Stars Of Our Lives

The Sock Scene™

We climbed back into the van, Eli pouting in the passenger seat and Krel pouting in the back seat. I took the seat behind the driver's, leaning forward as I watched rain begin to pelt against the windshield. It was so small of a thing to notice, and yet, so beautiful.

"Did you check them for trackers?" Eli spat at Steve, sending us another glare. "The League never lets anyone go anywhere without trackers."

"You don't think we know that?" Krel retorted.

I didn't know that, I thought.

"I made sure we ditched all the trackers a while ago," He pulled at his collar, exposing a small cut in the fabric. "See?"

I looked down at my own collar, finding a similar hole. Like someone had hid something in the seam, but Krel had cut it out.

"You sure you got all of them?"

Krel gave him a mock smile. "Pretty damn sure."

I was suddenly very aware of the panic button hidden under my shirt. I almost opened my mouth to say something, but then Steve cut off my thoughts.

"So you're a Green?" He asked, easing onto the gas.

I choked, forcing my hand to stop fiddling with my collar. "Uh, yes, yes, I'm a Green. Yep. Green."

Krel face palmed beside me.

"I'm Blue, which you probably already knew," He said. "Judging by those rubbers, I'm gonna guess you're a Yellow. Or maybe you're just happy to see me."

"Wow," Krel folded his arms. "Never heard that one before."

"And Eli's Green."

"Did you tell them our social security numbers, too?" Eli asked.

"Would it kill you to be nice for ten minutes?" Steve replied, but there was a certain tone in his voice. Like he was mocking someone.

Eli flushed, ducking lower in his seat. "That's not fair," He muttered.

"Here," Steve reached over into the glove box, pulling out a book that had the words Unexplained: Supernatural Stories for Uncertain Times printed on the front. He tossed it, letting Eli catch it out of the air. "Happy now?"

Eli settled back down, muttering under his breath as he thumbed through the book, letting me see a few ghastly looking pictures from over his shoulder.

The car got pretty quiet after that, the only noise when Steve and I talked back and forth. We talked about old memories in Arcadia. Old teachers and things that we remembered. He talked about how the collections got more and more severe in Arcadia after we left. How him and Eli ended up in Caledonia.

I talked about being on the run. After at least ten warning looks from Krel, I left out most of the details, telling him about the little, in between moments. Like trying to get drunk off of Diet Coke. Pirating movies. And all the push up contests I always won.

But I knew I wouldn't win one now.

Halfway through yet another long stretch of silence, Krel finally spoke up.

"Can we at least turn the radio on?"

"I'm reading," Eli replied.

"I think you're smart enough to read and listen at the same time."

Eli shot him a glare over the seat.

"Some music sounds nice," Steve said, me giving him an enthusiastic nod. I hadn't listened to music since Thurmond. Damn, I hadn't even thought about that. How many things had Thurmond taken from me?