Chapter 40: Chapter Thirty-Nine: Midnight Rendezvous
"Good evening winning captain," he said as I stepped into the car. "Shut up." I snapped playfully and buckled my seatbelt. He shocked me when we asked me if I wanted to drive. I was totally not expecting that.
"Here?"
"Yes, here. Can you handle that?"
"I can try?" my reply came out as a question. "Come on, you got this." He urged and we swapped seats. I managed to get around the traffic and made it to the racetrack. I was so happy I nearly jumped out of the moving car. I drove around for a few more minutes, and soon after Jackass taught me how to reverse and parallel park. After about an hour, we were back on top of his hood, making shapes with the stars in the sky.
"You were fantastic today." He said when we had gone silent. I turned my head to look at him only to find that he was already looking at me.
"Thank you." I whispered. A slow smile painted his lips and I soon followed suit. We went back to star gazing as he asked me how my day was. I answered him honestly, because for some reason I had no filter around him.
"He really didn't show up?" the surprise was evident in his voice. I shook my head and took a bite out of the Nutella sandwiches he brought. "Not even texted to explain his absence or anything. The last time I saw him was the period before lunch, where he told me he won't be there during lunch since he had some meeting to get to." I explained further and licked my fingers slowly. Jackass watched me do this, and his eyes on my mouth as I sucked my finger excited me.
"Today was the most unproductive day of the quarter. There weren't any meetings scheduled as far as I know." He said and took a huge bite out of his sandwich. "That's the thing, all the other prefects were in the quad, so I don't know who his 'meeting' was with." I said bitterly.
"Have you talked to him about it?" I shook my head no and explained how the last discussion blew up into a fight.
"I thought we were fine, you know? I mean after Valentine's Day, we were more than great. He understood when I told him about what happened on my birthday and all. I just don't understand what could be keeping him so busy to keep him away from me for a whole month." I slurped my coke and put the rest of the sandwich I was eating back in the container.
"Wait, you told him?" he asked incredulously. I shrugged my shoulders and gazed at the stars again. "I figured I owed it to him to open up. We have been dating for 3 years after all and he only knew what I wanted him to know. It wasn't really fair; he had always been open with me from the start. So, I told him everything. But he doesn't know ... about you."
"And he was okay with it?" he asked, still sounding shocked.
"Yeah. But now that he has started ignoring me, I'm not so sure." I said in a small voice.
"It's not your fault Azania." He said softly, and for some reason unbeknownst to me, I grabbed his hand and intertwined his fingers with mine. He stilled as I did this, but I stared at our fingers as I continued,
"What else am I supposed to think when he starts being all distant right after I told him the secret I swore to take to the grave?" he put his index finger under my chin and lifted my head up so I could look into his eyes. "Whatever it is, doesn't change the fact it wasn't your fault. You'll never really know unless you talk to him Poochie." He said seriously and I couldn't help but laugh.
"I thought we agreed you wouldn't call me that." I whined, which must have been a funny sound to him because he laughed.
"I can't help it. It suits you." I rolled eyes in defiance, then laid back on the windscreen and closed my eyes, his hand still in mine, and thought back to the day I got this horrendous nickname. I was on my period and was in a terrible mood that day when he suggested we go driving. I had on some grey sweatpants and my dad's shirt, with fuzzy socks and slides and did not bother combing my hair, instead rolled it up into a messy bun. He said I looked like a pooch, and I did the dumbest thing ever, I barked. And from then on, the Poochie nickname was born.
"Once a jackass, I guess." I grumbled and pulled my hand free from his, crossing my arms across my chest.
"Come on, I'm not that bad. And I think you love it when I call you Poochie." He said as he pressed his shoulder against mine. I tried not to smile; instead I looked away and pretended to be looking for a trashcan when I knew very well that there wasn't one in sight.
"No, I don't." I defended.
"You do, you're just too stubborn to admit it." Am I easy to read or something? I honestly loved it when he called me Poochie. Don't ask me why, I don't know the answer to that myself.
"No, I am not." I stuck to my defiance and he chuckled while sliding off the car. He opened the door and soon the headlights were turned on, taking the shine away from the moonlight. Soft music filled the night sky as he walked to my side and threw me a lopsided grin.
"What are you doing?" I asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"I need to practice my dancing for some stupid gala that is coming up, care to help me?" the smirk on his lips did not match the tenderness of his eyes, but I took his extended hand anyway and let him pull me off the car. I tried to ignore the sensation that had returned to my arm. It's just a practice dance. I didn't know the song that was playing, but it was a beautiful sad song. Jackass was humming to it softly as we danced around the tall grass, swaying to the rhythm of the beat. I looked up at him to find his eyes closed, his head swaying. After a few quick moments of debating with myself, I planted my cheek on his chest, bringing my arms closer, almost wrapping around his body. He hesitated, but after a few moments, put his chin on top of my head, humming quietly to himself and continued to sway with me in his arms.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone