Chapter Three

ELOWEN

She's never been anywhere where she had to dress to impress. Her mom bought her nice church dresses or formal clothes for special events. But Elowen wasn't going to a banquet, she was going to see a drive in movie with a random guy she barely even knew. She didn't even know why he wanted her to tag along.

Elowen then thought back to Kellie who warned her what this could mean. Kellie took precaution in everyone she brought into her life but Elowen always sought the best in people. She just hoped Philip would prove her negative gut feeling, wrong.

Once Elowen fell out of her thoughts, she noticed she was still standing in front of her mirror with nothing but her bra and underwear on. She let out a sigh before heading over to her closet for more contemplating.

In the end, she settled for anything that made her look more like herself and less like she was trying too hard. Elowen put on white shorts and a thick yellow cotton tank top.

In order to put on her shoes, she had to walk past her mother who was sitting on the living room couch massaging Spencer's temples. The young girl was always faking headaches right after she did something that would later get her in trouble.

"Hey mama," Elowen smiled while gripping on to her purse. She gulped when her mother took off her glasses to eye down what her daughter was wearing. "Uh... can i-"

"It's a school night Elo. Where do you think you're going with your ass out?" Elowen shivered as her mom gave her the death glare of the century. Spencer sat up so both of her ears could take in Elowen's scolding. In return, Elowen balled her fist hoping Spencer would keep her promise about not telling.

"I know but... Kellie wanted to go to the drive in tonight and I told her that it was uh... a school night but she told me this was the only night they were playing-"

"So if I call Mr. and Mrs. Franklin up right now they gone tell me what you tellin' me?"

Elowen remained frozen as she thought about turning around and going straight back to her room. "Uh... yeah." The words she would most regret slipped right out of her mouth. "Yeah, they will. Probably. I mean... I don't know what she told them so..."

Mrs. Walson put her glasses back on with a frown. "Alright then. This time it's gonna be okay cause I don't need your father now turning over in his grave."

With a smile and a squeal, Elowen ran over to her mom and gave her a hug. "Thank you mama! I'll be back no later than eleven-thirty."

"Got your spray?" Mrs. Walson reminded. Elowen patted her purse with a confident face. "Be back on time for I send the cops out there."

Elowen dove off the front porch before her mother could change her mind. Just when she thought the night couldn't be anymore successful, Philip parked right out front of her house.

She took slow steps down the pavement until she made it to his car. He leaned over to the passenger's seat and opened the door for her. "What's happening?" He smiled widely. In return, Elowen grew flustered. "Your rents aren't as bad as you said they were."

"She knows I'm lying." When Elowen smiled, Philip looked away. More towards the road for the rest of the trip instead of at her. "So what's showing tonight?"

"Doesn't matter cause we really won't be watching it. I told you why we were coming out here." His voice was suddenly stern and Elowen wanted to go home now.

Of course she didn't tell him that she was a bit suspicious. She just stared at his dark brown eyebrows that curved downwards to point at his frown. It was almost as if he was squinting cause his face didn't feel comfortable getting angry.

She played with the hem of her shorts in order to avoid contact with him. Despite the fear in her, she didn't enjoy keeping quiet for too long. It made her feel like a ditz.

"Is there a reason you asked me to come with you? We've never talked nor did we really know each other's name."

Philip glanced at her quickly then chuckled. It didn't take much for him to go back into his good character. "You're right. I also knew you were going to ask that so I made a little speech in my head."

Elowen was kind of excited to see that they've made it into the drive in without any major problems. It wasn't until she saw a ton of the white kids from her school, then her stomach felt weak.

"I'm gonna go pay for spots." Elowen grabbed onto his hand just before he hopped out the car. He looked back at her confused as to why she was shaking. "I'm gonna-"

"I know but I can do it."

He yanked his arm away then stuck his head back in to frown at her. His immediate smile is what calmed her down a bit. "Your old man was never there to teach you a thing about what a gentleman is. That's sad for you."

"Um... my old man died when I was six."

Philip's gaped mouth was now shut tightly. "Okay. Well then a gentleman like myself is supposed to pay for these kinds of things. You just stay loose and I'll be back."

The slamming of his door made her jump. All her worries flooded back when she saw the shadows of people passing by. Suddenly Kellie's warning came back to her. Maybe this was it. She'd be bombarded with threats. Kidnapped or maybe even killed right now. It was all apart of Philip's elaborate plan to hurt her.

Elowen grabbed her cold arms and shivered. "I wanna go home." Before she could sneak out the car and make a run for it, Philip was already entering.

"See. Not so bad. Just know you're expensive." He laughed jokingly. He then turned on the engine and began to their parking spot. Of course it was in a secluded part of the theater. Neither one of them wanted to risk being seen together. "So, before it starts do you wanna come with me and my boys-"

"No thank you." She said it too quick. "I mean... no thank you."

"What? I invited you here to... what about Mr. Gardner?"

Elowen looked away from his eyes so she wouldn't get her heart rate up. "And you know why," she muttered. After that she felt him adjusting in his seat. When she glanced at him, he was staring ahead as if he was lost in life. "Your friends don't like girls like me."

