Chapter 16: Chapter Nine-1

Chapter Nine During the night, Candy and I devise a plan to make everything work. I agreed to Lee’s request and hung up shortly after—only because he said please, is what I tell myself. Our plan is that in the morning, Mom will take her car to her gallery in New York and I will take mine to where Lee is. I’ll avoid Mom in New York City and come back before she even gets home. Everything will be fine. Though, the plan has no meaning in the morning. “Ivory, honey, I’m taking your car! My car won’t start up. Stupid freezing weather’s causing my engine to freeze,” Mom mutters in the morning as Candy and I come out for breakfast. No, no, no, no, I think. I need that car! “Mom, can’t you just, uh, ask one of your artist friends to come pick you up?” I suggest, trying to hide my motive. “I mean, tons of artists are going. Why can’t you go with them?” “I don’t want to bother them,” she says, waving me off. “Okay, don’t have too much fun when I’m gone. Love you, bye.” I’m panicking on the inside as Mom finishes her toast and hops into my car. I barely have a chance to protest before she’s driving off. My chance is gone. How will I get to Lee in time now? “What do I do now?” I ask Candy, sitting in the living room with my head in my hands. “I won’t make it and I’ll be forever indebt to stupid Lee.” Candy strokes my hair. “We’ll think of something.” How could I let Mom get away? I should’ve stopped her. Several moments pass by. “I got it!” She’s always the one with the great ideas and plans. Hope tugs at me. “What is it?” Candy gets up and runs to my bedroom. She’s gone for a couple of seconds before returning with my phone in her hand. Sitting down, she places it in my hand. “You need to call him,” she says. “Maybe, you can ask him for help. Maybe, he can drive you. It’s the only way. I can’t drive you—I’m grounded until summer for going to Peter’s party. Lee’s the only way.” “No, no!” I say immediately. “I am most definitely not asking Lee for another request so I can add ten more years to my debt to him.” There’s the pride thing kicking in again. “You have to.” Candy pushes the phone closer to my hands. “If you don’t, you’ll make Lee look like a fool in front of his business partners and then he’ll hate you and you’ll still be indebt to him. Wouldn’t this be even worse than creating another debt? I mean, it’s not even a big deal! You just need a ride.” I hate to admit it… but she’s right. “Are you sure about this?” I gulp and take the phone in my hand. Candy nods. I punch in Lee’s number and he picks up on the third ring. “Hey, Lee.” “Mr. Richardson,” he corrects. “Its Mr. Lee Richardson to you. Why are you calling me? Is there a problem?” Lee sounds fairly concerned. “Lee—Mr. Richardson,” I correct, “there’s a tiny problem.” I hear him groan on the other side of the phone. “It’s not that big! I promise. I just need a ride. My mom took my car and now I can’t get there.” “Couldn’t you ask your friends or something?” “No, they’re busy. Besides, it’s not like they’d have the time to drive me to New York City and back. That’s too much trouble. Can you give me a lift?” After few moments pass, he finally says, “Fine. Be ready in an hour or something, I’ll come. Now, don’t call me again unless it’s an emergency.” After that, he hangs up the phone. I smile and turn to Candy. “He said yes! Now, I just have to pack up for the trip.” For the next hour, Candy helps me pack clothes, bathroom supplies, shoes, money, and anything else I need for the birthday bash. I even throw in a couple of dresses just in case. My suitcase is full and I have just enough time to get myself ready. I put my hair in a bun and just throw on a long-sleeved white sweater, black sweatpants, and cozy boots. “I need to go,” Candy announces after I’m ready. “I have to get to my extra math class.” She always takes extra subject classes over break or vacation. It explains why she’s so smart and has solutions to any problem. I wish she’d rest for once, though. But, her parents won’t stop pressuring her into getting into a good college. “I’ll walk you out,” I say. The weather is bad outside. Snow is everywhere and the sky is a dark gray. We hug goodbye and say we’ll see each other in a couple of days. I lock the front door and make myself a coffee. I’m almost done when there’s a knock at my door. Lee. He’s standing outside, snow covering his expensive coat. His hair is wet and his lips are almost blue. He’s freezing. I gasp. “Lee! Get inside!” I say, ushering him in. I touch his arm and it’s so cold I let go. I shut the door and turn back to Lee. He’s creating a pool of melted snow on the floor. Mom will kill me. I get his jacket and hang it, along with his scarf and gloves. Rushing to the kitchen, I make him some hot chocolate. I push Lee to sit right next to the fireplace so he can defrost. I shove the hot cup in his hand and force him to drink up. After he drinks and his lips turn back to its normal color, I start asking him questions. “What happened to you?” I ask. “The weather outside is horrible,” Lee simply replies. “We can’t go out, now. It’s too dangerous. My car almost slipped off the road three times. The wind is too strong, too.” “But, your birthday bash. What’re we going to do?” “It’s not until a few days, we’ll be fine,” he responds. He hugs himself to get warmer. He finishes his cup of hot chocolate. The lights suddenly flicker and then shut off completely. The power is out. I groan. I know I should’ve bought some flashlights before this storm. I get up and take his cup and place it in the kitchen sink. I try to find any type of light, but all I find are some strawberry-scented candles. When I return to Lee, he’s shivering. I grab some blankets off the couch and wrap it around him. I light the candles over the living room so we can at least see. At least, we have the fireplace too. “Is that better?” I ask. Lee looks a little confused. I wonder why. “What? Is there something on my face?” “Why are you—never mind,” he says, looking down. He wraps the blanket closer around himself. I hate when people do that. They bring something up and then they say “never mind” or “I can’t tell you.”