Chapter Twelve: The Doctor

"I'm getting in the car so that you can take me to my doctor's appointment. What does it look like I'm doing?" I bit back, slightly annoyed.

"What I meant, Captain Obvious; was what are you doing in that car?" he said this as the garage door opened. And it was at that moment that I realised that I had never been in the Matthews' garage before. My jaw dropped to my Converse as six different cars came into view. Where the hell do all of these cars come from? I watched, shell-shocked, as Jackass walked over to a white BMW i8 and opened the door. He had a smug smirk on his face as he asked, "Are you just going to stand there, or do you want me to carry you into the car?"

I snapped out of my trance and glared at him, making my way over to the beautiful machine in front of me.

"Inappropriate Principal Matthews." I muttered and stepped into the car. Whoa, the car was pretty low. It felt like I was dreaming. The amount of fantasies I have had about this car where enough to produce a lifetime of movies. Jackass gave me a weary look as he too settled into the plush leather seats. He pushed a button and the car purred to life. Oh gosh, I think I'm going to faint!

"I take it you don't remember last night?" he assumed, and my heart started racing. I decided to act calm and collected and turned to look at him, a perplex look plastered on my face.

"I don't remember much. All I remember is the fight I had with Kevin, and the binge drinking with some guy whose name I can't seem to remember." I said, hoping it would be convincing enough to let him drop it. He raised an eyebrow with the same smug smirk glued to his face.

"Really? You don't remember anything after that?" he pressed, and I shrugged.

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't?" I asked him curiously. He gripped the steering wheel.

"No." he answered after a beat.

"Then there's your answer." This was not the plan Azania girl, what are you doing?

"As you wish, Ms Wyatt." His tone suggested that he knows I remember but is sparing me the embarrassment of having to talk about it. He put the car in drive and drove out of the spacious garage. Which reminded me,

"How does a high school principal afford a mansion with so many acres and a car like this? Not to mention the other, what 6 cars?" I said this as I slipped my sunglasses on, enjoying the breeze from the open rooftop as he drove out of the long driveway.

"Family inheritance. And NASCAR and Formula 1 paid off really well." He slipped a pair of Aviators over his eyes and drove the car out of the neighbourhood and into the oncoming traffic.

"You were a pro race car driver?" I asked incredulously. That was so unexpected. He looked more like a rugby kind of guy. He nodded and flashed me a grin, only to pay attention to the road again.

"Whoa." I breathed out.

"What?" he asked after a few beats of silence.

"I would never have guessed." I admitted, crossing my legs. I couldn't see his eyes, but a part of me was almost certain that I felt his eyes on my bare legs.

"I figured." He said softly.

"Wait, did you say NASCAR and Formula 1? As in you did both?" I asked, perplexed.

"Yes, uh ... when I first started karting and decided I want to be a racer, I couldn't decide between NASCAR and F1, so I sort of just prepared to enter into both companies. Somehow, I pulled it off." He said fondly, the corner of his mouth curling upwards.

"Why did you give it up to be a high school principal?" I asked in an aid to distract myself from the inappropriate thoughts that were consuming my mind.

"Gia never liked it and she wasn't afraid to voice her thoughts. She finally put her foot down when I crashed in the middle of a NASCAR race and landed in the hospital for 2 months. She asked me to choose, her or racing. I chose her." his tone was almost sad, but he feigned happiness. I felt a little angry at the fact that Gia forced him to give it up for her. I mean sure, racing was a dangerous sport, but if he loved it so much, why couldn't she just be supportive?

"Do you miss it?" I asked softly, peaking at him through my eyelashes. He sighed.

"Of course, I do. All I've ever wanted was to be a professional driver. I started karting at 6. I was 12 when I drove my first race car, and I fell in love immediately. By the time I was 14, I had already gone pro. I had barely scratched the surface of my career before the accident." He explained and I took a few moments before I asked my next question.

"Do you ... do you regret it? Choosing Gia over racing?" I asked hesitantly. He clenched the steering wheel and suddenly, the car came to a halt.

