Chapter 1 - Carmen

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"Ow!"

The sudden scalding sensation across the tip of my tongue made me yelp. I frowned down at the thermos of hot cocoa in my hands. It sat there - mocking me - as if it wasn't the cause of my pain. Our staring contest was broken by the muted thumping of footsteps racing down the hallway to my right. A blur of blonde flung itself around the corner, the fuzzy, pink bunny-slippers on its feet helping it slide over to where I sat at the dining table.

"Carmen! Have you seen my pencil case? I can't find it anywhere!"

"Chill, Lily," I replied before pointing over her shoulder, "it's in the lounge room."

The young girl spun around and, with a cheer, grabbed the case off the coffee table.

"Thanks Menni!" she hollered back, already turning down the hall to return to her room.

A smile stretched across my face as I shook my head at her antics. I glanced at the hands on the wall next to me and, quickly calculating the time, I stood up and straightened out my flannel shirt. I craned my head back to try and peer down the hallway, shouting out "we're leaving in 5!" to which I got no reply. Knowing she heard me, I grabbed my bag off the end of the dining table on my way to the lounge room and plonked down to lace up my sneakers.

Once finished, I double checked that I had everything packed and threw a quick look back at the clock.

"Lily-"

"I'm ready! I'm ready! Stop rushing me, geez."

As she turned around the corner I pushed my sunnies up on my head, grabbed my phone and thermos from the dining room, and ushered my younger sister out the front door. "Sorry kiddo," I apologised whilst locking the door, "but I can't be late to school just because you want a sleep in.

Lily huffed. "We wouldn't have to wake up so early if your car wasn't broken. And stop calling me kiddo! I'm 10, I'm not some little kid anymore." She cried out in indignation as I ruffled her hair in response. A laugh rang out from my mouth at her fussing and I nudged her shoulder playfully before we started to walk.

"You'll always be a kiddo to me, kiddo." Her pout only grew at my words. "And I already told you, I'm picking Jimmy up from Uncle Antonio's this afternoon."

"When?!"

"I literally just said this afternoon."

"No, when did you 'already tell me'?"

I sputtered at her nasally, mocking tone. "What- what do you mean when? I told you yesterday!"

"No you didn't!"

"Yes I did."

"When?"

"Like 3 times!" I threw a dubious look at her and gasped in fake horror. She had a cheshire grin plastered on her chubby little cheeks, clearly amused at how riled up I was. I placed a hand over my heart. "You evil little munchkin!"

Lily just giggled away and it wasn't long before I was laughing with her. I slung my arm around her shoulders and continued on the trek to school, chatting away in the morning sun.

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The shrill scream of the bell echoed throughout Memorial High, accompanied by a chorus of stampeding teenagers as the school day came to a close. I shifted my bag on my shoulders after escaping the cramped stairs and turned left. I ran a hand through my hair-

"I got a pocket got a pocket full of sunshine"

"Ack!"

I scrambled around, patting down my pants to try and find my phone.

"I got a love, and I know that it's all mine, oh."

Front, back, knees- wait! I pulled the silver device out of my back pocket and flipped it open.

"Carmen here!" My voice was rushed and I realised I hadn't checked who was calling me in my haste to answer.

"Hey, kid, how was school?"

I relaxed at the sound of my Dad's familiar, warm timbre.

"Pretty good, nothing special." I kept strolling along the path, absentmindedly observing my surroundings as I went. "Just walking down to the shop now." I stopped briefly at the corner of the block - left, right, left again - then crossed. "Did you just get home from picking up Lily?"

An exasperated huff. "No, I decided to leave her at school- of course I picked her up." I rolled my eyes at his snarky comment and smiled. "You sure you don't need me to come give you a lift? It's a bit of a walk."

"I'm sure, Dad," I assured him, "it's only, like, 5 minutes away from school."

There was a moment of silence on his end. I ran a hand down my face and sighed.

"I'm 17, Dad. I've been walking around Jasper by myself for years and I've been driving on my own for a while now as well. I'm not a little girl anymore." My mind flashed back to earlier this morning when Lily had said almost the exact same thing to me and a grimace flitted over my face.

His scratchy half-sigh-half-chuckle filtered across the line. "You'll always be my little girl though, you know that, right?"

Even though he couldn't see it, I nodded, "I know. I may want my freedom but you can't get rid of me completely, old man."

We both laughed and I turned on to the main street, plucking my shades out of my collar and on to my face.

"Who you callin' an 'old man'? I'm hip!" I groaned at my Dad's lingo and threatened to hang up. "Okay, okay, I'll stop!" he chortled. His laughter puttered out and I could see my uncle's shop up ahead.

