The Forever of Ella and Micha

hands.
    “What’s wrong?” he wonders with humor. “Where’s my dangerous girl tonight?”
    “I’m having a hard time with the fact that you’re going to destroy the car.” I peek between my fingers. “It’s just too tragic.”
    “I’m not going to destroy it.” He picks up his iPod and hands it to me. “You want to do the honors?”
    I take it and scroll through the selection, finally clicking on “Face to the Floor” by Chevelle.
    Micha grins. “Excellent choice.”
    My hand instantly shoots for the side of the seat and I prop my foot up on the dash as I slouch down.
    “El, what are you doing?” Lila peers around the seat at me. “And what the hell is this music?”
    “It’s Chevelle,” Ethan says like she should know.
    She arches her eyebrows as she sinks back in the seat. “Okay…”
    “Just put your seatbelt on,” I instruct as Micha laughs, revving the engine.
    She obeys, quickly clicking it on and Ethan leans forward, resting his elbows on the console. “Don’t hit the fucking snowbank like last time. I don’t want a concussion again.”
    Ethan and I trade looks because the concussion involved him and me smacking heads upon impact.
    “I got this,” Micha assures us confidently, shifting into drive. “At least I think… if anyone wants to bail out, now is the time.”
    We target an assumption at Lila.
    “Hey, I’m not a wimp.” She places her hand over her heart, offended. “And I’m staying in.”
    Micha pushes the gas pedal and the tires spin. We lunge forward, slowly speeding up and swerving all over the place as the car battles against the deep snow. Frost flurries around the car as he shifts into a higher gear and accelerates, heading for the end of a road that’s blocked off by a massive snow hill. Shutting my eyes, I wait for it because I know it’s coming. It happens every single time.
    “Everybody hang on,” Micha instructs, before he jerks on the e-brake.
    The car spins out of control, like a carnival ride. With my eyes closed it feels like I’m flying. I want to stick my hands out and bask in the freeness. Moments later, the car smacks into the bank and the abrupt impact sends me flying for real. I land on top of Micha, banging my head on his as the car jerks to a stop.
    “Oh, motherfucker,” Ethan moans. “Fuck. Lila, are you okay?”
    “I’m fine,” she assures him with terror in her voice. “But why didn’t anyone warn me?”
    I open my eyes and look into Micha’s aqua blue eyes. “Hi.”
    “Are you okay?” He delicately touches my head with his fingertips. “We hit heads pretty hard.”
    I press the heel of my hand to my head. “I think you did that on purpose, so I would end up in your lap.”
    “Maybe just a little.” He leans down and kisses me passionately, sucking on my bottom lip before pulling away, leaving my body suffocated in warmth. “Actually I was aiming for a nice slide in, but I choked at the last second and didn’t pull the brake quick enough.”
    I start to sit up, but he holds me down by placing a hand on my chest. “I think you should just stay there for a while. It’s a good place for you.”
    My head is resting in his lap and I can feel the bulge through his pants. “Really? Even in this situation.”
    His eyes sparkle with delight. “Again, your face is, like, inches away from it.”
    “You two better shut the hell up with that,” Ethan warns sharply from the backseat. “It’s seriously getting annoying and I don’t have the stomach for it.”
    Micha kisses me again, making an overexaggerated moan to irritate Ethan more. The car door slams as Ethan removes himself from the car and Micha helps me sit up.
    “I’ll be back in a second,” he says. “I’m going to get the tow strap out of the trunk.”
    As soon as he’s out of the car, Lila dives over the console and into the passenger seat. “So let me get this straight. He got his car stuck only so they could tow it out?”
    I waver, cranking up the heat to full blast. “He got his car stuck to make a statement to his father about fixing his car.”
    “But his father’s not here.”
    “Yeah, it’s more for himself.”
    She doesn’t get it and I don’t try to explain it to her. If this makes Micha feel better, then I’m glad. It’s what he deserves.

    About an hour later, the car is unstuck. Micha got the tires wedged in really deep and we finally had to bring out the snow shovels Ethan had in back of his truck.
    It’s not the only time