"We're here." He said before he killed the ignition and stepped out of the car. I frowned; he didn't answer my question. Does that mean that he does? Or did I cross some sort of imaginary line by asking that question? He was still my principal after all. Maybe he felt weird about disclosing that information with me. But then I thought about last night and the bottle of wine we shared. Clearly, we had already crossed the boundaries, right? Or maybe he was trying to forget about last night to keep the boundaries intact. I had been too busy trying to make sense of things that I hadn't realised that my door was open.

"Are you waiting for a red carpet to be rolled out before you can put your feet on common grounds?" He was annoyed, I could tell. I shook my head, almost as if to rid my mind off the questions that were racing through my over occupied brain. Excuse the pun.

"This is a lovely way for me to spend my Saturday afternoon." He added sarcastically when he closed the door behind me. I chose to ignore him and walked into my doctor's air-conditioned reception area.

"Ah, good afternoon Azania. Doctor Stevens will be with you shortly. You may take a seat dear." The receptionist, Gloria, whom I have grown very fond of, said to me. Jackass walked in a few minutes after I had sat down, and he did his best to avoid eye contact with me. This man had multiple personalities and they were enough to give me whiplash. I was reading through an abandoned Cosmo magazine when a ginger voice filled the quiet spacious reception area.

"Principal Matthews?" the voice said. I looked up, recognising the voice immediately. My eyes scanned the area until they rested on the girl I loathed with every fibre in my body. I wasn't surprised to see her wearing her classic 'look at me' clothes. I sneered my lip as my eyes raked over her body with a disapproving glare. Pink was definitely NOT her colour. Jackass looked up as well, and I could have sworn I saw him check her out. She saw it too because she flashed a flirty smile and fluttered her eyelashes. bitch!

"Pray excuse me child, do I know you?" Jackass asked and I almost jumped from pure glee. I did however, snort out loud. She sent me an icy glare before her features turned soft and flirty and she battered her eyelashes again.

"Oh, my name is Bianca. I go to your school sir. I just haven't gotten the chance to ..." she paused and eyed him head to toe, then diverted her eyes to his again, "welcome you." and she battered her eyelashes again. I think my hangover is coming back.

"Okay, nice to meet you Bianca ...?" he prompted, waiting for her last name. She battered her eyelashes one more time before she said, "Venter."

"Ms Venter, do you have something in your eyes?" he asked, gesturing to her stupid obsession with batting her eyelashes because she thinks it's sexy. I laughed, and then disguised my laugh with a cough when I noticed both of them giving me weird looks.

"Oh, Azania Wyatt. I didn't see you there!" she said in an overly sweet voice that made me cringe.

"How could you expect to see anything past your stupid eyelashes?" I muttered dryly, going back to reading about how to keep your fingernails clean and healthy.

"Excuse me?" Bianca screeched, flushed. I smirked at my nails, knowing how much it pisses her off when people don't look at her when she speaks to them.

"You heard me bitch, I don't stutter." I heard Jackass cough, but it sounded to me like he was concealing a laugh. She was caught between retaliating and submitting. I could tell. And it was all because of Principal Jackass next to me. Bianca loves fighting with me. It gives her purpose. It fills her up with false confidence and I loved nothing more than to deflate her every time. Racist ass bitch.

I wondered what Jackass was going to do. Was he going to be a principal or was he going to be my dad's friend? He chose to be neither. Instead, he had turned his focus to his phone, and had put his left ankle on his right knee, his face stoic. This amused me. I know Bianca must be fuming. She loved having a white male rescue her from the big bad black girl.

"I don't know what your problem is, but-" she started to say, but she was starting to annoy me and my headache was coming back, so I cut her off, "girl, didn't you saunter over here to talk to this man?" I pointed at Jackass with my thumb, who looked up at me. Before Bianca could respond, I continued, "well talk to him then and be mindful not to breathe in my direction. The very scent of you is threatening to bring up yesterday's lunch."

Jackass was starting to say something, but Gloria beckoned for me to go in. Flashing Bianca a sinister smile, I stood up and walked towards the room, turning to give her a little wave before I went in. After Dr Stevens finished with his examination and reminded me to take my vitamins, I was out and about and ready to hop back in my dream car. Jackass joined me outside after he finished signing a few papers that he had to sign as my 'guardian'.