will to escort Giselle to the grocery store, giving them little room to argue against her.

Selene had it all planned out. She couldn't go because she needed to clean up around the house and Giselle couldn't clean up for her because she didn't know where everything went and, oh, Will couldn't stay back and do it because he mentioned that he needed to run a few errands in town, didn't he? Well, it looked like the two would just have to go together, then. And certainly Will couldn't go by himself. It'd be much faster if they both went.

Giselle was sure she was trying to push the two together to establish some sort of friendship after the bickering that ensued the day before.

"I'll take you to the grocery store and pick you up once I'm finished with my priorities," Will broke the silence that had settled between them.

Giselle straightened in her seat. "Wait, you can't leave me," she protested. "I haven't been shopping in this era. What if I get confused? I need someone to help me."

"Why would it be confusing?" Will countered. "All you do is grab the items on that list Aunt Selene gave you. It's not hard."

"Easy for you to say," Giselle scoffed. She turned back to the window, watching as the trees passed by. "Can't you go faster than this?" she asked him. "I haven't even seen a single speed limit of this road."

"The speed we are at is perfectly fine," Will grumbled.

"Do old cars like this even go fast?" Giselle asked in pure curiosity.

Will took her question as an insult. "This isn't an old car, I'll have you know. I bought it earlier this year brand new," he spat. "And it can go fast, by the way. I just don't see a need in wasting petrol."

Giselle snickered to herself. "Geez, you almost sound like someone from my time. Seems like guys have always been touchy about their precious cars." When Will didn't reply, she turned to him. "You know, you'd probably lose your mind if you saw the kind of cars that exist in my time."

He glanced over at her, his interest obviously piqued. "Why do you say that?"

"Because, we have cars that TVs in them. And GPS. You can put an address into your car's, uh, brain, I guess you could call it, and it'll give you the directions to your destination. And back-up cameras. Oh gosh, back up cameras. They show you what's behind your car and helps you to easily back up."

"What else?" Will asked in fascination. "What about self-driving vehicles? Have those been invented yet?"

Giselle nodded. "Yeah, actually. Those are fairly popular right now. There have even been people that sleep while their car drives for them."

Will jumped into more questions about the future of cars, with Giselle happy to answer him. There was a hint of childlike fascination in his eyes, making Giselle eager to keep the conversation going.

By the time they pulled into the grocery store's parking lot, Will had accumulated a battalion of information that no one in the year 1937 should know.

As Will put the car in park, Giselle spotted a familiar face exiting his car and heading towards the entrance.

"If, um, you're still worried about going by yourself, I can go with you," Will offered.