would back off if he left me alone. I might have to total his Cadillac, though. If he doesn't have his wheels, he can't take me to prom... " I babbled on. Babbling on about trivial, teenage matters was more fun than I had anticipated.
"I heard about that." He sounded a bit more composed.
"You did?" I asked in disbelief, my previous irritation flaring. "If he's paralyzed from the neck down, he can't go to the prom, either," I muttered, refining my plan.
Fredward looked at me square in the eye and gave me a crooked smile. "You can't just paralyze someone from the neck down because they want to take you to prom."
I rolled my eyes. "Are you feeling better?"
"Not really."
I waited, but he didn't speak again. He leaned his head back against the seat, staring at the ceiling of the car. His face hardened.
"What's wrong?" My voice came out in a raspy whimper.
"Sometimes I have a problem with my temper. Sometimes I have a lot of problems, Bella." He was whispering too, and as he stared out the window, his eyes narrowed into squinty slits. "But it wouldn't be helpful for me to turn around and hunt down those... " He paused for a long time.
"It would be helpful for you to finish that sentence," I said.
He looked away, struggling for a moment to control his anger again. He made two fists and began to bang them against his ears. After about a minute, he regained composure and continued the conversation. "...flannel-clad rapists." He hit himself in the crotch and took a deep breath, held it, and continued once again. "At least," he continued, "That's what I'm trying to convince myself."
"Oh." The word seemed to be an appropriate approximation of my emotional capacity.
We sat in silence again. I glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It was past eight-thirty. I had been in Fredward's car for over three hours.
"Jessica and Angela will be worried," I murmured breathlessly under my breath. "I was supposed to meet them three hours ago."
He started the engine without another word, turning around smoothly and speeding back toward town. I guess he wasn't going to rape me after all... We

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Chapter 8

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