Chapter 4: New Ride

I turn around and see none other than my sister strolling up to us in her tight crop top and miniskirt. No one could help staring at the bottom hem swishing back and forth dangerously against her thighs.

“Hey Taylor! It’s so good to see you!” The girls all crowd around her, and the track guys straighten their backs.

“Aw you girls are so sweet! I just got my nails done! Aren’t they cute?” She asks, hand-hugging them with her manicured bombshell pink acrylics. “What are you guys up to?”

“They’re adorable. And we’re actually about to head to the arcade,” Claire says. “The boys want to race while we play the claw machine.”

“They’re always racing, huh?” Taylor laughs and the girls copy and paste.

What she said wasn’t even that funny. Ugh, this is hard to watch. But I guess they’re willing to do anything for her ‘royal highness.’

“Do you mind if I join you guys? I’d like to race Adam.” Taylor steps up in front of said boy, her sweet perfume almost intoxicating. “I bet I could beat you. I’m pretty good at it, y’know?”

Adam swallows before frantically glancing at me. “Haha, maybe! But I promised Anna I’d race her first and take her home after.”

Taylor looks at me as if I just magically appeared out of nowhere.

“Oh, Anna!” Taylor grabs my hands. They’re extremely soft compared to mine. “Thank you for taking care of Ben the other day, I totally forgot to, I’m so sorry!”

It’s obvious to me she’s lying out of her a*s, but of course, everyone around her thinks she’s being so sweet and genuine.

“How about I take care of him today, then? That way you can hang out with your friends longer!” She smiles. “You let me have a good time the other night, now I want to repay the favor!”

“Aw, you’re the sweetest, Taylor.” Annica smiles.

“I wish my sister was as nice as you,” Jessica fishes through her purse, finding her favorite pink gloss. “Mine always just takes my clothes without asking.”

Claire huffs. “I only have brothers, ugh.”

“Aw guys, stop it!” She waves them off, then turns to Adam. “I don’t have a ride home though, so is it possible I could actually take you up on that offer instead of Anna? But I’d still like to play a game with you if you don’t mind! I mean it when I say I’m a pro.”

I internally gasp. So this is her game! She’s really trying to get with Adam, and right in front of me, too.

My heart sours at her fake innocence. I want to say something, maybe refuse her or tell her off, but then I’d look like the bad guy. Everyone would think I’m just spiteful towards her, which I am, but only because she’s treated me so horribly. But no one would buy that.

My friends look at me with raised brows, anticipating my next move.

I’m frozen. I don’t know what to do. Defeated, I look at Adam, passing on the choice to him. He glances between me and Taylor then scratches the back of his head.

“Oh, uh, sure I don’t mind! Maybe next time, Anna?”

My heart drops. I don’t know what I was expecting. How could he say ‘Nah, she said she’d do it, so I’m taking her back.’ He’s too nice to refuse. I know this…I know this, but.

“Perfect! Yay, isn’t this great, Anna? Adam, you’re so nice.” Taylor grabs onto his arm and they all start walking towards the arcade center.

Claire looks back at me. She sighs and shakes her head before catching up with the others.

Man, I’m so pathetic. Rooted in place, the others don’t even bother to see if I’m beside them or not. What am I even doing here? I should just go home after all.

“‘Get better friends,’ was it?” Of course he has to add salt to the wound.

My head pivots to the voice, seeing none other than the crosswalk guy standing behind me, arms crossed. His friends are looking over at us from their table. Sam’s the only one with her back turned. I sigh, looking back up at him.

“Looks like I should’ve been talking to myself at that time. Sorry.”

His smirk falters.

I sound so sad, but at this point I don’t care. I’m too tired for banters. Too tired to even try to keep up airs with my friends in the arcade. Taking a deep breath, I gather my courage and make my way to the gaming center. I should at least tell them I’m leaving. Not like they’d really care. I pull out my phone, opening the Uber app.

“Hey, Miss Interviewer.”

I halt.

A ringing of keys catches my attention. I turn back to see a pair of car keys looping around his finger.

“Need a ride?”

I stare at him incredulously. “Why offer? Do you feel sorry for me or something?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” He walks over to me, my neck tilting up to meet his face.

“Well thank you for your sympathy, but I don’t need it.” I shake my head. “I did this to myself, anyway.”

