When Stars Collide

Chapter 3

"Nice to meet you Rhia," Logan said in a clear British accent, "Cheyenne has told us a lot about you." Rhiannon couldn't stop the blush that rose to her cheeks and when she tried to protest, she could only stammer, not being able to say a coherent sentence around him.
Cheyenne made pouty and mocked her, "Little Rhia is afraid, isn't she." Rhia snapped out of it and shoved her cousin, "I'm not afraid, you idiot. He's just really, really huge."
Cheyenne smiled at her cousin's abashment and spoke to Logan, "I thought your car was messed up, whose car did you borrow?"  Jade got down from Logan and looked flustered as she said, "Leonidas."
   Cheyenne stood rigid and looked like an electric shock just went through her body, "Did you just say Leonidas." she looked at Jade's guilty face and smashed her fist on the wall.
   Rhia held her cousin's wrist and checked for bleeding, she tried to play the peacemaker and said, "Come on Cheyenne, is there something wrong with you. There's nothing wrong if he borrows some guy's car."
   Cheyenne shook her wrist from her cousin's grip and went up to the two of them and asked, "What're you going to do if Melissa thinks he did that for her?." Jade rolled her eyes and said, "We both know that Leo didn't mean it that way."
   Cheyenne got up to her face and yelled, "He shouldn't have said it in the first place." Rhiannon pushed her cousin back and hissed, "Cut it out, people are staring." Logan gave her a silent word of thanks, but it seemed Cheyenne wasn't done.
   "You guys are only encouraging Melissa." Cheyenne gave the couple an angry stare. "No, you not explaining to her is what encourages her. By the way it was your boyfriend who's in the car outside that went to Leo."
   Cheyenne's change of behaviour was instant, she immediately started blushing and protested, "He's not my boyfriend, we're just friends." Jade nodded mockingly and remarked, "I don't see you going outside to yell at him."
   Cheyenne grabbed Logan by his ear and said, "Take me to Jasper."

   Rhiannon didn't know a lot about cars but it seemed that Logan's was in pristine condition, her train of thought was interrupted by Cheyenne's questioning, "How much did he ask for." Jade gave an impish smile and said, "He fixed it for free."
   "How do you think it's going to look like to Melissa."
   Logan raised his hands in mock surrender and said, "He offered on his own accord."
   "Logan my man. Let me handle it, so how is it been my little pendulum." Rhia stared in confusion at the boy who made that statement, he had brown hair that framed his face, though the hair didn't feel feminine either. She also noticed his ears were slightly pointed making him look like a Christmas elf, but the most striking thing about him was his unnatural violet eyes.
   "Jasper. I didn't come here to talk to you." It was quite obvious that her cousin was fighting not to show the effect Jasper had on her, "Well, I came here to talk to you Pendulum." It was also quite obvious that Jasper was quite aware of his effect on her, Jasper grabbed Cheyenne's cheeks between his fingers and try to pull her frown into a smile.
   Jade crossed her arms indignantly and huffed, "Are you even going to shout at him?"
Cheyenne had a look of dazed confusion on her face and asked, "For what?"
   "Now I clearly see you while he calls you a pendulum, your mind and moods keep going to and fro."
   Cheyenne's dazed look disappeared in a flash, and she punched Jasper in the stomach even faster than Rhia could blink.
   "Of all mechanics in Arizona you had to call, it just had to be Leo didn't it."
   "He's my best friend."
    This statement was met swiftly with a fist to the jaw, "I meant a good, bloody reason." Cheyenne said coldly,
   "He was the cheapest mechanic available."
   Jade raised her hand with faux timidity and stated simply, "I actually don't believe it's counted as cheap since nobody had to pay."
   Rhia watched the dynamic play between the quartet, though it seemed that Logan was more into wondering what he ate for breakfast the day he selected his friends.
   "Not really helping my situation right now Jade."
    Cheyenne pointed a single threatening finger at Jasper, "If Melissa ever finds out trust me I will cut a very important part of your body, and painfully so."
   "Sorry Little P, but you have to admit Leo has mad skills."
   Rhiannon felt a surge of annoyance with all their mutterings of agreement, and a surge of white hot annoyance passed through her and she kicked her cousin's shin,
   "I have spent over two hours waiting for your friends to come, then when they do the first thing you all decide to do is argue over some 'Leo' boy buying a car."
   Cheyenne hopped on one foot, cursed and rubbed her shin while Jade dragged Rhiannon to the car, "Hop in, we'll explain to you on the way."

