As I pull another strand of Noah's hair away from his face, my phone starts ringing, waking Noah up from his peaceful slumber.
He sits up straight wiping his eyes so I reach forward for my phone. I pick the phone call quickly before it stops ringing.
"Hello?",
"Hey ginger, um how.. how are you? Are you okay? Didn't see you in school afterwards", Hernandez says and it gets Noah's attention as he crosses his arms and watches me intently.
"Uh yeah I'm fine, I'm fine.. I just left because of the whole.. thing", I say.
"I'm sorry.. it's partly my fault", he says and from the corner of my eye I see Noah roll his eyes.
"No.. no it's not,
"I should have avoided whatever Noah was spewing.. maybe you wouldn't have felt nauseous, I guess", he says and I feel him shrug at his sentence.
Noah scoffs and I move away a bit so Hernandez can't hear it.
"I totally understand if you can't tutor me today", he mentions.
"Oh thanks but I think we should have a session today.. I just feel finals might blow up in our faces and I want you to be prepared", I tell him.
"Okay, I'll see you later then.. should I um pick a restaurant?",
"Yeah, if it's not the one I collapsed in thank you", I say, pleadingly.
"Okay", he says with a small snicker.
"Sure bye", and with that I end the call.
I turn to Noah who's holding a frown that could belong to the Grinch himself.
"You should dress up as the Grinch for Halloween.. without the mask", I say and he raises a brow.
"You aced the look just now", I explain and he rolls his eyes.
"You should drive", he says then moves the tripod away so he can move to the passenger seat from where he sat.
"What?", I ask, giving him an incredulous look.
"I taught you, didn't I?",
"Uh huh, you taught me how to move from your house to mine.. fantastic lesson.. I could even be the next Hamilton", I say, sarcastically.
"What can I say? I'm the best teacher in everything", he says and I snort. He gives me a look through the mirror.
"I think that's only on the fields", I point out truthfully.
"No, I'm good at other things", he says, turning in his seat to look behind.
"Like practicing football and playing football.. oh and winning football", I say nodding my head dramatically and he squints his eyes at me but with an unmistakable smirk on his lips.
"Well looks like I'm good at giving hickeys too", he says and I cough. "So you driving?".
"Absolutely not", I say, recovering from his statement.
"Fine let's do rock paper scissors, three tries. If I lose, I drive but if you lose, you drive.. deal?", he asks and a small chuckle escapes my lips.
"You're putting our lives on rock paper scissors, how responsible of you", I say, crossing my arms.
"C'mon, who says you're gonna win anyways", he says with an arched brow. A confident one at that.
I scoff, it's like he's forgotten.. I snap my fingers, who won RPS in elementary.. well time to remind him.. it's Flenory.
"Bring it on".
**
All the buttons seems unfamiliar, almost like I haven't seen a car in my life before. I gulp looking at Noah sitting comfortably on the passenger seat with the blanket over him. Why did I agree to this? And how did I lose that game? Must have been rigged.. yup, was totally rigged cause I'm a pro at RPS.
I turn on the ignition and the car comes to life.. I'm scared.
"I can forfeit right? I mean, we didn't sign any legal document", I say and he shakes his head pitifully.
"Sorry princess but that's the rules.. we can't bend it", he says with an obvious smile and I feel like reaching for the blanket and tossing it out the window just so I can turn off the heater and let him freeze to death. Okay too much?.
"Ugh.. fine but if anything happens to your car, it's your fault", I say and I groan at his unfazed expression. Doesn't he care about his car?.
I put the car in motion, moving the gear stick from park to drive. Don't sweat it Abby.. it's just the same as riding your tricycle back in junior year.. okay maybe not.. but it still involves moving.
I put both hands on the steering wheel and place my leg on the gas pedal without stepping on it. I take a deep breath then step on it.
Noah jolts up from his seat and since he's not putting on his seatbelt his head comes in contact with the dashboard. Holy-
"Fuck", he curses loudly putting a hand over his head.
"Oh my God, are you okay?", I ask. "I.. I don't know what happened, my foot was on..", I trail when I notice my feet were on both the brakes and the gas pedal.
"Okay I guess I'm just sorry", I say in a quiet voice. "Are you.. are you gonna drive now-
"Get down from the car", he winces and I quickly take off my seatbelt and rush to the other side. Noah moves from the passenger seat to the driver's seat still rubbing his head.
The rain had stopped now so I didn't get wet this time. I put on my seatbelt once I get into the car again.
Noah drives out of the lake and back into the main road.
"Sorry for giving you a bump on your head", I say after a while and his eyes widen.
