"Leah!" Scarlett yelped, clutching a batch of eggs tightly, hearing the groceries in the truck Leah's car slide to the right. "Are you trying to damage the groceries?"

"Sorry," Leah mumbled, turning the merge signal off and pressing slightly on the gas. Scarlett eyed her friend worriedly. She hadn't seen Leah so serious before.

Then, Scarlett started to panic when Leah didn't slow down for an upcoming yellow light. They were too far to make it across the other street before the red light came.

"Leah, what are you doing?!"

Leah scowled. "Relax. We're going to make it."

Scarlett's breathing started to quicken, matching her racing heart. "What?! No! Slow down!!!"

When Leah ignored her, she grabbed the gearshift and switched it to the parking setting, swinging her left leg over to stomp on the break.

"Scarlett!" Leah snapped, her hands tightening on the wheel. The breaks let out a loud squeal, but thankfully, the car stopped moving just before the crosswalk intersection.

"What were you thinking?!" They both snapped, glaring at each other.

"Me?! Oh, I was just thinking that I didn't want to die any time soon!" Scarlett said, her voice several octaves higher than normal.

"Yeah, well if you just relaxed, you would have known that there was enough-!"

"No, Leah! There wasn't enough time!" Scarlett yelled. "What is up with you today? You've been snappy and-"

"The vet called me this morning," Leah said, the heat in her voice suddenly draining away. "They said that if the tumor in my puppy's leg wasn't taken out in the next week, it would be too late and they would have to put him down."

Scarlett gasped, her anger fading away. "Leah. . . why didn't you tell me?"

Leah shrugged, her eyes turning glassy as she watched all the cars pass.

"We'll get enough money to take the tumor out before then. We only need two hundred more-"

"And where in the world are we going to get two hundred dollars?" Leah asked, her tone holding little bite, having more of a resigned sadness.

"I don't know, Leah. But we can't give up now when we're already so close!"

Scarlett reached out an put her hand over Leah's shoulder, squeezing lightly.

"We'll get there, but we have to take it step by step, okay?"

Leah nodded, sniffling slightly. "Mr. Gregory wouldn't be to upset if we're a bit late anyway. That's another twent dollars we'd have."

Scarlett nodded. "Right."

"Thanks, Scarlett."

"No problem, Leah. What are friends for?"

Then, Leah reset her gearshift and made sure to stay at the speed limit, going at the green light.

"Just. . . slow down. We'll get there."

Leah hummed in reply, breathing deeply.

"We'll get there."