The Uber

2

I was not thrilled about this. Not at all. Every instinct in me was trying to back out, my brain kept shouting the warning, "Don't take rides from strangers!"

Krista could see it on my face, I could tell by the way she was looking at me. She had that pouty, wide eyed look of sympathy. The kind that parents wore as they took their toddlers to get a round of vaccines. "I know you don't want to do this and it won't be any fun, but it has to be done." I was aware I was the big toddler in the equation.

"It's just, you know how I let my mind go wild. We both watch Bailey Sarian, we know how things can go wrong," I said.

"Look, Lex, I already looked up his Facebook. His name is Timothy Stubbs, he drives a Kia, and he's a server at Cracker Barrel when he isn't driving people around."

She flipped her phone around to show me the images of an average-looking dude. Black rimmed glasses, short brown hair, very normal smile that didn't make my skin crawl or raise any red flags. An older woman in his photo came up to about his shoulder, She was grinning up at him like he was a knight in shining armor. Probably his grandma. Grandmas always think their grandkids are the whole world, but there was just something about her that made me feel like she would know better. If there was something dark about him, she would sense it, she wouldn't smile so widely, wouldn't lean into him as if he was a protector.

"I've got pepper spray," Ronnie said. She held up her keys by the light pink bottle, with its keyring coming from the bottom so she would always have it with her when she was out and about. Her medium sized nails matched the color of the pepper spray holder. She always had her nails done. I was jealous for a second of how pretty they were. I spent a lot of time crafting and broke my nails too often, so I just quit getting them done.

I glanced from the spray to Timothy and his grandma on Krista's phone.

"Come on," Ronnie said, "You don't want to wait here with my car while we go alone do you?"

No, I didn't. I wanted to be far away from there.

"Fine," I grumbled. "I'll go in the Uber."

Krista pulled her phone back, a huge, grin on her face. She loved talking people into trying new things. Usually it was calamari or a new shampoo—things much less potentially dangerous.

A dark red vehicle slid up next to us and the driver window came down. It was the guy from the photo, for sure. It must have been a recent photo, because hair was still the same style, or maybe he just didn't do well with changes, like me, so he kept it that way for years. He had a boy-next-door grin, not perfect, but not bad, and he said, "Is any of you Krista?"

"I am," Krista spoke up. "Is it okay if my friends come along?"

"No problem, the more the merrier," he replied.

He didn't seem to be offended by our number, which might make one person intent on doing harm angry, because he knows he's being blocked, or at least hindered.

"We'll all sit back here, if you don't mind," Ronnie said.

"That's cool," Timothy said.

I opened the left back door, sat down and slid to the middle of the back seat. Krista went around to the right door and sat beside me, Ronnie sat to my right and the doors shut almost simultaneously. The locks looked perfectly normal and didn't engage to keep us inside against our will. He and Krista must have already worked out a destination, because he started driving.

"You guys in college?" he asked.

"High school. Seniors." Ronnie said.

"Oh, cool. I'm attending the university. Got some side jobs so I can pay for books and whatnot."