I said, girl can I tell you a wonderful thing?

I made you a present with paper and string

Open with care, now I'm asking you please

You know that I love you, will you marry me?

--Terrible Things, Mayday Parade

Chapter 4 - Black Benzes Are the Cars of Evil

How do you get a universal remote with a rewind button? I mean one that could get you to undo even three seconds of your life. I needed one. So bad. Somehow, I wished the next few events didn't happen. But they did.

Nathan was laughing beside me, muttering under his breath. Nathan, Nathan, Nathan-the evil version of me with the most unstable frame of mind. I tuned him out, focusing on Freddy and Emma while they danced in the middle of the reception hall. Mellow instrumental music filled the room, giving me some form of distraction. But still, my mind was all over the place.

Brain check-I just had the craziest idea back in the chapel. I was trying to shake it off before my head could explode. Second, I had to do something about Camilla. Maybe I'd drag Nathan with me to London tomorrow, first thing in the morning to confront her about her involvement in the malpractice lawsuit against Sarah's mom. Yeah. I should probably do that, I thought wincing.

"Your little blond friend nearly poked my eye out with a drinking straw!" Nathan blurted out in between the chortles.

I had no idea what made a bendy straw so hilarious. But for some reason, he found it amusing that Reed and Chuck were doing a sword fight, using straws to stab each other. Reed and Chuck looked a lot alike-light blond hair that might blind you if the sun shined too bright on their heads, tall sinewy builds that might've belonged to contortionists rather than football players and heavily freckled faces-but they weren't twins. They just... looked a lot alike.

"So? Poke him back," I groaned.

As if it wasn't bad enough how I had to explain to the guys how I managed to conjure a twin brother out of thin air, Nathan just had to make up tall theatrical tales about how we got separated when we were still babies. Of course, most of it was true but he didn't have to broadcast all the drama to my buddies. My cover was supposed to be Leonard Dunn, full-time nerd. Not Sappy McWeepsalot.

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Fantastic idea. You've been improving," he said grinning, picking up his own bendy straw before engaging in a bendy straw battle with the dorks of the round table.

"Very mature, guys..." Larson commented on the blond brothers' sucky excuse for a past time, his already narrow eyes turning into slits as he tugged on his coat. I remembered him telling me that his granddad was from Korea, which explained his disappearing-eyes act.

"What?" Chuck glanced at him while parrying Nathan's fencing attacks. "Two against one? Not fair."

"All is fair in love and war, dude." Reed did a low stab. Cliché.

Nathan took an olive from the appetizers and lunched it with his spoon like a catapult. "Incoming," he grinned as the vegetable (is it?) hit Larson's forehead.

Ugh, crud. Why did I have to be friends with big dudes having nine-year old brains?

Drake and Becky were on the other side of the small round table, enjoying their own private world. They were kind of going out for some time now. Becky did a lot of dating with different boys these days. But as far as I knew, she didn't have a steady boyfriend since Matt. Speaking of Matt, where was he? Sarah was nowhere to be found too.

Mechanically, I got up from my seat, almost toppling my chair over. Calm down. I ran a hand on my chest to straighten my shirt. Calm down. Something in my gut kept nagging that something really bad was about to happen. I just didn't know what. Yet.

"What are you? Constipated?" Nathan muttered smirking.

"Shut up, Nate!" I rumbled. "Have you seen Sarah?" I asked craning my neck around, sorting through the faces of guests inside the ball room.

Nathan stabbed the poor innocent table with his bendy straw and it scrunched in his hand.

"Mate, Nerdy's too bloody old for a baby sitter, don't you think? If you wanted to keep tabs on her every second, you should've had a transmitter chip installed inside her big nerdy head. And call me Nate again or I'll chop your head off and stuff it inside your trophy cabinet." He smiled nonchalantly as the other guys threw surprised (disturbed) looks at him then to me like saying, "What is wrong with your brother?"