"Seriously though, I am going to hang up on you soon because I'm almost there."

"Alright then, I'll talk to you when you get home then."

"Sounds good. Oh, hey, can I take Jimmy for a little drive instead of coming straight home please?"

I was mentally crossing my fingers.

He "hmm"ed and "aah"ed for a few seconds before stating "Sure, why not."

"Yes!" I cheered and thanked him profusely.

He brushed me off and told me to say hi to his brother-in-law for him. We said our goodbyes and I hung up just as my feet came to a halt in front of "Toni's Repair Shop". The large, cursive, red paint was faded and the brickwork was chipped in places. I couldn't help but smile at the familiar sight and pushed past the thick, wooden door. The smell of gasoline wafted through to the reception area from the open doorway on the opposite wall. As I walked towards it, a soft yet gravely voice called out to me.

"Excuse me there, Miss, can I help you?"

I turned to my right and saw an older woman with mostly grey hair peering over her glasses at me from the front desk.

"Oh! Sorry, didn't see you there." I shuffled over in mild embarrassment and lent down on the table with my elbows. There normally wasn't anyone at the desk but it looks like they finally went about hiring a secretary. "I'm here to pick up my car, it's a 2008 Suzuki Jimny?" The lady, "Martha" according to her name tag, began typing, the tap tap taps blending into the faint rhythm of welders and machinery in the garage. Just as she turned her gaze back to mine there was a bellowing shout to my left.

"Carmelita!"

I grinned and faced the man in the doorway: his steel blue jumpsuit was covered in stains and his sturdy fingers were coated in what was most likely grease.

"Uncle Ant!" The cheery giant only laughed at the old nickname and strode towards me, his baldness shining under the fluorescent lights. He lifted me up in his burly arms and squeezed me, making sure to be gentle.

My uncle placed me back on to solid ground and cupped my cheek. "So good to see you again, mi sobrina." He gave me a light pat before pushing me towards the door he had just come through. "Come, you are just in time." He threw a wave back at Martha just as we passed through to the garage bay beyond and started weaving in and out of the various cars being worked on. "You see, the problem was with one of the belts in the engine, that is why it was making such a horrible squeal." After rounding a very beat up station wagon I spotted a familiar crimson vehicle.

I ran my hand over its hood and looked back up at my uncle. "Thank you so much for fixing him up, Uncle Antonio." I hugged him tightly then released him, bouncing slightly as he dropped the keys into my hand.

"Anytime."

He gave me some final parting instructions on caring for my car and then opened the towering roller door for me.

Sliding into the plush seat, I gripped the wheel and turned the key. The familiar rumble washed over me and, with a few goodbye beeps, I was off.

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Wind filled the cabin of my mini 4WD as I drove down the entrance to the motorway they never finished. Loose wisps of my chestnut hair that escaped my ponytail blew across my face. I checked over my shoulder to make sure no one was in the lane next to me and merged, the scenery whizzing past as I cruised by. I'd been out for a few hours, hanging at the park and just driving around, singing along with the radio.

"I think we're alone now...

There doesn't seem to be anyone around."

I checked the clock and decided it was time to head home; I could turn around after the bridge easy enough.

"I think we're alone now-"

Some guy suddenly sped past on his motorbike, doing at least 15 over the limit.

"Geez, didn't even see him." I shook my head: some of the teens around here just didn't think about anything but themselves.

I glanced in the rearview mirror then back to the road but my eyes quickly shot back up in shock. A yellow and black muscle car was being bashed into by two identical looking black and purple cars. The yellow car went careening and the black cars were approaching rapidly. I looked back at the road for somewhere to pull over but the closest spot was a few hundred feet away yet next to the storm drain. Checking my mirrors again, I panicked at seeing them coming up on my right side to overtake me. I slowed down and let out the breath I didn't realise I was holding when they passed me. I moved into the right lane so I could pull over but instead of going over the bridge before the road cut off like I thought they were, the deadly drivers stopped at the top of the slope to the drain. It wasn't long until they launched down it at full speed.

"What on Earth..."

I was on autopilot as I pulled on to the patch of dirt where the two cars had just been and tugged the handbrake into position. My mouth gaped open at the sight before me.

There was no way what I was seeing was real.

My brain was racing, trying to catch up with all of the thoughts running rampant within it.

Maybe those drivers actually rammed me off the road and now I'm in a coma?

My breathing was picking up and I could feel my heart rate increasing.

" I think we're alone now..."

Giant... frickin'... robots?!

.

.

.

Maybe we weren't as alone in the world as we thought we were.

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End Chapter 1

Songs used:

"Pocketful of Sunshine" by Natasha Bedingfield

"I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany

Spanish Translations:

mi sobrina = my niece