Being Shot

P h o t o #62 - Breaking And Entering

P h o t o #62 - Breaking And Entering

~Elliot's POV~

My foot hit the accelerator, my eyes evidently glued to my driver side mirror as my tempt soared. The silence in my car was suffocating, and I was sure that I was the root of the cause, but I didn't dwell on the fact. Ignoring the glances Kayla gave to me at my side, and the prickly sensation indicating that the others in the back were doing the same, I grit my teeth.

Bile rose in my throat at the thought of Emma being stuck in a situation she went anticipating. Even if she insisted that she ride with her mother, the images of what she had to go through because of the woman's failure to be there for her reeled through my head. My hands gripped the steering wheel so hard my that knuckles were a stark white against the black leather.

Eyebrows knitted together in a way that most likely resembled an angered hound after being teased by little, tittering children one too many times, I pressed the gas just a bit harder, never losing sight of the car riding behind us.

"Elliot...Calm down a bit. It isn't good to drive when you're upset like this." Kayla finally spoke up next to me after opening and closing her mouth a few times, her voice strained.

But I couldn't calm down. Not in the slightest. Not when something could be happening just a few yards away. Not when I knew I had a stretch of road and highway keeping me from Emma, forcing her to bear her burdens alone after I've assured her time and time again that I would never do exactly that.

The look on her face before we parted ways in the parking lot burned itself to the back of my eyelids, the way she held onto every ounce of courage with a small smile, the knot in between her eyebrows betraying her.

I could've smacked myself, not just for easily letting her go just ten minutes before, but for being at a loss of words when I was left alone with her mother.

Memories swirled my mind like smoke snaking around a doused out fire, the time Emma accidentally met with my father, the time he tried using one of his mind games to turn her thoughts against me, the time she defended me till the end, even when all I could do was pathetically sit there and take it.

Again my foot hit the gas pedal, feel adrenaline pump through my veins as I swerved around the car lagging in our lane.

Kayla's left knee bounced anxiously, most likely worried as I wildly directed our car, but all my muddled mind could think of was how Emma had done the same when she expressed that she was nervous, and how her grandmother caught onto her ticks. I almost squeezed my eyes shut while in the middle of the freeway; this was no time to be angry that I couldn't do the same.

A hand fell upon my shoulder and I tensed immediately, jerking the steering wheel just enough to make Kayla squeak and grab at the handle above the passenger door. I would've rolled my eyes in any other situation at her dramatic reaction, but when I checked the rear view mirror I could evidently see how pale everyone's faces were in the back seat. I released a pent up breath.

My eyes flickered to the hand still gripping at my collar bone, knowing it was Jonas the moment he opened his mouth, "Just because you couldn't escort your girlfriend to your house doesn't mean you gotta kill us in the process." A series of astonished sputters and coughs rang out inside the closed in space.

Heat rose up my neck and bruned the tips of my ears, and I shrugged off his touch as if it suddenly burst into searing flames. I would've punched him if I wasn't currently trying to get around another car that didn't seem to understand the use of a high-speed lane.