I wished I could answer that. Something was clearly not right about Nathan, but what the heck could I do? It wasn't like I could drug my own brother and leave him in the toxic waste dumpster behind the Bio lab in my old high school. Or could I?

"Now, where were we?" Nathan continued, unbending his straw before his short attention span made him turn to the door. His eyes glinted with an "Ooh, shiny" look before he said, "Incoming."

Entering the glass panelled double doors of the spacious reception hall was a redhead in a little black dress that accentuated all her curves.

"Claire," I muttered absently. Why on earth would she come here?

"Hel-lo your hotness," Reed mumbled wide-eyed.

Several heads turned to Claire's direction as she made her way towards our table.

As if answering my unspoken question, Nathan waved at her and said to me, "Nerdy invited her, obviously. I can understand if your slow brain can't quite process it at the moment." My oh-so-smart twin brother ran to Claire and towed her to our table at the very back of the reception hall.

"Hi, Leonard," greeted Claire with a smile, leaning towards me, giving me a kiss on the cheek. "It's been a long time. I missed you two." Her warm eyes shifted between Nathan and me.

"Yeah, long time." That was all I could blurt out. To tell the truth, I was more stumped why she'd gone all the way from London just to attend the wedding of some folks she didn't even know. At the least, Sarah had been verbal how Claire had been so nice to her. But I didn't know she liked Camilla's adopted daughter that much.

Before I could even blink, Larson, Reed and Chuck were already stampeding their way to Claire's side. Like hound dogs. Cross that out. Like drooling rabid hound dogs.

"Nathan, err... won't you introduce us to-" Chuck started before Larson nudged him on the ribs and stepped in front and boxing the other two out.

Larson flattened his spiky black hair and held out a hand, flashing a smile. "I'm Larson, Miss-"

"Claire," she smiled shaking his hand. "I'm the older sister of these two."

When Nathan noticed that Larson was shaking Claire's hand for too long, he pretended to clear his throat.

"Enough with the handshaking. Let's sit down before I'm old, shall we?" He pulled out a chair for Claire, who threw me a meaningful smile, shaking her head as Nathan muttered, "Were you thinking of dressing for a wedding or the Brit Awards?"

Man, could he be so overprotective. And he said I was the babysitter. He sounded like a mother. Not that I would know. It wasn't like I had one.

"Mum really missed you, you know." Claire mentioned when she finally had me singled out. "Apparently, you promised her a visit and she has been holding onto that for ages."

I didn't want to offend her but I just couldn't see the point of acting like everything was alright between Camilla and me.

Letting out a deep sigh, I said, "If I see her, would she stop ruining my life?"

She didn't answer. Maybe she knew it was no use. It was simple. I was cursed with a hag for a mother and I just had to deal with it for the rest of my life.

"Look. I'm not going to pretend that I'm okay with what she's doing to Sarah's mom. Do me a favor. Tell her to stop whatever it is that she's plotting and maybe, just maybe I'd change my mind about setting her house on fire." With that, I got up and marched to the buffet table, weaving through the guests.

I got a glass of champagne and drunk it all the way down in one swig. Taking deep breaths, I rubbed my forehead. I didn't know if I could take it anymore. My head was just so messed up.

"Are you okay?" It was Becky, Sarah's best friend since God-knows-when.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Thought you're looking for Sarah. There she is," she pointed at the rear corner of the hall, just behind a tall plant decoration.

Sarah stood there, a couple of wine glasses in her hands. I remembered her telling me that she'd be back in no time. But she was there-talking to Matt Adams, smiling. Laughing even. I wished I knew what he said that made her smile. I smirked bitterly. For some reason, I envied Matt.

Dropping my gaze, I started to walk away. I didn't know if I could bear looking at them any longer.

"Leon? Where are you going?" Becky caught up with me as I pushed the glass doors and slipped out of the ballroom. "Are you just going to let Matt do his thing? He still loves Sarah! And he'd do anything to get her."

The music faded when I let the doors swing back shut. I stood there with my back against the wall, fighting the urge to bang my head on it.

