Chapter Thirteen

ALL THE THINGS I'VE YET TO DO (7) : LEARN HOW TO DRIVE

I spend my day in my room in an attempt to avoid my mom until it’s time for me to leave for my sleepover with Ariel. Being in my own bed feels amazing and I appreciate every second I spent in it today. I sigh as I dwell in the fact that I have to be apart from it for one more night. The past two nights I was at Christian’s, and as good as his bed felt, I missed having my own sleeping space. At the sound of a text from Ariel, I groan and plan to grab my bag and run out of the door as quickly as possible.

Thankfully, luck is on my side today as I make it out of the house unnoticed. I smile and greet my friend before buckling my seatbelt. “Ari, I have so much to tell you.”

“Damn right, you do,” she raises her eyebrows as she glances at my tattoo.

I nod and she drives off. After grabbing some food, we arrive at her house. She unlocks the front door and we head inside. I wave to Adonis and Ace as we pass the kitchen before heading up the stairs.

“Alright,” says Ariel once we sit on her bed with our food. “Let me see it.”

Popping a fry into my mouth, I extend my forearm. I watch her face as she studies the ink. “It’s a photo of my and my brother.”

“Hold up. You have a brother and he never told me? Is he cute?” she giggles.

I chuckle. “Of course he’s cute, look at me.”

Her eyes widen and she hits me. “There’s no way that you let me get with Justin before setting me up with your fine brother!”

I roll my eyes and laugh, whether it’s genuine or if it’s just to keep myself from crying, I’m not sure. “First of all, he’s gay. Second of all, he died when I was in middle school, Ariel.”

She stops chewing and almost chokes mid-gulp. I give her a second before beginning to tell her about Jonathan. For a second, I debate telling her that Christian is the only other person who knows this, but I feel guilty. I end up telling her about that night, as I feel it is crucial to the rest of the story. I tell her about his cousin’s shop and about my argument with my mom. Of course, this means that I had to tell her about sleeping over at his house last night, which leads me to explaining our almost kiss. The one thing that I did choose to leave out is his secret spot. That feels like I should keep it between us.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Maya!?” she says in disbelief. “Why didn’t you kiss him?”

I shake my head, knowing that this is the reaction that I predicted. I can’t expect her to understand how I feel about this. “I’m just not looking to get involved with anyone right now.”

“Any other time I would agree with you, but this guy doesn’t seem that bad, My,” she sighs.

Shrugging, I take a bite of my burger. Once I swallow my food, I say, “I barely know him. We’re gone at the end of summer anyway, I don’t really want to do that long distance stuff.”

“Okay, but I’m not even talking about a relationship,” she retorts. “Literally, just sleep with him. Who wouldn’t want a hot FWB?”

I scrunch up my face at her. “One of us is going to get attached. It’s just not going to work out, let’s drop it.”

She nods, sensing the shift in my tone. We catch up on the latest gossip, from celebrities to our old high school classmates. After some time, she turns to me and says, “So what’s next on your list again?”

“I need to learn how to drive,” I answer.

“About time! I can teach you tomorrow,” she claps excitedly.

My eyes widen in fear. “No way, the last time you took me driving you almost made me crash. What possessed you to grab the wheel?”

“I thought my life was in danger!” she defends with her hands up. “You can ask one of my brothers if you want.”

I agree and suggest we watch a movie. Around an hour into the comedy, I turn to my left to see Ariel fast asleep. After a long yawn, I shut the TV off and curl up in bed next to my best friend.

Like usual, I wake up to the sound of arguing at an ungodly hour. I roll over and check the time to see that it is actually way later than I thought it would be. Of course, the spot next to me is already vacant, so after heading to the washroom to brush my teeth, I skip downstairs.

When I turn into the kitchen the source of raised voices is revealed to be Ace and Adrian.

“What are you two idiots going on about?” I ask as I hop on the counter next to where Ace is standing.

“Nothing,” they both huff, and Adrian walks across the kitchen to sit at the dining table.

I look between the two with a raised brow. “Right,” I say while grabbing a strawberry off of Ace’s plate.

He responds by reaching out his plate, allowing me to take my pick of the fresh fruit. I smile gratefully and shuffle closer to him while he says, “Mom called Ariel and told her that she needs her help at the daycare today. So I guess you’re stuck with me.”

I pout a bit before realizing that this actually works in my favour. After popping a tart raspberry into my mouth, I say between chews, “Teach me how to drive today.”

“If I say no?” he asks, offering me the last orange slice.

I accept it and roll my eyes, “I guess I’ll just hate you forever.”

Ace places the plate down and turns towards me. He places his hands at either side of me on the counter, effectively caging me in. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna happen.”

With wide eyes, I look over to Adrian for help, but he has his back to us with his headphones in as if he’s not even in the same room as us. Ignoring the fact that my stomach had at some point turned into an acrobat, I raise a challenging eyebrow to the 20 year old in front of me. “Say no and we’ll see what happens.”

He manages to keep a serious face while holding eye contact with me for all but two seconds before he begins to laugh. Ace takes a step back and nods. I have to admit that he does look very cute today. With his hand rubbing the back of his neck, his muscles are on full display and his boyish grin holds so much mischief that I can’t help but laugh as well.

“Well, go get ready then and meet me back down here,” he says, pulling me from my thoughts.

I jump down from my spot and take the stairs two at a time. After showering, I throw on a pair of baggy jeans and a white long sleeve, before brushing my hair up into a sleek bun and laying down my edges. Once I’m satisfied with my appearance, I spritz myself with some perfume, grab my purse, and race down to the kitchen.

Ace is already there waiting for me, now wearing a pair of dark wash jeans and a black t shirt. I scoff at how effortless it must be to be of the male species. We put on our shoes and he leads me to his car.

“Do you have your G1 with you?” he asks while reversing out of the garage. I nod and flash him my license. “What about your glasses?”

I groan and pull them out of my bag. When I slip them on, I find Ace watching me intently from the corner of my eye. “Where are we going, anyway?”

“An empty parking lot. That’ll be the easiest and the safest place for lesson number one,” A mixture of excitement and nervousness courses through my veins as we eventually pull up to a large lot with no people and very few cars. He shuts off the engine and grins at me, “Ready?”

I take a few calming breaths before taking the keys and switching seats with him.

*

“See, that wasn’t too bad, was it?” Ace chuckles once my lesson is done.

It’s now around five and I’m starving as I sit slumped in the passenger seat. “It’s not as hard as I thought it would be,” I agree.

“Ariel’s just a bad teacher. I know she over complicated everything like the dumbass she is,”

My hand shoots out and I push him on the shoulder. “Hey, hey. Don’t go bad mouthing my best friend. I’ll ride for her.”

“Ow,” he grimaces as he rubs the sore spot. “Is that any way to treat your hot driving instructor? I should cancel the rest of your lessons.”

I choke on a laugh at his choice of words. “You’re telling me I could have had a hot driving instructor but I’m stuck with you instead? Damn,” I retort.

Ace feigns a look of pain that genuinely makes me laugh. “Wow, My, and to think I was going to take you out to dinner instead of forcing you to eat at my place.”

Perking up in my seat, I try to maintain a neutral expression. “Well, nothing’s wrong with the food at your house.”

“Nuh-uh,” he wags his finger as we approach a stoplight, “It’s Adrian’s night to cook.”

My jaw drops in fear and I quickly begin to plead, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Let’s go get food, please!”

He chuckles and shoots me a smirk just as the light changes to green. “Where do you want to go?”

___________

A/N:

A bit short but I really wanted to get something out, so I hope you enjoyed the Ace x Amaya content!!