Jake texted back a kissy emoji and asked me to buy four boxes of pizza on our way back home. This got me infuriated.
"Sorry, I gotta go," I excused myself to another corner of the lobby to call Jake.
"Two pepperoni, one Hawaiian, and one vegetarian please. Love ya, sis" he rushed.
"Excuse me? Who's paying for it? That's like 50 bucks. Is Mr. Valet loaded?" I burst.
"Oh, c'mon. I know you well enough to know that it's exam week. I'll pay you back when I'm home, ok? And swimming doesn't sound too bad actually. Ask Julian to get some liquor before going home."
"You mean after dropping me off home, right?"
"Sis, you know your Shakespeare just fine. Stop whining, we're stuck with each other for a whole week. Get used to it," he hung up.
"D*ckhead!" I spat.
* HONK * HONK *
A sparkling black beamer pulled up and its driver waved at me from inside the heavily tinted windows. He rolled down the window and exposed his Gucci shades. My eyes widened as I looked around to see if people were noticing the flashy occurrence.
I enjoyed hiding under a shadow in high school. And after the incident with my brother four years prior, I chose to keep a low profile. Just laying low, under everyone's radar.
Well known enough to make profit, and unpopular enough to be left untracked. It meant I get invited to every party, but no one will look for me if I didn't show up.
"Hop on princess!" he cupped his mouth to imitate a megaphone.
"Quiet down, will you?" I rushed in.
"Are you ashamed to be seen with another boy? *gasp* Is your boyfriend around?" he asked.
"I don't have one. Just get me outta here ASAP," I put on the seatbelt and covered my face.
"Well, you wouldn't have to hang out with me if you have one. So, maybe it's not all my fault," he snickered.
"And you would be too busy snogging your girlfriend if you had one instead of making stupid bets with my brother," I retorted.
"Okay Ms. Comeback. Touché. So, where to now?" he drove smoothly out the school gate.
"Jake asked me to buy four boxes of pizza and some liquor, he didn't say which. So, I assumed you know where to go."
"Yeah, for sure."
We had been driving for about 20 minutes in silence before we pulled up to a McDonald's drive thru.
"They don't sell pizza nor liquor here," I shot him a dirty look.
"No doi," he lowered his sunglasses.
"So why are we here exactly? I need to get home; I have a literature exam tomorrow," I demanded.
"For someone smart enough to write that physics note, I'd say you're fine. Besides, Jake wouldn't have let me drive you around if he disapproves," he turned away to order.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"What do you wanna eat?'"
"Are you paying?"
"Quick.'
"Medium fries and a McFlurry, thanks," I said as he repeated my order.
We were waiting for our food when the rain finally stopped. Julian retracted the roof of his convertible to let the fresh post-rain air hit our faces.
"What did you scribble over your arm if it wasn't the formulas?" he asked.
"Nothing important," I tried to bury the arm under the other, "that girl has been staring at you since we came."
"I know, jealous? Don't change the subject. Show me your arm, if you had used a non-scented hand sanitizer it might have worked at rubbing all of the ink off."
"What the f*ck?" I raised an eyebrow.
"I know what a vanilla bean Pocketbac smells like, I used to hang around a lot of girls."
"No kidding. Why do you want to know so badly anyway?'
"I barely know your name, what's the worst thing that could happen if I know the reason?"
"You just won't stop, won't you?" I sighed.
He shook his head and smiled in satisfaction as I gave in.
I gave him the arm I had scribbled on earlier and he pushed the sleeve up to expose my pinkish skin as a result of my failed attempt to scratch the ink off. Some of the names and tally marks were more faded than others.
"Yikes. Use a gel pen next time," he cringed at the sight.
"Are you done?" I asked as he held onto my elbow.
"Is this a hit list?" he looked up at me as he let go off my arm.
"I showed you my arm. I didn't say I will explain what they meant," the corner of my mouth curved at my smart answer.
'You win this time," he drove over the pick-up window as our order was called out.
The girl that had been staring at Julian came over to greet us and handed out our orders in two brown paper bags.
"Here you go, cutie,' she said sweetly.
"Thanks,' he winked at her.
"I put my name and number in there," she drooled at the thought of him calling her, "call me anytime."
"Sure thing, sweetheart. I'm sure my girlfriend would love that," he smiled as he passed the bags to me.
We reached another parking lot and began to unpack the paper bag to reveal the items handed.
"Do you have a girlfriend?' I blindly asked while munching on my fries.
"No, but it was too funny to not say," he looked at me before taking a bite of his quarter pounder.
"Are you gonna call her? She's pretty cute," I continued to chew.
"Of course not. Besides, she's not as pretty as you," he said nonchalantly and went in for a bigger bite.
"Yeah, right."
I dipped my fries into my McFlurry and enjoyed the tranquil and deserted parking lot. Things were calmer after the rain. I let out a sigh before realizing that the significant munching noises from my driver had stopped. I looked over to him and found him staring at me in confusion and disgust.
"Do I have something on my face?"
"You mix fries with your dessert?" he finally said.
"You've never tried?" I got defensive.
"Isn't that gross? You really are his sister. I saw him did it once, but I didn't dare to ask."