"Cause they don't know you. You'll never be anything if you let what others think and say hold you back."

"Philip, you don't know me either. And you never answered my question. Why did you invite me here!"

He groaned while throwing the car door open. "I knew you were gonna make this a bad scene. You black girls got so much shit in your heads that you can't even live life right." He stormed out of his car and slammed the door hard enough for the car to shake.

Elowen gave in and chased after him. Anything sounded better than being in his car by herself. "Fine. I'll go but... you of all people wouldn't understand why I'm terrified."

"No one is gonna do anything to you. If they do I'll get my blade on them." He beamed at her as if he was taking this as a joke. Elowen didn't feel protected by him even if he was being serious. "And you do know what Mr. Gardner's car looks like?"

Elowen nodded. "He lives in my neighborhood. He's my neighbor."

"I knew he lived around there somewhere. We once egged his house while he was on vacation." He flashed her his white teeth but she didn't smile back. "Joey!" he screamed to a kid who was stomping the stopper down on his motorbike. "Come on, my man!"

After looking at the group of teenagers who followed Philip's call, Elowen felt confused. She knew he had just as much money as the next rich kid that attended their school. She wondered why he only socialized with the kids who had less to offer. These were the kids no one would expect good dates out of or even a decent time.

Philip looked like the type to use a girl but they looked like the type to use them and not even care.

She grimaced when they walked up to them and surrounded them. She knew better than to hide behind Philip. He would only tell her to back away or loosen up. Instead, she gripped her purse in hopes she wouldn't have to spray anyone. Her eyes were on the boy who went by Joey. He played with his black leather jacket and eyed Elowen down with a firm smirk.

"I'm gonna-" before she could speak, a spray can was being shoved in her hands. "Philip, what are you all planning on doing?"

"Go first girl and you'll see," Joey pushed her forward but she only squealed because his hand was right on her ass. "Come on. They went to get snacks."

Elowen was too scared to complain. As she neared the vehicle, she noticed that she didn't recognize it. That was not Mr. Gardner's car. "This is so wrong," she whispered while gripping the can closer to her chest.

"Can't believe you talked her into it so easy," a deep voice said. Neither belonged to Joey or Philip. Elowen turned around to see Philip pushing a kid out of his face. "What? Did you think I wasn't gonna comment Philly?"

Elowen dropped the can when the car door flew open. A pissed off blonde scurried out of her car in a furry. "What the hell are you doing you burnt bitch!"

Philip stumbled over in a hurry and stood in between the two. It's not like Elowen was going to do anything, but the girl before her was moving wild as if she would.

"Chill the fuck out, Kaitlyn. It was just a joke!" Joey came to defend his friend. "Just tryna scare you is all."

Two more girls emerged from the car and Elowen stepped back when Philip quickly turned to face her. "You set me up!" She stomped without even caring that Philip looked pale in the face. "You wanted to get me killed!"

"Let's talk about this in my car," he urged. Elowen looked around at the mess of people before her and decided that it was best if she went with Philip.

He dragged her by her arm as far away from his friends as he could. They didn't even make it to the car before he released her. His hair was all over his head by the time he got done running his hands through it.

"She really brought Cindy along! What the hell!" He stared at Elowen as if she was supposed to explain Kaitlyn's intentions. The movie playing before them was the only way she was able to see how red his face was. "And you think I set you up? I didn't set you up Elowen. They set me up! I had no clue that wasn't Mr. Gardner's car!"

Elowen didn't believe what he was saying. It all seemed to coincidental. "You invite me out here knowing nothing about me then want me to spray paint the car of some girl who could hurt me."

"You guys are the most violent people. If you allowed her to hurt you then you're just stupid."

"And you keep insulting me!"

"I'm not!" His voice was so loud it scared her. Almost like she went back into a shell. Philip wiped his mouth then met Elowen's eyes. She looked terrified. "Mr. Gardner was talking about the generation gap and they used the students and our rents as an example. But to me it felt like I was apart of it. Like I'm so different than my friends that it's almost weird. We don't even think alike. Like I'd never do that to them..."

Elowen tried not to care but she always cared about people even the ones who didn't care about her.

"I invited you here cause I think we're alike. I saw you're grades and your determination and the way you don't care about what you are to others in this world. I used to be like that and I missed that. So I figured if you shot down the idea then maybe it meant I wouldn't turn out to be a piece of shit cause I wouldn't have done it either. I'd never ruin someones car."

"You can't use me as your science experiment. That's not cool," Elowen grumbled. "She's going to tell on me and it could ruin me!"

Philip held out his hands to warn her about keeping her voice down. "I know she won't, Elowen. I got this. I mean, you don't have to talk to me ever again after tonight. You don't even have to look at me. It's not a big deal."

"Which is exactly how I know you're delusional. We aren't alike, Philip. You don't know what it's like to have my life or to be me. We might used make the same grades but I have to work way harder than you. And that's something you'd never understand. You'll never understand that this is a very big deal."