hanging open. “You think I’m playing hard to get?”
His grin widened. “Aren’t you?”
No one had ever accused me of playing hard to get, and I laughed at the ridiculousness of such an insane accusation. I rolled my eyes and began walking again, calling over my shoulder, “I don’t play games, Adrian. What you see is exactly what you get.”
But even as the words came out of my mouth, I knew that wasn’t entirely true. What was I doing now if not flirting? It’s just that he made it so darn easy.
“I’m glad to know that,” he said. “I’ll file it away for future reference.”
I gave him a sidelong glance as he let the car roll steadily beside me. He was still grinning. I kept walking, afraid I’d lose my resolve at any moment and agree to let him drive me.
“I’ll tell you what,” he said at last. “It’s a standing offer. Whenever you want a ride, you’ve got one.”
I put my finger to my lips and made a show of considering the proposition. “Okay,” I said. I figured it was safe enough to agree to a ride I had no intention of ever taking. But not because I didn’t want to.
Adrian shot me a smile. “Great! Then I’ll see you at school.”
Before I had a chance to respond, he sped away. I watched as his car paused at the stop sign at the end of the road before it bumped and chugged around the corner and disappeared altogether.
I walked the rest of the way to school in a daze, trying to make heads or tails of Adrian’s intentions. If he wasn’t involved in some diabolical plan motivated by revenge, if he was genuinely interested in me . . .
I shook my head. No matter how cute or nice he was, was it worth risking my personal safety? The sad thing was it should have been an easy answer, and yet it wasn’t.
There was the usual congestion of cars and buses and kids swarming in front of the school when I walked up. The student parking lot was filling up quickly, but I immediately spotted Adrian’s car. He was already long gone, however, and there was a part of me that regretted not accepting the ride. I really hoped I’d see him at lunch later that day.
“Sarah!”
I turned in the direction of my name being called and saw Priscilla waving her arm in the air.
“So how’d it go yesterday with your dad?” I asked, once we’d met up. At least for me, Sunday had seemed like an unbearably long day.
Priscilla snorted. “Fine, I guess. He took me out to lunch where he promptly informed me over tobi-tama that he was leaving again to spend a week in Seattle.” She looked at her watch. “His plane should have taken off about twenty minutes ago.”
I held up my hand. “First of all, I have no idea what tobi-tama is. But knowing you, it’s something totally gross. Secondly, I’m really sorry.”
“It’s a type of sushi,” she said in a tone of voice that implied I should have known. “And whatever. The only reason he came home at all was because his last trip got cut short by a day and he had a suitcase full of dirty clothes he needed Laura Beth to wash. Otherwise, he would have gone straight to Seattle and not even bothered to make an appearance. I suppose I should be grateful for the few hours I got. He did buy me a new summer wardrobe, so it wasn’t a total waste.”
“He misses you,” I said, not completely shocked by Priscilla’s less-than-loving regard for her mostly absent father. I squeezed her arm. “That’s why he wanted to see you. I know it sucks, but he’s doing the best he can. He’s got to work, you know.”
Priscilla didn’t respond, which I knew from experience was her way of pretending not to care. But she had been my best friend since forever. I knew the truth, even if she didn’t say it out loud.
“So you’ll never believe what happened this morning,” I said to rouse her out of her funk. Given the way she was looking at me from the corner of her eye, I could see she was already hooked.
“What?”
“Adrian offered me a ride,” I said,
His grin widened. “Aren’t you?”
No one had ever accused me of playing hard to get, and I laughed at the ridiculousness of such an insane accusation. I rolled my eyes and began walking again, calling over my shoulder, “I don’t play games, Adrian. What you see is exactly what you get.”
But even as the words came out of my mouth, I knew that wasn’t entirely true. What was I doing now if not flirting? It’s just that he made it so darn easy.
“I’m glad to know that,” he said. “I’ll file it away for future reference.”
I gave him a sidelong glance as he let the car roll steadily beside me. He was still grinning. I kept walking, afraid I’d lose my resolve at any moment and agree to let him drive me.
“I’ll tell you what,” he said at last. “It’s a standing offer. Whenever you want a ride, you’ve got one.”
I put my finger to my lips and made a show of considering the proposition. “Okay,” I said. I figured it was safe enough to agree to a ride I had no intention of ever taking. But not because I didn’t want to.
Adrian shot me a smile. “Great! Then I’ll see you at school.”
Before I had a chance to respond, he sped away. I watched as his car paused at the stop sign at the end of the road before it bumped and chugged around the corner and disappeared altogether.
I walked the rest of the way to school in a daze, trying to make heads or tails of Adrian’s intentions. If he wasn’t involved in some diabolical plan motivated by revenge, if he was genuinely interested in me . . .
I shook my head. No matter how cute or nice he was, was it worth risking my personal safety? The sad thing was it should have been an easy answer, and yet it wasn’t.
There was the usual congestion of cars and buses and kids swarming in front of the school when I walked up. The student parking lot was filling up quickly, but I immediately spotted Adrian’s car. He was already long gone, however, and there was a part of me that regretted not accepting the ride. I really hoped I’d see him at lunch later that day.
“Sarah!”
I turned in the direction of my name being called and saw Priscilla waving her arm in the air.
“So how’d it go yesterday with your dad?” I asked, once we’d met up. At least for me, Sunday had seemed like an unbearably long day.
Priscilla snorted. “Fine, I guess. He took me out to lunch where he promptly informed me over tobi-tama that he was leaving again to spend a week in Seattle.” She looked at her watch. “His plane should have taken off about twenty minutes ago.”
I held up my hand. “First of all, I have no idea what tobi-tama is. But knowing you, it’s something totally gross. Secondly, I’m really sorry.”
“It’s a type of sushi,” she said in a tone of voice that implied I should have known. “And whatever. The only reason he came home at all was because his last trip got cut short by a day and he had a suitcase full of dirty clothes he needed Laura Beth to wash. Otherwise, he would have gone straight to Seattle and not even bothered to make an appearance. I suppose I should be grateful for the few hours I got. He did buy me a new summer wardrobe, so it wasn’t a total waste.”
“He misses you,” I said, not completely shocked by Priscilla’s less-than-loving regard for her mostly absent father. I squeezed her arm. “That’s why he wanted to see you. I know it sucks, but he’s doing the best he can. He’s got to work, you know.”
Priscilla didn’t respond, which I knew from experience was her way of pretending not to care. But she had been my best friend since forever. I knew the truth, even if she didn’t say it out loud.
“So you’ll never believe what happened this morning,” I said to rouse her out of her funk. Given the way she was looking at me from the corner of her eye, I could see she was already hooked.
“What?”
“Adrian offered me a ride,” I said,
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