Dancing with the Devil*

[Megami*]

((Whitney continued from: A Matter of Convenience))
((Colton continued from: A Side Lesser Shown))

While the only child of the Acosta household had gotten across town fairly quickly due to the lack of traffic -- especially in the residential districts of town -- on this Friday night, the near-collision she'd had earlier in the evening with Matt and Jodeen in the car had shaken her up somewhat, and she was still feeling the after-affects.  As the jet-black Mustang Convertible wheeled down Brooken Hill Drive and the two-story Acosta estate came into view, a sigh escaped the blonde's lips.  She had been driving in silence since she had dropped Matthias and Jodeen off roughly twenty minutes prior.  The incident at the stoplight had shaken her up considerably, so much so that she hadn't even bothered to turn the radio up on her drive home.

Making a left-hand turn into the driveway of their not-so-humble abode, Whitney killed the engine of the vehicle and closed her eyes momentarily.  The thoughts about her father being disappointed in her being out so late with friends had all but slipped the blonde-headed girl's mind.  Now, all she could think about was the truck barreling toward her car.  Being someone with a pretty much spotless driving record, perhaps attributed to the fact that she was only sixteen, after all, near-collisions weren't something that Whitney was especially used to.  Overall, the ordeal had been scary, and it was something she was almost afraid to inform her parents about.  Knowing them, they'd probably refuse to allow her to drive anymore on the grounds that she could get hurt.  They always did like to blow things out of proportion.

The roaring sound of a motorcycle engine blistering down the streets of Kensington Heights reached Whitney's ears as she reluctantly exited the car.  Blowing the noise off, her attention focused on the fact that her home appeared to be rather devoid of life at the moment.  Surely her parents hadn't gone to bed yet, it wasn't that late.  Shrugging it off on the assumption that they had probably just run to the store or something and would most likely be right back, she grabbed her purse from the back seat of the compact sports car and closed the door.  A resounding thud echoed from just behind the privacy fence surrounding the Acosta household, and Whitney smiled slightly as the family dog -- a humongous Bernese mountain dog by the name of Drake -- popped his head over the top of the privacy fence.

Completely ignoring the sound of the motorcyclist pulling into the driveway next door, Whitney meandered over to the gate and began petting the large companion.  Drake may have been a massive dog, but he was a big cuddlebug as well.  They'd had the dog for roughly the past six years -- he'd been a birthday present for Whitney on her first double-digit birthday -- and he'd been a loyal companion to the family ever since.  Absent-mindedly running her fingers through the dogs long, soft fur, she was taken a bit offguard as the figure of the cyclist next door addressed her.

"I think that dog's bigger than you are," the boy stated almost teasingly as he removed his helmet to reveal his dark black hair.

Turning to face her neighbor, who had moved in just recently -- within the last month, to be precise -- and who she also attended school with, Whitney cast a friendly, if not a bit forelorn, smile at Colton Valero.  Colt returned the smile before carelessly sitting his helmet on the motorcycle and letting it teeter back and forth on the seat and dropping the backpack that had been strapped to his back for the duration of the motorcycle ride onto the ground.  He couldn't believe that Kallie had actually bought into the ole' "I have to study" excuse, especially on a Friday night when he had the entire weekend to study.  Or maybe she hadn't bought in at all, maybe she wanted the extra tip money without having to work for it.  Either way, Colt didn't really care.

"I think you might be right," Whitney mused, turning back to the dog, "I'd say he outgrew me."

Meandering his way over to where his blonde-headed neighbor stood, he tried to cover the fact that he was obviously more interested in her than the furry companion that was currently in her company.  Reaching up to pet the dog himself, and grinning a bit when he found Drake to be more than willingly recipient of the attention, he turned toward the blonde again, this time being a bit bolder in his intentions.

"You spend every Friday night with Fido here?" he inquired playfully.

"His name's Drake," Whitney mused, before adding, "And actually, I've spent many Friday nights with him, if you must know."  Laughing a bit, she threw in, "Actually, both my parents are home tonight, and that's pretty much a rarity around here, so we all thought it best if I spent some time with them."

Nodding slightly, though immediately scowling a bit as he cast his attention toward the rather dark abode of the Acosta family, Colt couldn't help but give her a bit of a hard time for her answer, "They don't look like they're home to me."

This got him an irritated glance from the blonde, though once Colt cracked a smile, she seemed to lighten up a bit.  Seemed to.  It was all in the Colton Valero charm -- or so he thought.  In reality, Whitney was a bit amused, if not slightly annoyed, at the all-too-obvious observation her current company had made.  Shaking her head a bit at the remark he'd made before smiling and turning her attention back to Drake, she couldn't help but counter with a question of her own.

"I could ask you what you're doing home on a Friday night, too."

"Well," Colton responded lightly, rubbing the back of his head and grinning coyly, "Would you believe me if I told you I was doing homework?"

"No," Whitney stated simply, a grin playing across her features.

"Damn," he mused, "Guess that excuse is only good once a day."

"I guess so," Whitney echoed, mildly amused by the exchange.

Out of the corner of his eye, Colt could see the yellow Dodge Ram that so often took up the occupancy of the Acosta's driveway wheeling down the avenue.  Motioning toward the truck with his head, Whitney's gaze followed the dark-headed boy's to the vehicle.

"Looks like your parents are back," he mused with another grin, "Guess that's my cue to exit."

"Yeah..." Whitney mused, knowing subconsciously that he had to be referring to her father's overprotective nature, "I think that might be best... you know, unless you're interested in seeing my dad's gun collection."

"I might have to take him up on that one sometime," Colton retorted with a bit of laughter, "But... you know, not tonight.  I'll see ya around."

Waving off her companion and watching lightly as Colton headed back into his own driveway to retrieve his belongings and head inside, Whitney subconsciously continued stroking the dog as her parents pulled into the driveway.  As expected, they had just run down the street -- her mom appeared to be carrying a bag with a few videos in it.  While the exchange with her neighbor had momentarily taken her thoughts off of all of the day's events, her parents' homecoming had sent Whitney's mind right back to them.  Now, she was at a loss.  Should she grin and bear her father's disappointment in her running late, or should she tell him about the incident near Matt's house?  However, as her eyes interlocked with her father's, and his face conveyed a sense of concern, Whitney couldn't help but think that somebody had already relayed the message to him.  Then again, maybe that was a good thing.  Smiling, she greeted the two and they all headed inside.