take me to the riot

THREE

THREE.

THOSE WHO SEEK REFUGE.

"What's his problem?" Kass whispers as quietly as she can to Shay from the back seat of Jonah's car.

Shay turns her face towards Kass. "The 'he-sort-of-hates-your-guts' problem or the 'he's being unusually quiet' problem?" she asks.

Kass considers both. "The second one," she finally says.

Shay glances at Jonah, who is trying very hard to focus on the road in front of him. His jaw is clenched and he has a tight grip on the steering wheel. He looks very tense and sort of scared and a lot like he wishes he could just disappear from this car (and this world and universe and reality and whatever because he seriously did not sign up for this bullshit).

She leans over, closer to Kass. "It's his grandparents. They were supposed to be at the evacuation center, I think."

"Oh, well...that sucks."

Shay gives her an exasperated look.

"I can definitely hear the both of you, did you know?" Jonah comments, never looking away from the road.

Shay has the decency to look somewhat embarrassed. Kass does not. Instead she leans back in the seat with a loud huff, and doesn't bother to put her seatbelt on again. She grumbles something about the heat in the car before she smooths back her frizzy red hair and rolls down one of the windows.

"So where we headed?" Jonah asks, the question directed towards Kass. The girl shrugs, a bit carelessly.

"Not sure yet," she answers.

Jonah slams his foot down on the brakes. The three of them jerk forward. Shay is almost certain she has whiplash. She looks at Jonah, half bewildered and angry.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she demands to know and then she notices the frustrated, angry look on Jonah's face.

"What's wrong-what's wrong with me? This girl-" he points to Kass, "You-we don't have time for your silly little games. We don't really have the luxury for road trips to nowhere. We need a set destination, we need a plan. What we don't need is some chick ready to boss us around when she doesn't actually know shit herself, okay?" He stares her down for a moment before shaking his head and looking away.

Shay stays quiet, choosing to remain uninvolved rather than make things worse between the three of them.

"Listen guy" Kass starts, "I know you're scared and frustrated and angry right now. I understand that, so just this once I'll let it slide."

"Kass-" Shay warns, already knowing that whatever Kass says will definitely make things worse and even more tense than they already are.

"But the next time you raise your voice at me," Kass continues, completely ignoring Shay, "will be the last time you raise your voice at me. Got it?"