16: I'm Better

I am definitely not a good driver. Oops.

I had my license. I'd gotten it just in case I ever needed to drive the twins somewhere. I'd barely passed the test though and my instructor had reluctantly approved me for a driver's license. It was a bumpy road.

"Haze, never drive again," Oliver says, getting out of the car.

I'd safely made it to the ice cream parlor but it wasn't fun. I kept speeding and stopping sporadically. Not using my blinker when I was supposed to and I was not using my mirrors at all. But, I didn't crash so I that's a dub.

"Hey," I sigh, "No, you're right."

I look to him and he shakes his head before taking his keys back from my hands. I smile at the him and then look at the car.

"I'm gonna miss you, Donna," I pat the car.

"The hell is Donna?"

"Your car, I named her Donna."

Oliver rolls his eyes and grabs my hand to pull me away from Donna. I frown and wave at his car as we made it to the door.

"Bye, Donna."

"Shut up, weirdo. We're in public," He tries to get mad at me but I can hear the amusement in his tone and I can see the light smile on his face.

I smile at the sight of his small smile. That's as good as you can get from Oliver Grey. He's not really the type to smile anymore. I wish he did though, he has a perfect smile, just like the rest of him.

I mean, I didn't say that. It was Donna.

"Hello, welcome to Ice Cream, You Cream. What can I get the lovely couple?"

I scrunch my nose at the worker, a 40 year old man, most likely the owner since it was a Friday night on one of the biggest games of the year. Oliver and I weren't dating. But then I remember our hands and an electric shock goes through me. He still had my hand in his. My hand looks small compared to his strong, rough hands.

"We'll have vanilla and strawberry," Oliver tells the man.

The owner looks to me and I just nod. I was too surprised to say anything else. Oliver hadn't corrected the man on our relationship status, nor did he go to let my hand go when he pulled me to a seat. We sat at a bar like area that was at the back of the parlor and faced a forrest.

"How'd you know I like vanilla?"

"Cause you're predictable, Haze."

I gasp, "Am not! I can be spontaneous."

"It's okay," He smirks a little, "I like predictable."

I feel the heat rise to my cheeks but thankfully the owner with our ice cream distracts Oliver for a second so I can get myself together. The owner sets vanilla in front of Oliver and strawberry in front of me. I still smile and say thank you as he walks away.

When I look to Oliver he has a spoonful of vanilla ready.

"Hey, that's mine!"

He shrugs and puts the ice cream in his mouth anyway. I look at him with my eyes wide and mouth open. He did not just do that.

"Who do you think you are?"

"Oliver Grey."

"You never eat a girl's ice cream!"

Oliver scoops some more ice cream and instead of eating it he puts it in front of my face. He waits for me to open my mouth and I do as I'm told, well, contextually told. I eat the vanilla and it tastes so good I close my eyes and do a little food moan.

"You left some on the spoon."

I look at the spoon and then to Oliver who licks the extra vanilla off the spoon. He's looking at me the whole time, his vibrant icy blue eyes piercing into mine. I feel hot although it's cold in the parlor. Why is it that Oliver Grey can make everything hot? It's not fair.

My breath hitches a little and I have to be the one that breaks the eye contact.

"Just give me my vanilla," I laugh and take the cup away from him, exchanging it with the strawberry.

"You remember junior year?" I suddenly ask with a smile.

He nods his head, his spoon in his mouth. I giggle lightly at the sight of him, he looks like a little kid.

"I caught the school on fire," He smirks.

I smile, remembering how the police had come, trying to figure out who started it and who pulled the alarm. All the teachers were furious their teaching plans were ruined. Most of the kids had left to go to a party at Grayson Adams' house. It was a glorious day.

"They questioned me that day, I told them it was Batboy. They almost sent me to therapy."

"How'd you know it was me?"

"Because, I know you're the best prankster at this school, after me."

"I'm better."

"Oh, yeah?" I smirk at him.

"Freshman year, I took the handles off all the doors."

"I took all the teacher's chairs."

He nods his head in appreciation, remembering freshman year. It was some of our best work in my opinion. And neither of us got caught. It's not a successful prank if you get caught.

"Sophomore year I painted all the bleachers so everyone had red asses."

"Of course that was you! You ruined my favorite shorts."

Oliver shrugs and waits for me to give my best sophomore year highlight.

"Made the electricity go out for a week. Dubbed the Electric Break."

Oliver looks at me in surprise. Apparently he hadn't realized that was me pulling an epic prank and not just a poor electrical system. Technically, it was both.

"Junior year?" He asks me.

"Stole the buses to the big game."

"You can't even drive, how'd you manage that?"

I laugh remembering how hard I had to convince Levi and Emma to move the buses. I'd told them the coach had asked me to move them so the team could take a picture without the buses in the background. They were pretty mad when they found out I was lying. But it was too funny for them to stay mad at me and we never got caught anyway.

"I made Levi and Emma do it."

"I stole the food from the cafeteria one day."

"Fuck you for that one."

"Go ahead," He smirks.

My jaw drops a little and I smack his arm lightly, "Dimwit."

We both look at each other for a second and the absolute last thing I thought would happen, did. Oliver starts laughing, a low deep chuckle. I look to him and smile. His eyes crinkle at the corners and his blue eyes shine brightly under the harsh lighting. The smile on his face isn't that big, but it's more genuine than I've seen it in years.

His chuckle makes me start laughing. As each of us build off the laughter of the other, we grow to be pretty loud. Out of breath, I lean my head on his chest still in laughter. His shaking chest reverberates through me and I feel myself shaking in laughter at the same beat as him.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we're closing."

The owner's voice sobers me up and I look to Oliver who's already back to his stone cold face. He stands up and offers me his hand to help me down from the stool. He keeps my hand in his when I'm safely on the floor.

"Thank you."

I just nod, happy that Oliver acknowledged the owner of the store. We make our way back to the car and Oliver gets into the driver's seat this time.

I frown when we're in, "Donna wants me to drive."

"Hazel is being punished. No driving."

Hot. Wait, no, Oliver Grey is strictly on the no kiss list. What am I thinking?

"And my car's name isn't Donna."