"There's a bump on my head?!", he exclaims looking at the mirror. He groans when he sees the small red bump on his forehead, "You owe me one".
"You.. still look cute", I slowly say wanting to make him feel better and he chuckles. Guess it worked.
"Coming from a princess who almost killed her prince", he says and I gasp.
"It's not that bad!", I exclaim and he rolls his eyes playfully.
"Yeah right".
Once we get to my house, Noah parks by the sidewalk and then turns to me.
"Guess who arrived safely without killing us?", he asks, rhetorically and I roll my eyes.
"When will this torture end?",
"Probably never cause I'll be here forever", he says and I look at him. I notice how his pupils dilate and I feel the words have a deeper meaning.
"Uh..", I trail then snap out of my thoughts. I always get lost in his eyes, "You probably need your shirt back", I say proceeding to take it off but he stops me.
"It's fine, you can keep it", he says and I hold a smile.
"Uh okay, thanks", I say then awkwardly get down from his car. I walk back when I realize something.
Noah rolls the car window down, "Yes princess?", he asks.
"Can you um help me get my bag from behind?", I ask.
"Sure", he says pulling my bag from the backseat. He passes it through the window and I take it.
"Thanks.. head bump prince", I tease and he frowns at me but in amusement.
"I'm not taking that as a nickname", he says and I shrug.
"That's the rules head bump prince or should we call you bump head prince.. it's kind of difficult to choose from but we'll get there", I say then curtsey with both hands on my dress spreading it.
Noah chuckles and I smile.
**
"Stepping out again?", my mum asks as I make my way to the front door.
"Uh yeah, I've got tutoring sessions with Hernandez", I tell her and she slowly nods, probably trying to remember who Hernandez is.
"Your friend that came the other day?", she asks and I nod.
"Yes, so I'll be out a little late", I say and she nods going back to her reality show she's watching.
"Okay have fun", she says and I snort.
"Okay.. mum", I say going out the door. Have fun? It's a tutoring session not a pool party.
I walk down the house and I notice a red car shimmering under the evening sun. A familiar guy with dark hair leaning on it looks up and our eyes lock.
And in that moment Noah comes out of his house and walks down the porch to meet his friend. He notices him looking forward so he joins him, locking eyes with me as well.
"Princess?", Noah calls out and I sigh. He walks up to me, giving me a good look when he reaches me. "Where are you.. oh", he cuts himself off mid sentence when he realizes.
I slightly groan when I notice Asher walking towards us.
"Hey fatty", he says and Noah gives him a death glare so he raises his hands up in surrender. "Chill dude.. she's chill with it", he says. Chill with it? He's talking like we go way back.
Noah looks at me, his brows bent down in confusion, "Your chill with it and wait how..", he trails looking back at Asher, "You know her?".
"Yeah.. she's my tutor", he says and I'm shocked. I thought he didn't want anyone knowing.
Noah's eyes widen, "Why didn't you tell me?", he asks.
"Why would you care?", I ask back then sigh. I really need to get out of here.
"Don't we have tutoring sessions today?", he asks me and I shut my eyes close for like two seconds. Darn it, we do.
"Yes, today's a Thursday so yeah we do", I answer.
"And you weren't going to do your job? The school needs to hear about this", he says and I roll my eyes, "The tutors they give out these days", he continues with the shake of his head, looking like a disappointed father at a PTA meeting.
"Look can we reschedule for tomorrow, I'm quite busy today", I say just as a bike rolls down in front of us. You've got to be kidding me.
Hernandez takes of his helmet and he raises a brow at the little crowd in front of him.
"The other guy", Asher points out as Hernandez gets off his bike.
"Hey Ginger-", he starts to say but Asher cuts him off with a loud groan.
"Ugh, the nicknames bro.. I feel sick already", he groans face palming. Why is he so over dramatic?.
"Let's go", I simply say pulling Hernandez to his bike.
"No, no, no.. you're tutoring me or the library lady's gonna know", Asher says and I look at Noah for some kind of support but he looks away. It's clear he doesn't want me to tutor Hernandez too.
"What's going on? I thought I was the only one you tutored", Hernandez says and Noah lets out a loud sarcastic laugh.
"Yeah right".
"Sorry I didn't tell you, but I've been shuffling the both of you-".
"The three of us", Noah butts in and I feel like just pummeling him to a pulp. He can be so annoying sometimes.
"Woah that's a lot of work.. we could set this one off today", he suggest but I decline.
"No we've missed too much, we have to do this today", I say then look at all three of them while bitting down on my lip.
"I'll grab some textbooks".