Carlson Melody - Stealing Bradford

“You are certainly quiet this morning, Desiree,” said Mrs. Carter as she stopped at a traffic light. “Is anything wrong?”

“Just tired,” said DJ from the backseat, which she had nabbed in order to avoid having to make small talk with her grandmother. Taylor had been stuck in that role, and DJ had been trying to catch a nap. “That first week of school after lazing around all summer…I would’ve liked to have slept in today.”

“Well, this is something we need to take care of,” said her grandmother. “I didn’t want to put it off for another week.”

“Where are we going anyway?” asked Taylor.

“The general recommended a car dealer to me,” said Mrs. Carter as she drove through the business district. “An old friend of his. He promised to give me a good deal. The place is called Farnsworth Auto.”

After a few minutes, Taylor spotted a sign, and Mrs. Carter pulled in to a good-sized car dealership. And before long they were looking at a variety of large and unimpressive cars. DJ’s grandmother seemed to be under the impression that bigger was better—not surprising considering she drove a boat of a car. But every car that interested her looked like something that should belong to an old lady. And the salesman was no help since he only encouraged her.

DJ cringed as they looked at a Lincoln Town Car. “That is way too big,” she told her grandmother. “And I’ll bet it gets lousy gas mileage.”

“I was considering it for myself,” said Mrs. Carter as she ran her fingers over the shining chrome. “I would give you my older Mercedes.”

DJ tossed Taylor a look that was meant to say, help me !

“Excuse me, Mrs. Carter,” said Taylor as she stepped forward. “Do you mind if I ask why you’re considering these rather large luxury cars for Desiree?”

“For safety, of course,” said Mrs. Carter.

“Safety…” Taylor nodded as if mulling this over. “But did you know that just last year, Consumer Reports said that Honda Civics are the safest cars for teens?”

“Really?” Mrs. Carter looked impressed. “How did you know that?”

“Because my parents were going to get me a car, and my mom did the research, and that’s what she decided was safest.” She smiled at the salesman now. “I’m sure you have access to Consumer Reports in your office, don’t you? We can go online and get all this information easily.”

He nodded, but his expression wasn’t convincing. “You know, I do believe the young lady is right about that, Mrs. Carter. And I just happened to get in a sweet little 2006 Honda Civic as a trade-in only last week. Would you like to have a look at it?”

“And Hondas get great gas mileage,” said DJ, although she wasn’t positive, but it seemed a safe bet.

“That’s right—up to forty miles per gallon,” said Taylor.

“Really?” Mrs. Carter nodded. “Well, let’s see this car.”

It turned out to be a light blue, four-door sedan, complete with a sunroof. DJ actually liked it, especially after seeing the old lady cars, but she was afraid to get her hopes up. The salesman showed them all its features, focusing on the car’s high safety ratings.

“This is just the kind of car that my parents would’ve gotten for me,” said Taylor.

“It looks comfortable,” said DJ, for lack of anything else to say.

“And it matches your eyes,” said Taylor with a wicked grin that only DJ could see.

“Would you like to take her for a little spin?” asked the salesman.

Mrs. Carter glanced at the sign on the windshield with the price posted. “Is this the correct price?” she asked the salesman.

“Like I told you, ma’am, we post our prices at Farnsworth’s, and we don’t play games. What you see on the ticket is what you’ll pay for the car.”

“But it’s so much less than the other cars we looked at.”

“It’s an economy car, Mrs. Carter. It’s supposed to be cheaper.”

Her grandmother smiled now, and DJ knew it was a sealed deal. Even so, they took it for a test drive, and both she and Taylor tried it out. They all agreed that it was a good little car. And before noon, it was purchased, and DJ and Taylor followed Mrs. Carter home in it.

“Good thing you’ve had your license for a year,” said Taylor. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to give anyone rides.” The man who did the paperwork on the car had also given the girls the lowdown on the law regarding teen drivers, reminding them that they weren’t to use cell phones while driving and telling them how many passengers they were allowed to have.

“I wonder how long Eliza has been licensed,” said DJ as she turned onto the highway. “Maybe she’s not supposed to have passengers—”

“I say, don’t ask, don’t tell.”

DJ focused her attention on driving now. Not that she wasn’t a good driver, but knowing this was actually her car made her want to be extra careful. “It really is a nice car,” she said. “Thanks for helping to talk my grandmother into it.”

“Sure.”

“Was it true? What you said about safety and everything?”

“You think I’d make something like that up?”

DJ considered this. “Maybe…”

Taylor laughed. “You really do think I’m evil, don’t you?”

DJ didn’t answer that.

“For your information, it was true. My parents were going to force a Honda Civic on me, while all my other friends were driving cool cars.”

“Cool cars?” DJ wondered if this meant her car was an uncool car.

“You know, like Lexus, Audi, or even Eliza’s Porsche. And I told my mom that I’d settle for an Eclipse Spyder, which is like half the price of a Porsche, but pretty cool-looking just the same. Well, she checked out the safety ratings and said, ‘forget it.’”

“Oh.”

“But this car is okay for you.”

DJ nodded. She knew that was probably a slam. It felt like a slam. Still, she felt determined not to let Taylor spoil this. DJ had her very own car. Her first set of wheels. Woo-hoo !

After they got home, DJ showed her car to Casey and Rhiannon, both of whom seemed impressed. Then she offered to take them for a ride.

“No thanks,” said Rhiannon.

“Come on,” urged DJ. “We’ll open the sunroof and—”

“I’m working on a project,” said Rhiannon. “You guys go ahead and go. I’ll take a ride some other time.”

So DJ took Casey out and—although the clouds were still gathering—opened the sunroof, and the cool air whooshed through the car.

“Wow,” said Casey, “This is so cool. We won’t need to rely on your grandmother now. And no more walking home after volleyball.”

“So, how’s Rhiannon doing?” asked DJ as she slowed down to drive through town.

“She’s pretty bummed, although she tries to act like she’s not.”

“I wish there was some way to cheer her up or fix this.”

“After Eliza’s failed attempt, I think we should all just back off.”

“Yeah, I know. What a mess.”

“I just wish there was a way to get back at Taylor.”

DJ remembered what Taylor had said last night. “You know, it’s not really fair to blame Taylor for the whole thing. I mean, Bradford is involved too. No one forced him to get involved with Taylor.”

“Yeah, right. Taylor, the witch, probably put a spell on him.”

“Come on,” urged DJ. “Bradford is a big boy. He knew what he was doing.”

“Wait a minute,” said Casey suddenly. “What’s up with you anyway, DJ? Have you gone over to the dark side?”

“No, of course, not. But I just think there are two sides to everything.”

“How about when Taylor was going after Conner,” Casey reminded her. “Did you see two sides then?”