[b][i]Weeks earlier...[/i][/b]

Henry and Bruce Bailey stood around the open hood of a Ninetey-Two Nissan 300ZX. The prospective seller stood nearby, his arms crossed as he watched them argue over it. 

[color=6ecff6]"She's about as old as me. Needs a priest, not a mechanic."[/color]  It was true enough that the paint was in rough shape, and it sat on four flat tires. And there was some kind of nest in the air intake. 

[color=0072bc]"I don't need to restore it or nothing, but if I make it run, I can sell it to someone who will. I've gone and done it before. Besides, it's old, but it's been sittin', right?"[/color] He turned to the seller, a man not much older than Bruce himself. 

"Huh? Oh, yeah man. My dad parked it because the clutch was going bad, he just never fixed it, and I don't really wanna so..." 

[color=0072bc]"Let's get it on the trailer, daddy. I can make this work"[/color]

~~~

[b][i]Now...[/i][/b]

Bruce was seated by the window, next to a kid named Oz, and both boys were similar engrossed on their phone. Bruce had seven different tabs open in his browser, looking for parts for the Nissan that had become the bane of his existence. He'd thought he'd put in a new clutch, some shiny tires and offload the thing, but everywhere he looked there were new problems. 

[color=0072bc][i]Eleven hundred for this, but then I can't afford both struts, only one is all that bad but I really should do both, and I can't find a good set of calipers for this model anywhere...[/i][/color]

On and on he went, lost in his thoughts without anyone to really talk to. He didn't have many real friends. Kids he went to shop classes with were the closest to relating to him, but none of them were interested in dinosaur day, or whatever this was called. Of course, neither was Bruce, but he needed the credits. 

There [i]was[/i] Helia, of course, but she scared him a little in a way he couldn't explain. He'd talk to her if she struck something up, but usually he kept his head as far down as his stature allowed. 

The kid next to him suddenly opened his mouth, “[color=fff200]That wasn't political discussion. That was a dick measuring contest.  Its a good thing she stopped it now before they started unzipping.[/color]”

Bruce hadn't heard the rest, but the off color joke caught him off guard and he let out a much louder bark of laughter than he meant to.