He chuckles at that. “At least you’re aware.”

“Don’t you need to get back to your friends?” I huff, crossing my arms. “They’re all waiting for you.”

He turns around to see them all looking our way. I can’t see his face, but he must’ve motioned something to them, because not soon after, they all grab their things and head out the other door. I focus on Sam who looks disinterested as ever.

I wonder what our friendship would’ve been like if I never left her. Maybe I’d be among the same group, enjoying each other’s company without a care in the world of what others thought of us.

Suddenly, she looks back at me. My breath hitches. I want to wave, but she quickly turns around, leaving with the group.

Sighing, my eyes drift to the floor. Man, I miss her.

“Think of it as me paying you back for last time.”

I look back at him.

“Oh, so you’re finally admitting it?”

“Sure, sure. I’ll play along with your narrative.” He chuckles, walking over to the exit.

“So come on. I’ll drop you off.”

I glance back at the arcade, looking for my group. “I should tell them I’m leaving.”

“Why?” He sneers. “They didn’t come to check on you this whole time. That tells me they clearly don’t give a f*ck.”

That stings a lot more than I’d like it to. Noticing this, he tries to rephrase.

“I mean, I could be wrong, but they made you upset, right?” He groans, not really knowing what else to say. “Let them worry about you or some sh*t, I dunno.”

I contemplate his words for a minute, then look up at him.

“Why go out of your way to do this? All I did was call you an uber.”

He looks outside, staring at the moon through the paneled glass.

“You did a lot more than you think,” he mumbles. For a moment, his face falls with some kind of unknown emotion burning in his eyes. The moon reflects against his face, and in that moment, my gut told me that I shouldn’t ask him about what happened that night anymore.

After a beat, he returns to his usual composure.

“Anyway, are you down to ditch 'em or what?”

I’m not used to this type of rebelling, but I smile and approach him.

“Lead the way, chief.”

He raises a brow, more out of surprise than annoyance.

“Chief?”

“I don’t know, it’s the first thing I thought of,” I admit. “We haven’t even told each other our names yet, huh? I’m Anna.”

He laughs, digging his hands into his pockets. “Ray.”

“Truly a ray of sunshine,” I tease, but immediately regret it. How cheesy was that line!?

As the doors slide open, the cold wind blows against my face.

“I am,” he says proudly, slipping off his hoodie. His abs make a brief appearance, but I caught it just in time. Looking respectfully, but he’s totally ripped.

“We’re still a bit of ways away from my car, so put this on.” He says.

Tossing it to me, I catch it just barely and my heart accelerates feeling the lingering warmth inside. It also smells pretty good, too.

But…what is even happening? We were literally hating on each other earlier, how did it completely flip? Unless…

An image of his back against me and his friends departing flashes in my mind.

I stop, watching him glance back at me, curious.

“Did your friends put you up to this? Am I being pranked right now?”

He chuckles, now fully facing me. “Miss Interviewer makes a comeback-”

“Stop it. I’m serious.”

Like that, he ceases laughter. After a moment, he sighs. “No, I’m really just paying you back for last time.”

“Yet you denied it.”

“Look, it was a personal matter, alright?” He snaps. “I had a lot going on and wasn’t in the best of moods to deal with all your questions about it. I’m not like those as*holes you call friends over there, so don’t compare me to them.”

I go rigid with a mixture of shame and embarrassment. To accuse him of something like that after he went out of his way to help me out of a bad situation is pretty rude. But am I wrong to be suspicious? We only just met yesterday, who knows if he’s one of Taylor’s old exes she’s using to belittle me or give me some false sense of hope?

Even so, he’s right. I can’t assume that everyone’s out to get me because of her.

“I’m sorry,” I frown. “I was out of line.”

He stares at me for a while before shrugging.

“It’s fine. To be honest, I understand why you would question my motives.” Tilting my head at that, he continues. “You’re friends with people like them.”

I suddenly hear faded laughter and look back seeing how much fun they were all having together inside the arcade. Looking down at my phone, there are no new messages. They really didn’t have a care in the world.

“Now put the hoodie on and hurry up. It’s cold out here.”

Somehow, even though I felt incredibly sad, just hearing his voice call out to me made me smile.

I slip on the hoodie and pull the collar to my nose.

“Alright, I’m coming, don't want you freezing to death!”