"I trust Sarah," I murmured, staring blankly on the floor while I pocketed my shaking hands.

I guess I should be all mad and furious at Matt now. Becky was right. It'd been what? Two years? And still he won't give up Sarah. Unfortunately, it felt like I didn't have the energy or the right to be angry. I just felt... empty, hopeless, jealous. But if Sarah wanted Matt to be her friend, I'd have to learn to be more tolerant. It sucked. Like torture. Like my chest just wanted to explode into a million pieces.

Becky let out a shrill snort. But her blue eyes sold her out. They just said it all. She still loved Matt.

"Yeah. But it's Matt you can't trust," she replied, sagging on the floor to my side. "We're both pathetic. We both can't let go of people who can't belong to us in a million years. I mean you and Sarah; you're basically meant to be together." She hugged her knees, her pale yellow cocktail dress scattering about the floor, her blonde hair covering her blue eyes. "But it doesn't mean that you're meant to last."

The funny thing about Becky is, you'd think she'd greet the end of a world with a mad laugh. She'd always been there for me and Sarah, encouraging us, rooting for us. Now, I just couldn't get used to her being all pessimistic.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

She let out a sour chuckle. "Oh, come on, Leon. All Sarah wanted since she was a kid's to have a normal life. With you, she can't possibly have that. Let's say for now, she's getting by but what about tomorrow? Or the day after that?"

Her words had me suffocating. I shook my head. It's true that I couldn't be normal. But Sarah loves me for who I am, doesn't she? I clenched my fists tight until my fingers dug into my palms, a twisting feeling in sinking the pit of my stomach.

The glass doors swung outward and I saw Sarah smile when she found us. "There you are," said she, still holding the two wine glasses, one of which she handed to me.

The wine had gone warm. I had to remind myself to hold the glass gently or it might break in my trembling hand. Becky got up and brushed down the skirt of her dress before mumbling, "Later," not even glancing at me or Sarah.

We watched her disappear into the hall before Sarah tilted her head and asked, "What's wrong?" looking all worried.

For a second, I gazed into her gray-green eyes, searching for all the answers to the questions inside my head. But instead of flooding her with so many questions, I resorted to ask her one-the only one that mattered to me most.

"I want you... to be honest, Sarah. Do you-" I cleared my throat, stared at the ceiling and took a deep breath before meeting her questioning eyes. "Do you still love me?"

Sarah's lips quivered, her forehead crumpling.

Please say yes. Please... Please...

For once she looked so scared, her eyes becoming a little misty when she rasped, "More... than anything."

I nodded with a smile, able to breathe again. I took her hand as she leaned beside me. "That's enough for me." With a sigh of relief, I fished my phone from my pocket and started to dial Moira's number before she interrupted me.

"Who are you calling?" Sarah asked.

"Moira. I'm telling her to pull me out of the movie project," I told Sarah, thinking of the all the free time I could spend with her. Sure, I'd lose a million or two but it couldn't be the end of the world. Maybe I could take her to the theme park like she wanted. Or maybe we could go to the beach. She'd love that. Just picturing it spread a grin across my face.

"What?" Her voice instantly turned livid, her cheeks flushed. "Why? I told you it was okay."

"Sarah, you are such a lame liar," I chuckled and her cheeks turned a deeper red. "I hated it anyway. And think about it-I could spend more time together... with you. It's our last summer before college. We better make the best of it before were all old and grumpy."

Smiling at the ceiling, I tugged her hand gently, about to tuck it into my jacket pocket like I always did, just when I realized that I was wearing a tux, not a jacket. So I just contented myself with wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Leon?" she said hesitantly.

"Hmm?" The smile kept plastered on my face.

"I-I'm going to Yale," she stuttered.

Taking a few deep breaths, I blinked, wondering if I heard her right. "Yale..." I repeated the word incredulously. "That's..."

There must've been something wrong with my voice. I should've congratulated her. My girlfriend's a genius. I should be throwing confetti or something. But for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to smile. We planned to go to University of California. She'd take up Biochemistry as a pre-Med course and I was planning to try a business course. Most importantly, we'd be together.

