The Chase

5 Evie

After hours on the highway, leaving Portland far behind, passing by the ramps and exits for Seattle we drove up to the Canadian border. I used my new passport for the very first time. Also handing them Sara's as she continued to snore.

I had never had much attachment to the last name I had grown up with. And certainly no attachment to the name I had been using when Sara found me. I didn't much like being Evangalina Bowman. She wasn't real. I knew I should be grateful Sara's family had been able to help me move under the radar. To keep me safe from the dumb choices I had made in the past.

The fake name just served to remind me of what I didn't have. No family, no connections, no one but my best friend and her secretive family who didn't seem to like Sara spending so much time with me. I didn't mind, I had felt unwanted almost my entire life no matter where I was. A rich family not wanting the bad influence foster kid near their precious princess was mundane compared to living in the system until I was sixteen, or the hell I put myself through after I had run away.

It must have made it easier for her family to blame me for her wild ways when in real life the opposite was true. Sara was both the good and bad influence, I was just a tumbleweed blown along with her. As Sara continued to sleep in the passenger seat, heading vibrating against the window, snoring, drool showing on the corner of her open mouth I couldn't help but smile at my friend. My twisted sister by heart.

Her family had made it more than obvious that they blamed me for her wild streak. Even though it was her wild streak that led her to find me, before she even knew me. She had walked into the dive biker bar alone, wearing jeans and a top that was barely decent, even in a club where road girls could be asked to dance topless on the tables at any time. Or worse.

She had blown in the double doors of the rough club looking like some kind of sexy super hero. Striding up to the bar and ordering herself a double whiskey neat. Sitting on the barstool like she belonged.

I had never seen someone who looked so confident, so self assured. I was drawn to her immediately. She was everything I wasn't. Long blonde hair, golden skin, lean and athletic looking instead of scrawny like I had been after a lifetime of being chronically underfed.

Rocket had instantly noticed my eyes on her. He was always watching me. Making sure I stayed in line, didn't do anything to embarrass him. He slapped my ass too hard, the cheap fake leather leggings were thin, and he didn't let me wear panties. I yelped and he slapped me across the face for making a sound. Before grabbing my chin in hand, always too rough, every touch too rough. Twisting my face to look at him, sneering "If you can get that hottie to make out with you, you can have anything you want for dinner tonight Sweets." my stomach gurgled at the mention of dinner. I didn't get one the previous night and I was starving.

A softer girl might have cried. There wasn't much left of me that was soft. I got up from Rock's lap, wobbling slightly on my too tall heels that didn't fit me right and tried to emulate the strong gliding walk the blonde had used. I heard Rocket, Dog and Whip laughing behind me. My cheeks burned hot while I tried to tell myself they weren't laughing at me. Even though I knew they were, I was the biggest joke.

I tried to perch on the barstool as elegantly as the blonde who didn't belong here had. Judging by the ruckus behind me I had not succeeded. Steel was behind the bar, putting a glass of water in front of me before returning to ignore I existed like he always did. It was easier to ignore me all the time, than just when Rocket decided I needed to be taught another lesson.

I took a sip of my water, I had no idea what I was doing. I had never tried to seduce a woman. Never tried to seduce anyone. Rocket had found me sleeping, hidden behind the club dumpster after I had run away from my last foster home. I had been sixteen then, he hadn't let me go ever since.