Immortal Light: Wide Awake Read Online Free PDF

Lucy
could see him smile through the window in the dim reflected light
and he waved his hand in a subtle circular motion. She knit her
eyebrows in confusion before realizing he was requesting she lower
the window. Groping for the button on the door panel, she felt
stupid, both for her bad fortune to be involved in an accident for
which her father would skin her alive, and to be stuck in the rain
with a guy she barely knew, yet thought about almost
constantly.
    When the electric hum stopped, she heard
Benjamin’s soft, steady voice speak, “Are you alright?”
    Lucy shook her head in affirmation. “Yeah, I
think so.”
    “ Good,” he said calmly. “I think
we should get you out of the road. If you steer to the left I'll
push you into the parking lot."
    Lucy looked past him in the dark
to the other side of the road and the Sunset Bay parking area. She
didn't know how he would accomplish moving the car by himself, but
he seemed confident enough that she just nodded, put the car in
neutral, and gripped the wheel. In a matter of seconds, Benjamin
had pushed them across the road while she steered. The car came to
a rest and Lucy put it in park.
    "Do you want me to call a tow truck for you?”
Benjamin asked as he came back around the side of the
car.
    Lucy stuttered, searching for the words to
answer him, when the gravity of the situation finally hit her. “Oh
no! My car!”
    She pulled on the handle and threw
the door open, forcing Benjamin to step out of the way. Making her
way around the car, she could see that the entire front was smashed
in. Everything from the right headlight to the grill was either
smashed or bent or broken.
    “ What am I going to tell him? He
thought I was going back to the party, but I came all the way out
here. He’s going to kill me this time.”
    “ If you mean your dad, I honestly
don’t think he’ll actually kill you over this.” He flashed a cheap
grin at her in an attempt to lighten the mood.
    Lucy just glared at him. She was absolutely
incredulous that he dared make a joke at her misfortune. The more
she looked at him the wider his smile got before he finally started
laughing. Incredulity turned to fury. She couldn’t believe what she
was seeing. How did she misjudge him so badly?
    “ What are you laughing at? Do you
think this is funny? How do I explain this?”
    Benjamin immediately suppressed his amusement,
and Lucy couldn’t believe he would be such a jerk. Benjamin finally
relaxed.
    “ Why don’t you tell him the
truth?”
    “ What, that I
was out driving the dark coastline ten miles from home when I told
him I would be at a party? Yeah, that’ll go over really well. It
wouldn’t matter that the car is totaled.”
    “ Well, it’s not totaled,” Benjamin
began.
    “ What are you talking about?
There’s steam or smoke or something pouring out all over the place;
I’ve probably got that green stuff or gas or oil or something
draining all over the ground getting ready to explode or something
and—”
    “ Alright,
alright, I can see you’re a little hysterical— ”
    “ Hysterical! You want to see
hysterical? This all your fault! Standing out there, in the road,
at midnight in the rain!”
    “ Ok, ok, calm down. I’ll tell you
what. Let me call my brother, Jack. We live just up the road and
we’ll see what he can do for your car.”
    “ What’s he going to do at
midnight? I have to be home before ten tomorrow morning. How’s he
going to fix this by then?” She forcefully gestured to the remains
of her precious automobile. “No, I just have to call my dad and
he’ll take care of it,” she resolved.
    “ Wait,” he said in a serious tone.
“Just let me call Jack. If he says he can’t fix it, then we’ll call
your dad, okay? Just sit and relax, I’ll call him.”
    It was difficult to get her heart rate down.
Of all the places to be, she did not want to be where she was. She
tried to relax in her seat, but it was little use. She needed