A banging sound of car doors was heard as we all hopped out of the car to go after Luna and William.

The sun was blazing hot just as William was raging to batter Ace's face. His knuckles were enclosed so tightly that I can see the whiteness of it from feet away from where I am trailing behind to catch up with him and Luna.

When Ace caught a glimpse of the infuriated William, he walked backward with his hands raised up as if finally surrendering and was ready to announce his defeat after all the bullshit things he had done to us.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Calm down! We can talk about this!" Ace's voice trembled.

But William was more trembled. His anger was so potent that before Ace could utter a word again, he had already grabbed the collar of his shirt and slammed his back violently at the big signage behind that caused it to shake.

"Calm down?" William asked with gritted teeth and slammed Ace once more, "You're asking me to calm down after you stole our tire and money and put our friend's life in danger! Asshole, this is no time for me to calm down!" William's fuming voice resounded that it even vanquished the channeling engines of the passing cars.

William pulled back his other arm, getting ready to thrash Ace's face with his turbulent force to dump blood and lesion on his grim face. But Kayden held back his punch at the exact time and put his arms around William's chest to dismantle his grip from Ace's collar.

With the failed attempt on inflicting Ace, William struggled and wiggled his body free from Kayden's grasp. But Kayden has his own strength that he could drag the self-restraining William to Nico's direction to hold him down and keep him away from doing any kind of violence.

Kayden rubbed his palms and clicked his tongue. He stood between Ace who was massaging his neck from William's grasp and William whose eyes were glinting with rage as the fires of hell.

"No one's hurt?" Kayden asked, looking between William and Ace. No one uttered a word.

"Okay, I'll take that as a yes." Kayden then looked at Ace, "I ain't going to say sorry for what William did. You deserved that, but you don't deserve our time. Now that everyone is fine, let's leave this lost lamb here and get back to the car." He commanded, his voice echoed.

As much as I want to crush Ace's face into pieces, Kayden was right. He doesn't deserve our time. Assholes like him don't deserve such precious attention from us. The only attention worth of him was the heed of karma. And I think Ace already got served what he deserved.

Have fun, Ace, the lost lamb. You fucking suck!

We turned our heels back at Ace as William squirmed his way out of Nico's grip on him and took a last flaming fiery glare at Ace that can make him feel what hell feels like.

"Wait!" Ace called, and we turned our heads in his direction with disrupted expressions reflected on our faces. "I know this is too much for me to ask after everything. But I am in need of a ride."

I raised an eyebrow, astounded at how thick-headed this guy in front of us was. Where did he get the guts to ask a favor from us after what he had done?

I felt disgusted for him. I want to laugh at him, scorn at him, make him feel what it feels like to be bullied by someone like him. But when I studied his face, he was not wearing that arrogant look of his.

Sweat trailed down Ace's face and he wiped those with his perceptible clammy hands. His eyes were not those that reflect a maddening conceit that I hated the most in the world. This time, his eyes were brimming with misery and desperation. He might be an asshole, but today, I can tell that Ace Thompson is wretched and in need of help.

"Are you making us laugh? Ace Thompson, you wish!" Luna ridiculed.

"What happened to your ride? Did our tire bust? You all ran out of our money?" Nico asked with his voice rung of full sarcasm.

Ace bowed down his head and dug his shoe on the sandy ground, "They ditched me after they made me steal those things from you. And I am sorry for that... for everything." He retrieved his head from the ground to look at us. "Look, I also escaped from that camp with those people I thought I made friends with. But they were assholes... like me." Ace's face went down as he admitted the ghastly truth that I was glad he already knew to himself.

"Well, karma served you right." William sneered.

"I know, but please..." Ace implored, and I was surprised by his politeness, "You can do whatever vengeance you all want to me, but, please, I just need to go to Farmington," he continued with pleading eyes and distraught face, "I thought those guys could at least take me there, but I was wrong and I was also wrong for everything I did."

"What's with Farmington?" Kayden questioned him with curiosity.

Ace's face fell flat, "My grandma. She's in some hospital there."

Everybody fell silent that the revving cars passing by were the only sounds that filled our ears.

Kayden then looked at me with a look that seemed as if he was asking for my permission. I chinned up to look at everybody just to apprehend that their eyes were all laid on me like I am the one responsible for making decisions among us. And by the looks they were giving me, I think I am, but little do they know I suck at making decisions.

"What? So, I get to decide?" I asked as I placed a hand on my chest.

"This is your trip after all," Damien answered back.

I bit my lip as I felt my hands gushed with sweats like an ocean in the storm. I tapped my fingers on my thighs as anxiety crept down my spine.

I've never felt such pressure I am feeling right now in my entire life. A pressure like I hold responsibility for these people.

I looked at the black sketch of the rabbit at the signage behind Ace. And for the first time in my life, I wished I was a rabbit for the meantime so that I could just hop away from all of these and this decision I am about to make.

But I remembered I told myself that I will never walk away from these people again. Or hop away... whatever I need to decide!

Recalling Ace's desperate voice and wretched face, I knew he reflected a person who was on the verge of gripping on to the dear life of losing someone in his life. Ask me about anything, but one thing I knew, I know how losing someone feels like.

Ace was indeed a great bully, not just to me but to other students in Bakersfield High too. I've witnessed him do such horrid things and say awful things to others. I don't know if he just likes to humiliate people or he has his reasons.