                                                                            ~<^>~
   The air was sweltering hot in Mavis Mechanical Autoshop and Garage, sparks could be seen flying all around the building. The owner Mavin, who was named after his father who was called Mavin, whose father was also called Mavin was searching for his rascally assistant.
   "Anya, where is Das."
   A soot covered girl with violet streaked dark hair came out from under a car and removed the visor from her face, she stared in confusion at the towering man. Mavin mentally facepalmed, he had been warned that his new protege had a little bit of an attention problem, but he ignored it as rumors, at times like these he wished he had paid heed.
   "Where is Das?"
   Mavis slowly emphasized each word, Anya rolled her eyes and replied, "He's in his workshop."
   Mavis decided to check up on the one helper in his workshop that he could actually see, instead of that scallawag.
   "How many cars have you done today?"
   "The Prius, Volvo and Peugeot. The Prius just needed a change in gearbox, Volvo needed a new battery and Peugeot needed a little TLC otherwise known as servicing."
   Listening to Anya's efficiency Mavis remembered why he ignored it, because at times like this the attention problem was worth it.
   "Thank you Anya."
   Mavin lumbered down to his assistant's workshop and wondered what stupid, harebrained scheme his assistant was up to.
   Mavin looked at the scene in front of him and could not decide whether he wanted to applaud Das or throttle him. In front of him was a sleek car that was darker than night and looked like it could put a lot of sports cars to shame, one of Cas' favorite new projects, a project he told him specifically not to undergo.
   "What do you think?"
   Mavis looked at a boy with raven black ruffled hair, tan skin and emerald green eyes that looked like they could pierce through your soul, the same boy who asked the question.
   "I think I told you that it was too dangerous."
   The boy rolled his stiff shoulders, which were sore from a hard day at work.
   "I also think I told you I didn't care."
   "Well my hands are clean from this endeavor of yours."
   The boy sat down on the hood of the car and waited expectantly for something, and Mavin had a good idea of what it was, the lumbering man didn't want to give the boy the satisfaction of being aware of Mavin's curiosity, but the urge to ask the question finally won out.
   "What can it do?"
   The boy smirked before answering the question, "It has an electromagnetic supercharger, backup batteries, inbuilt radar detector, automatic driving, Wi-fi and search engines in front of each seat, as an option to self-drive, can go 360 miles an hour and that isn't even the max, and for the grand finale it can talk."
   "So that's why you helped your British friend fix his rundown car for free, Jasper  made all those technology gizmos in return for you, didn't he." Mavin questioned Das suspiciously.
   "It was always going to be for free, but it didn't hurt for Jasper to think otherwise."
   "I hope you have done your orders Das."
   "Trust me. I always do."
   "You know that Melissa girl came looking for you again, I had to lie that you weren't around."
   Das rubbed his brow with his thumb and index finger in exasperation, "I really don't want to talk about Melissa for the rest of this summer."
   "You have to explain that you're not interested."
   "I honestly don't care either way. I'm just waiting for Chi to realize that I'm not going to be faithful to a fake relationship."
   "Speaking of Chi. Did you know her cousin's in town."
   Das glared at the man wondering which turn this conversation was planning to go.
   "I think she's your type, I know you prefer redheads."
   "I personally think I prefer any pretty girl."
   "If that's what you want to fool yourself into believing, then so be it."
   Mavin leaves the workshop and before he leaves through the exit, he hears the last comments of his apprentice.
   "And I have said this a million times throughout the past five years, my name is not Das."