"Yale... Wow," I managed to say. "You never said you wanted to go there." My mind raced. First thing that came into my mind was how could I possibly get into Yale? I wasn't stupid not to know that Yale was beyond my brain capacity.

"It was Mom's idea. I couldn't disappoint her... Not after what happened." She trailed into silence. I knew what she was thinking-that it was her fault that Emma got fired. Of course. Why won't she? If she wasn't the most insecure, self-torturing, pig-headed girl in the world, she wouldn't be Sarah.

"It wasn't your fault, Sarah." My hands were shaking. "If you'd blame anyone, then blame Camilla. Or better yet, let's blame me."

She shook her head, blinking back the tears. In her eyes, I saw confusion, fear and uncertainty. "I d-don't know what to think anymore. All I know is... I'm being selfish for keeping you here and for ruining your movie and Mom's having a hard time because of me."

"Sarah, what are you saying?" I could see the answer in her eyes. She was scared. And I'd never thought I'd get to see it again-that same look in her eyes when she broke up with me more than a year ago.

In panic, I cupped her face with my hands and looked her straight in the eyes. "Look. We can work this out okay? I'll go to London first thing tomorrow, straighten things out with Camilla. I'd take Nate with me. Maybe ask some help from Claire. I swear I'd make Camilla leave us alone. When I come back, I'd try out for Yale. I'll burn my brains out just so I could pass whatever entrance test. If not, I'd move from California to wherever you are. J-just don't do this-"

"Don't! Don't go to her!" she pleaded in panic. "I'm scared... for you." A tear rolled down her cheek and I wiped it with my thumb.

Scared? For me? What did she take me for? But then, it was just so her to worry about me as if her own problems weren't enough to drive her out of her wits.

"Trust me. Just... stop thinking too much, okay? I'll do anything. Anything for you." I pulled her in and rested her head on my chest, folding an arm around her nape. Her shoulders shook as she cried silently. "Sshh... Everything will be alright. I promise."

We stood there for what seemed like hours even if it was just a couple of minutes. Sarah calmed down a bit. I let her go.

"I'll just go have a breather," she murmured, tilting her head towards the hotel exit, a sad little smile on her lips despite the tears on her cheeks. With a slight nod, I brushed her tears away.

"You want me to come with you?"

With her delicate fingers tracing the sapphire pendant on her chest, she shook her head gently. "You're always with me already."

I wished I said more. I wished I told her how much I loved her. How I wished I had the guts to embrace her tightly and never let her go. But instead, I kissed her on the forehead, managed a smile and whispered, "Go."

Before turning around to head back to the reception hall, I watched her disappear into the hallway and out the door. Before I could even take a step back to the celebration, the strange feeling crept in my chest again. Something would go horribly wrong.

A cold wind blew on my nape. Strange. Must be the air conditioning. But the unsettling feeling kept nagging at the back of my head. Out of the blue, I jogged impatiently across the hallway, eyes shifting left and right in pursuit of Sarah. When I reached the exit, I noticed Sarah's silver necklace lying on the sidewalk. As I picked it up, I heard the rough piercing screech of tires against the road followed by a scream.

I looked up in panic and saw a black Benz race like crazy until it disappeared into the road. The road became empty except for the limp body of a girl in long sea-blue dress lying in the middle of the road.

It knocked the wind out of me. Like a solid brick wall crashing straight to my face.

"SARAH!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey you! *cricket sounds* Uh... *taps the mic* So much for happy endings eh? LUCKILY THIS WON'T END SO SOON. Now Leon would have to face the greatest challenge of his life. I know you're saying, this is too much drama and for a while it would be... For next three chapters at the least but I promise to (TRY to) make you laugh, and maybe cry and fall in love for the second time for the rest of the story! Know that I am saying this from the bottom of my biohazard heart. I LOVE YOU all!

Danger, Keep Out,

~shim