In the Presence of Enemies Ch Two

"Oh wait, so... we're all staying at my place?!" Corsair inquired with an uncharacteristic squeal of delight. It was the first time in ages that Lindsey's parents had actually agreed to let her stay if Cody stayed too. "Finally man!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"You know what this calls for, don't you?" Cody added suddenly as they skirted the schools parking lot. It was a small place, so a small parking lot. That didn't mean that not everyone had cars. Already the parking lot was backed up with people in cars waiting to pull out of the school and onto the main road. Yes, the school was off of the main road. Of the what, six roads in the entire town? Hah!

"What does this call for?" Corsair repeated.

Cody chuckled then nudged both girls off of either of his sides. "Well, I vote that we go to the arcade and visit Jim."

"But Jim'll just try to add another to our party." Lindsey protested.

"So? He knows not to give us any non-Goths, right?"

Corsair pursed her lips. "So, you want to add a visitor to the town to our thanksgiving party?" She inquired, running a hand through her short hair and fluffing the back slightly so that it was a little more on the spiky side.

Cody shrugged, nodding his masses of black hair. "Well, yeah. It's be interesting to punk 'em all week. No?"

"Hmm... I'll think about it, 'kay? After all we have a few blocks, no?" The girl replied, falling behind for a second as she bent to tie her shoes.

Larietta is actually, despite the lack in population, very scenic. Sure, it draws tourists to listen to the odd history and all, but that is mainly during the summer months. So, there weren't many tourists out that Tuesday. Not that the weather was nice anyway. The wet ground was somewhat frozen over from the rain that had fallen the night before, and a light frost rested on the windows to small shops. In certain shops, dead impatiens hung limply over the side of their planters.... the frost having taken their lives from them. The buildings were majority brick, though a few of them were wooden. City Hall loomed over all of them, with it's grand brick facings and concrete accents and columns. The pine forest to the west of the main road was sparkling with a thick layer of snow that had been pushed aside from the road, and now stood undisturbed and beckoning to children that were getting out of the lower class schools. Lower class as in middle school and elementary. The older students, however, skirted the woods and just head either to the arcade, pizzeria or straight home.

The three teenagers had already decided to head to Jim's Arcade... and meet up with Jim. He was a cool guy, too. But, like they said, they had quite a walk.

~*~*~*~

"My life be like ooh-aahh-oohoh! Ooh ahh oohah ohhohh!" The song, Ooh-Aah, by Grits, was being completely massacred. The blonde-haired boy sat low in the seat of his car, leaning it back slightly as he drove down the snowy streets. Road trips were always a stress reliever. Especially when you were driving from a big city, and wanting simply to come to a small country town. Would there be just country hicks? That was what he was expecting.

Startling blue eyes twinkled with laughter. Aaron Walker was a prep boy, as we can put it. His jeans and white polo were both covered by a deep blue Northface jacket. Because of the fact that he wore the jacket though, he did not have the heater on too high.

"My life be like ooh aah ooh, dum dum dit-" He stopped in the middle of the line as his steering wheel shuddered. Well, it wasn't the tires; he had just had them balanced. So.... why were they... The Maintenance light flashed on the dashboard. "No, no, no!" Something weird was going on.

He had just taken his car, his lovely Toyota Scion was having a spaz attack! The gas meter was going through erratic spasms, and then finally... the entire car simply began to hum before it powered off. It was odd... never before had Aaron heard of a car do that.

Getting out, and ever so gently shutting the door, he stood and simply looked at the car. "No way!" He exclaimed loudly, groaning. He was completely unaware of the three teens coming up behind him as he bent down to look under the car. "This is complete bull-".

"Yo, are you gonna be okay?" The voice scared him to death, it was so sudden. He stood, hitting his head on the driver-side mirror, and nearly knocking it off in the process as he spun around to face the chick who had spoken. The girl had long brown hair that was like liquid chestnut that fell in a waterfall of many layers down her back. Her light olive eyes glimmered with concern, and the two people behind her, dark-haired for the most part, seemed rather nonchalant about it. Well, sniggering somewhat. Well, now that he thought of it, Aaron realized that he had just stopped the car in the middle of the road.... and left it. Crap! "Yeah, I'll uh, I'll be fine." He commented as he read the girls shirt. She was Christian, that much was obvious. Thy Will Be Done. No doubt.

"Why don't you come with us then?" Lindsey inquired calmly, and was nudged sharply by Corsair. "Whoa.... no, no. Prep?"

"Don't judge, Charolette."

"Whoa. What was that?!"

Cody, luckily, intervened the whispering girls. "Corsair, Lindsey. Chill, man."

"He'll end up having to chill with us!" Corsair protested.

Lindsey looked sidelong at her old friend. "Hey, trust me on this. Let's just skip going to Jim's, and go on back to your house. I mean, really.... at least this'll be more fun... right?" Well, she could she the sheer doubt radiating off of Corsair's features, but she shrugged it off. "Whatever..."

Aaron looked up as Lindsey turned back to him. He had the feeling that they had been talking about him. About his sheer hotness, of course. Seriously, what else was there to say about him? Hehe. "What's your names, by the way?" He asked.

"I'm Lindsey, she is Corsair, and he is Cody." Cody... well, let's just say that he is corsairs little bi boy. He gave a gay wave, mainly just for laughs... because a look of horror plastered itself on Aarons face. See, Cody did not think that Aaron was that hot.... but he loved giving Corsair something to laugh about. And laugh she did.

"You going to be okay, dear? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Aaron shook his head. "I'll be fine." Oh Gawd! Was he just dragged into hanging out with a gay guy?

"Hey..." Lindsey started. "We'll let Jack know that your car is broken down. Why don't you chill here for thanksgiving break?" She invited calmly, ignoring the jab that she got in the back from Corsair.

Aaron nodded. "Sure. Sounds great, thanks." Oh Gawd! Now he was staying with a gay guy! Not at his house, right? He'd be fine if it wasn't Cody's house. He pulled the key from the ignition, and shut the door. With the feeble 'beep' of a dying battery, the car locked itself.

"Shall we?" Cody motioned forward with a wink, and the three started.

They started off, unaware of the ghostly gaze that came at their backs from atop the cars hood, and the light laughter that left age-old lips.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So where exactly are we?" Aaron asked. He didn't know where he was, because when on a road trip he tended to ignore road signs completely.

Corsair smirked, her lips forming a sort of mocking grin. "You are currently located on Fort Howard Road, Larrietta, Massachusetts. We're on the way to my house." A dusty, winding road to her house indeed. Pah. That smile twisted further on her lips. "Hey, will you marry me, Aaron?" She inquired.... much to Lindsey's dismay and Cody's amusement.

"What?!" Incredulity reigned on Aaron's features. "No! Eew! What are you saying? Chicks don't ask dudes, man!"

"Eew!?" Cody snarled. "Did you just say 'eew' about my girl asking you to marry her?! How inconceivable!" He yelled.

At this point, even Lindsey started to laugh.

Aaron was confused. Was Cody gay or not? And was the look of unbearable hurt in Corsair's eyes just a ploy? Nah....