2.24 – Bienvenue en France

Chloe’s PoV

I wasn’t sure what to do after Egypt. All I knew was that we had to disappear. Again. We were getting good at it. Once we were across the border though, my mind drew a blank. What are we going to do?

The thrill was gone. All that was left was the fact that I had stolen 42.3 trillion dollars from an international company. What if they found me?!

But Thomas took over. Driving and direction, keeping Medea calm and Shaye in the car. He took us through Greece and Germany and Poland. Then he decided we should head for France.

“I’ve got an idea,” he said with a smile. “Just trust me.”

If it had been anyone else…but it was Thomas. And whenever I’d gotten into something I couldn’t get out of, Thomas always knew what to do. It was just a skill he’d mastered. So, I did. I sat in the passenger seat and watched the miles pass. It was…nice, not having to worry about what to do. Just let someone else take over. Clean up the mess of our lives that I’d only made worse. Consistently.

He did make me swear to donate the money to charity. Not surprising. And better than what I’d thought of, which was just let it float around cyberspace until someone else found it and it became their problem.


“Hey, Shaye?”

“Yup?”

“What’s your favorite charity?” I vaguely remembered her donating her allowance every chance she got. It was a long time ago. Before our lives spiraled into the current semi-chaotic stability.

“Huh?” Shaye scratched her head, a look of extreme puzzlement coming over her face. “I don’t really have a favorite. Just any that needs a bit of help and I can help with.”

Okay. Incorrect word usage. “If you had the money right now, at this moment, what’s a charity you’d donate to?”

Shaye’s eyes got brighter and she beamed at me from the middle seat. She opened her mouth—

“FRANCE!!!!! Ohmygod!!!!”


Lucy’s screech caused Thomas to swerve a bit and Donovan to spill his soda all over the back seat. And, thus, Medea.

“That’s enough of that!” Thomas said firmly after Medea started cursing. “Where’d you learn that?!”

“It’s just the border sign!” Medea snapped. “How many of those have you seen?! Like, fifteen! It’s nothing new! It’s a sign! It means nothing but we’ve crossed an invisible line drawn over the ground by stupid people! It’s stupid!”

Lucy eyes started to water.

“Ah, fuck, I’m sorry, Luce. I snapped. I’m sorry. I’m just tired and cramped up and sick of this van! Please, don’t cry!”

While the twins sorted things out and Donovan attempted a clean up, I dug around the empty fry boxes and old petrol station coffee cups for the map.

“We should be coming up on a bridge soon,” I told Thomas.


“Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Oh! My! GOD!”

“Easy, Luce. Remember to breathe.”

“Champ Les Sims! They have the absolute best art school in the world! In this tiny little town! Ohmygod!”

“Lucy…you’re turning red.”

Thomas just laughed. “Yeah, yeah, we’ll make a point to stop by, okay, Luce?”

A giddy shriek was her response.

“First, we need to find that bed and breakfast. I dunno 'bout the rest of you, but I want a shower. Le Feuilles et de Fleurs, right?”

“Correct,” I replied, digging out another map. This one hand drawn, transcribed from Google Maps onto a convenient napkin. It was crumpled and stained with coffee and jam. “Um, looks like the next right. And…a left?”

“We’re here!”


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Thanks for reading! ^_^