Chapter 4

Gavin lands on his feet, stumbles forward a few steps, and then manages to catch his balance.

Not bad, Ace.

The kind of day he's been having, he wouldn't have been overly surprised if he'd broken an ankle or something. Of course, he hasn't escaped from the back yard as yet.

Looking around for Mac, he sees a swing set, a sitting area underneath a gazebo, a trampoline, and, inevitable for a house this size, a swimming pool. Mac is lying under one of the tables at the pool's edge, looking at him calmly, as though Gavin's sudden appearance from above is no surprise at all.

"Come on, boy," he calls quietly. "Time to blow this Popsicle stand." The German shepherd yawns, and then climbs reluctantly to his feet.

Gavin's bike is where he'd left it earlier, leaning against the fence by the gate, Mac's leash draped over the handlebars. He opens the gate as quietly as possible, and clips Mac to his leash once the dog finally arrives.

"Don't worry, boy," he says, scratching him underneath his chin, "I'll bring you back to visit."

The side yard is shared by Elena's house and the neighbors with the pampered lawn. Fortunately, there are no sprinklers running at the moment, so he and Mac won't have to endure a shower while trying to escape. At this point, his biggest danger is probably being seen through a side window. Grasping the bike in one hand, and Mac's leash in the other, he sprints towards the end of the house.

He arrives at the house's front corner, and peers around it, trying to see whether the garage door is still open. It is, and the rear end of the family's SUV is sticking out. He watches as various family members appear, grab shopping bags from the back, and hustle inside. The stocky man with short cropped hair and a mustache must be Elena's stepfather. Her two baby sisters are unmistakable, both with braids in their hair, and wearing identical dresses. He sees no sign of Elena's mother, and decides that she must be inside directing traffic flow. It's where his own mother would be, at least when she still lived with Gavin and his father.

Elena is the last to appear. She leans into the SUV, and his heart beats faster. She's still wearing the bathing suit which so completely captured his attention earlier, except that now he knows exactly what is under it. He swallows, trying to rid his throat of the tightness there.

Elena straightens, pulling two bags from the back, and walks inside. At the last possible moment, her head turns, and their eyes meet.

I've gotta get outa here before my ass is busted.

He doesn't feel safe moving while the garage door's still open though, and decides that it's probably better to wait until they're all inside.

Elena's stepdad returns, checks inside the SUV one last time, and slams the back doors shut. Gavin gets on his bike, waits until the SUV's in the garage and the door's headed down, and then pedals for the street.

Shit, I'm pretty good at this.

Of course, there's no denying that he'd be better with practice. He grins down at Mac, trotting alongside him.

Yes indeed, a lot more practice.

He's arrived at the street, and is turning towards the corner, when another cyclist rides around it. It's a girl wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and, after a quick glance, he classifies her to be Not nearly as pretty as Elena. He's anxious to be on his way, but still, he's on the sidewalk now, it's not like he's trespassing anymore.

The girl spots both him and Mac, pedals quickly towards him, and raises her right hand in a stop gesture. "You and I need to talk," she announces, braking to a halt in front of him.

What the Hell?

"You see," she says, dropping her feet to the pavement, "I belong to the neighborhood watch." Her right hand lowers until it's at a level with his chest, and the pointer finger stabs in his direction. "You, young man, have some explaining to do."

Neighborhood watch?

He studies her closely. She can't possibly be much older than he is, if even that.

Screw it!

"Aren't you a little short for a Storm Trooper?"

She grins at him. "You've been waiting a while to whip that line out of your back pocket, huh?" She pushes with her feet, reversing her bike away from him, and turns back towards the street corner. "Come on," waving at him, "I don't have much time before my parents expect me back. I told them I left something over at Elena's, but that only gives me a few minutes."

Gavin watches her pedal away; she never glances back, as though she knows the bait she's set will be sufficient. He is curious, and besides, it's not like he can hang out in front of Elena's house all night. With a shrug, he follows her.

The streets are well lit, but he had been lost when he arrived here, and he's not even sure now how to get back home. Probably something he can figure out, as soon as this girl tells him what ... He suddenly realizes who she must be. He pedals faster, moving up until he's along side her.

"You saw me jump, right?"

She pulls over, puts her bike on its kickstand, and sits down on the curb. "Yeah, that was me in the window."

Gavin parks his bike along side hers, and gesturing at Mac to sit, offers her his hand. "Gavin Young."

She reaches up and shakes. "Laura Ramirez. Elena and I have been best friends since second grade."

Remembering the possibility of wandering cats, he wraps Mac's leash securely around his arm, and sits down beside her. "I just met her today."

Laura stares at him for a second, and then begins to laugh.

"What?"

"You just met her, and you not only manage to get invited inside her house, you stay so long you have to climb out her bedroom window to escape her parents? Do you do this a lot?"

He smiles back at her. "Would you believe me if I said yes?"

She studies him intently for a second. "I'm going to tell you something about Elena, Gavin. I've never once seen her really interested in a guy." His eyes must've betrayed his disbelief, because she raises a hand to stop what he's about to say. "I know, that doesn't sound much like the girl you just met, does it?"

He shakes his head. Nothing about his meeting and subsequent actions with Elena makes any sort of sense at all. She had snatched him off of the street, and, within a few minutes of walking inside, she was giving him oral sex. It was every teenage boy's dream--a dream he wants to relive as many times as possible--but no way did it make sense.

"Our end of the year dance," Laura continues quietly, "a guy named James Atkins asked her this time. James is a year ahead of Elena and me, and ... He's hot!" Laura blushes, and looks away from him quickly. "I was so jealous when she told me he had asked her that I treated her like shit for two days."