Yet today, I am seeing a reason in every inch of him as to why he needed help. Ace might be an asshole, but doing the same thing he was doing to others makes me no different from him. I am not an asshole.

Letting out a deep breath, I announced my decision, "Shut your mouth and get at the back of the car. And don't you dare utter a single word until we get you to Farmington." I pointed my finger on him.

Aces' face lit up like the first ray of sunlight after dawn, in contrast to the groans like thunder in a hurricane that came out from the others.

"Thank you so much, Ellie!" Ace said, leaping of gratitude.

"Okay then, everyone in the car," Kayden commanded and walked his way to the car.

Luna inched forward to Ace and warned him, "You're one hell of a lucky fucking bastard. Better keep your word, Thompson."

But before Ace could answer back, William appeared in front of him. He grabbed Ace's collar one more time as he laid his head a little and in rapid motion; he head banged Ace.

We let out a painful sound as Ace fell down on his knees with his hand on his nose, blood dripped down his hand that stained the reddish-yellow sand on the ground. Kayden sprinted to help him, but he raised his other hand to stop him.

"It's okay. I'm alright," Ace said, picking himself off from his knees, "I deserved that," he continued as he was now on his feet.

Erin walked towards Ace and handed him a handkerchief, "Thanks," Ace uttered and Erin returned him a smile.

"Alright, everybody in the car, now!" Kayden's voice echoed, and we all turned our heels back to the car as I felt aggravation and frustration from every step the others took.

I hoped I made the right decision.

I looked back at the signage once again and thought:

Here it is, where Ellie Blythe made a decision she doesn't know what kind of consequences it will give.

The car doors banged again, a sign that we are ready to go to Holbrook. Ace together with Damien and Erin were at the back of the car, for they were the only ones who could bear to look at Ace's face without feeling blood boiling from his presence.

"Okay... It says here that we have forty-four minutes to get to The Plotz Plot," Kayden announced from the driver's seat as he turned the key and the car roared and drove away.

"Oh, we're going somewhere?" Ace butted in from the back.

Several whimpers were heard as I closed my eyes feeling a smoke about to come out of my nose, having a second thought whether if I should throw him out of the car and ignore my conscience or put myself in his shoe who has a grandmother waiting for him in a hospital.

I looked back at him, still had the handkerchief Erin gave him pressed on his nose, "Ace, in what part of: 'Shut your mouth and get at the back of the car. And don't you dare utter a single word until we get you to Farmington.' you didn't understand?" I asked him in vexation.

Ace took a big gulp and raised his hand and then drew it horizontally on his lips, gesturing in zipping his mouth. Good for him he kept his word and the car fell silent with Kayden driving it carefully and with moderate speed.

I looked out the window to see nothing but desert and green plants swaying with the breeze. The wind felt so light as it brushed my skin but not as light as the weight emerging on my shoulder.

I looked down on my shoulder to see Nico having the greatest nap of his life. His soft snore filled my ears as his mouth sent warm breath on my neck, and though his dreamy hazel brown eyes were closed, I found myself caught up in his long eyelashes, sliding me again into the daydream that anyone will not want to get out of. And I wondered how long will I ever feel like this to Nico?

As I took in Nico's tranquility on my shoulder, I found solace and my eyes started to feel like falling. Giving in to the droopiness, I closed my eyes as I felt something soft cushioned my cheek. I don't know what it was, but I do know it wasn't the same chair I slept in on our way to Winslow because it didn't smell comforting like this one.

A sound of a dying engine and a simultaneously jerking movement of the vehicle caused Nico and I to jolt in our seat and to be startled from our nap.

I reclaimed my leaning cheek on top of Nico's head and wiped my eyes as everyone leaned in Kayden's direction.

"What happened?" Nico asked in his groggy voice.

Nico's question was answered by the emitting smoke blocking the windshield and the complete halt of the vehicle.

"Shit," Kayden muttered and unbuckled himself from his seat to hopped out of the car as we followed him outside.

A sulfurous thick black smoke bombarded our faces when we got in front of the car as we coughed.

"What happened?" Erin asked between coughs.

Kayden shook his head, "I don't know, overheat maybe? I think we need a repair shop again."

"We're in the middle of nowhere, Kayden," Damien stated.

"Should I walk away again?" I asked as I swung my hands to get rid of the smoke in front of me.

"No one's walking out, Blythe. I guess we have some bad luck with us." Nico looked at Ace, pertaining that he was the bad luck. Ace's body stiffened as if he was a sunken boat, drowning of shame.

Kayden walked around to get his phone from the car, "I'll try to look for a repair shop or we could ask help from passing cars."

And just like that, we heard a whizzing of a car from afar and a black vehicle emerged on the road.

"There! A car!" Luna squealed and extended her arms for help.

"Oh, wait..." Luna trailed off as she squinted her eyes.

"Oh shit!" William utttered and the cousins briskly ran behind me.

My eyes broaden as the car continues to run in our direction and halted in front of us.

It was a Toyota Century.

The car window rolled down and a man wearing sunglasses too small for his face greeted us. And as clear as a crystal I knew who this man was.

"Good day, Señor and Señora. I think it is time for the two of you to come back home," James said and took off his sunglasses.

Well, there goes me who thought this must be our lucky day.