The Secret of Ella and Micha(14)

She shakes her head. "This isn't funny. Do you know how much it's going to cost to fix this?"

Lila's dad is a big shot lawyer over in California. Her parents are always sending her things like clothes, money, cars. She has never worked a day in her life and gave me a hard time for my waitressing job at Applebee's, begging me to take time off to go to parties.

"So what do we do?" She chips at some green paint on the headlight with her fingernail.

I point up the street. "There's an auto body shop not too far from here."

She glances down the road, which is covered in potholes and lined with filthy gutters. "But this is a Mercedes."

"I'm sure painting a car, no matter who the maker is, is all the same."

"But what if they do something to it?"

"Like spray paint it again after they paint it?" I say sarcastically and she scowls. "Sorry. We'll find someone, okay? We can take it to someplace in Alpine. It's a little nicer over there."

"I can't drive it when it looks like this," she complains, motioning at the car. "It's hideous."

"I'll drive it, then," I offer my hand out for her to give me the keys.

"Are you joking?" She pats the hood of her car. "This is my baby. No one drives it but me. You know that."

"I think your baby is in serious need of some plastic surgery." Micha strides off the porch of his house and onto the driveway. He's changed into black jeans, a fitted grey t-shirt, and his blonde hair hangs in his eyes. Using his long legs, he jumps over the chain-linked fence between our yards. "I know the perfect place to get it fixed and it's here in town, so you won't have to drive it so far." He gives Lila a wink. "I'm Micha, by the way."

"Hi, I'm Ella's roommate or old roommate anyway," she says with a warm smile and slides her sunglasses down the brim of her nose. "We're not sure if we're sharing a dorm room next semester."

He presents her with his player grin. "Sharing a room with Ella? That had to be tough." He shoots me a mischievous look, trying to get a rise out of me.

She laughs and returns her glasses over her eyes. "No, she's a pretty great roommate, actually. She cleans and cooks and everything. It's like having my own house maid."

"Ella was always good at that stuff," he agrees, knowing the real reason why. Even before my mom died, she was never good at taking care of the house. I had to learn how to take care of myself at a very young age, otherwise I'd have starved and rotted away in a rat-infested house. "So do you want me to take your car to that shop I was talking about? Like I said, it's really close."

"Yeah, that sounds great." She shuffles her sandals against the concrete. "I'd rather go someplace close."

I mentally roll my eyes. Leave it to Micha. He can get any woman to contradict herself if he wants to.

He swings his arm around my shoulder and kisses me on the forehead. "But I have to take pretty girl over here to see an old friend first."

"Please stop calling me that," I beg. "I've never liked the nickname and you know that. I never even got why you called me it."

"And that's the appeal of it, pretty girl." He tempts me closer to him and caresses my cheek with his lips, giving me a kiss that brings warmth to my skin. "Now are you ready to go see Grady? You can come, too, if you want... is it Lila?"

"Yeah, it's Lila. Lila Summers." She offers her hand and Micha shakes it. "And sure I'll go. This place makes me a little nervous."

"Isn't your family expecting you to be home tonight?" I escape from underneath Micha's arm.

"I'll text them and tell them I'm not leaving until tomorrow." She retrieves her cell phone and scrolls through her contacts. "The car will be done by tomorrow, right?"

"It's hard to say," Micha says. "Ethan is the best, but a little slow."

Her head snaps up and there's delight in her eyes. "Ethan as in Ethan from the party last night? The one with the sexy hair and the really big hands?"

Micha bites down on his lip, stifling a laugh, and flicks me a sideways glance. I can't help but smile.

"Yep, that's the one," he says. "Do you feel better about taking your car to him now?"

"Well, yeah, if you think it's okay?" she checks. "I'm very picky about who works on my car or at least my dad is very picky about who works on it."

"It'll be fine," he assures her with a wink. "I've never disappointed a girl yet."

"Oh yeah?" Lila laughs, glancing at me uneasily, like she's worried she's stepping on my territory.

"So are we going to go or what?" A ping of jealousy pinches inside my chest.

"Yep, let's go, beautiful." Micha leads the way around the fence and up his driveway to the garage.

When I step inside, my mouth falls open. Parked in the middle, between the walls lined with shelves and tools, is a shiny 1969 Chevy Chevelle SS. It's painted in a smoky black with a cherry red racing stripe down the center. "You finally fixed it up?"

He pats the shiny flawless hood, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "I finally got around to it, after talking about it for four years." His eyes find mine, seeking my approval. "So what do you think?"