Collin and His Car-

“Yea, I’ll be ovathere inafew.” Collin said to Noah over his cell-phone, relaxed in his computer chair. He had just been woken up by the Goat for no other reason than to go see his friend’s new truck. Apparently, it couldn’t wait until a more decent time in the morning, like eleven o’ clock or so. It was Saturday, after all.

Once he was dressed and he checked his pockets for everything he needed, including his phone, keys, wallet, and his pen, he slipped on his shoes and headed out the door, not bothering to look at his hair. He did, however, look at the clock with a frustrated sigh, more direceted at the Goat than anything...it was nine.

After calling to his mom that he would be at Noah’s for a bit, he headed out the door. His own car was fairly new, only by a few weeks at this point. It had been partially used by the dealership as a test car of it’s kind, a Chevy Cobalt silver in color and more expensive than he would have liked. Once in his car, he pulled out of his driveway and proceeded down the dirt road that connected with the service road only a block down.

Once down the service road crossing the main road, he crossed the bridge to the other side and continued into more lousy roads and back roads. Noah’s house was right by the cemetery, the first house past, in fact. It was a long driveway, and once that obstacle had been conquered, he saw why the truck was so important.

It was huge.

It was big and white, with dents and several scratches already littering it, looking well-used and rugged. It looked like it could survive a tornado.

“Ah,” Came Noah’s voice from behind the large trailer. It was a pretty nice place, better than most other trailers. “There you are.” He walked in front and stood beside his truck with a proud smile on his face. “Like it?”
“Yea, it’s uh...nice.” Collin stated, walking closer to it from his car.
“You don’t even know. Wait ‘til ya see it in action.” It was at this time that Izzy made his presence known as he exited the house. It was obvious he had stayed since last night.

“Want ta go for a ride?” Noah asked, “Just down the way and back.” He pointed to the only other way there was besides the road leading back home. Collin had never been that way before.

He had a bad feeling about it, something he knew he should have been more attentive to.

“Sure,” He said, like an idiot afraid of what his friends would say. Izzy wouldn’t have let him live it down. Besides, he was feeling good about his car, it could handle a lot, he was sure.

It wasn’t but a few moments before they were both out of the long driveway and Collin was following Noah and Izzy in the truck. Soon, they were speeding down the dirt roads at excessive speeds, and Collin was feeling good. He had lifted his armrest and gripped the E-brake of his automatic, ready to use it at any time.

Everything was fine and going smoothly until a particularly large cloud of dust began to block his line of sight to the truck on a very dusty segment of road. Suddenly, he saw a turn and thought that, in his peripheral vision, he had seen Noah’s truck going down it, and with a sharp turn of the wheel and the pulling up of the emergency brake, there came a rush of adrenaline as he slid directly into a ditch.

A long line of explitives escaped his mouth by reflex to the spike of adrenaline. Gripping the steering wheel and looking forward, eyes scanning the situation. A fence of barbed-wire sat in front of him, and his car was at an angle. He threw the car into reverse and backed out of the small rut on the side of the road. In the middle of the road, he got out of his car and inspected the damage.

Nothing noticeable.

Nothing seen from the outside, anyways, nothing but some grass he picked out of the grill. His mom just...wouldn’t know. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with it. His mind was panicking, and from what he could tell, Noah and Izzy hadn’t noticed he wasn’t following yet. He dug his cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open.

It was dead. Of course it was, he had forgotten to charge it last night.

Ah, the life of an irresponsible teen Squirrel. So interesting.

A few minutes later, Noah was seen coming back. Collin was leaning against his car, a somber look on his face. He sighed as the Goat rolled down the passenger window and pulled up.
“What happened?”
“Accident. Just head back ‘ome and I’ll follow ya.” Collin said, getting into his car and putting it into drive, straightening it out. It was a boring drive back, Collin in no mood for any more surprises.

It wasn’t long before Collin was back home, pretending like nothing had happened.

1 Month later-

“Whaddya mean the engine is cracked?” Collin almost yelled at the mechanic. His mother was nearby, and she had a disappointed look on her face. Fortunately, Collin had not seen it.
“Yep, we found some grass in the radiator, which lead to the engine cracking. That’s what happens when the radiator isn’t working at full capacity.” The greasy, worn stallion said, wiping off his hands on a towel.
“How much is it going to cost us, Reese?” His mother stepped in, a concerned look on her face, a hint of disappointment in her voice. Collin twinged at that hint.
“About eight grand, Mrs. McConaughey.” Reese said, almost sad to break the news.
“Alright.” Collin’s mother stated, not even flinching. Collin was getting worried about what was going to happen to him. She would be expecting a story. He would have to tell her. He would be grounded.

He would be grounded for several weeks, a seemingly small punishment. But no punishment was worse than his mother’s disappointment.

The disappointment stung worst of all.