Page 29 of Love at First Ride
I put down my book. ‘AJ wants you to wait here for him.’
He studies his fingers. ‘My mom’s gonna be real worried by now.’
I try to give him a comforting smile. ‘I’m sure AJ’s spoken to your mother.’
‘I kinda wanna talk to her. Check she’s not mad at me. I miss Mason.’
‘Mason is your younger brother, yes?’
He nods his head. His eyes go back to the TV, and I wonder if the severity of his situation is starting to sink in.
‘When is AJ back?’ he asks.
Less than twenty-four hours ago I was just going about my business as a candy striper, and now I’m planning an overnight trip to New Mexico to deliver a reckless teenager to his strict aunt, to avoid him getting arrested. My actions have brought me back into contact with someone who used to laugh at me, along with all his friends.
We haven’t addressed that part yet. Why I should be helping someone who was never all that nice to me in the first place. So far, at least, he’s been civil.
‘Soon,’ I tell him.
I get up out of my chair and walk toward my bedroom. ‘What’d AJ say?’ Noah asks from behind me. ‘He say what he’s planning?’
I stop in my tracks. I’m not entirely sure what I should tell him. ‘I think he just wants to keep you safe for now. He’s working it out.’
‘Wild that you already know each other, huh?’
‘I mean, I don’t know him well.’
‘I never heard him mention your name before today.’
I can’t help but feel a small stab of disappointment in my chest, with the knowledge that, after I graduated high school, AJ Callahan never had another thought about me. That I made such a negligible impact on him, or likely anyone else I went to high school with, was obvious enough when I got on a plane back to England and faded into insignificance. Yet it still stings to hear it out loud.
If anything, it’s a reality check.
‘Seriously, though, were you two, like… friends?’
‘The fact that you’ve never heard of me before should give you the answer to that. I wasn’t exactly the type of girl that someone like AJ hung out with. I was too busy sitting on my own in the library.’
My words seem to cheer him up. ‘Oh, so you were, like, a nerd?’
‘There’s nothing wrong with being studious.’
‘Ha! You were a nerd! No way would AJ be friends with you.’
‘I’m beginning to think I should have let the police find you last night.’
He sobers. ‘Sorry.’
I turn to walk toward the bedroom.
Noah raises his voice as I walk away. ‘He’s single, you know,’ he hums with glee, and I stiffen. ‘When it comes to girls, everybody says he’s way too picky. Well, my mom does. Only cares about his ride. You could ask him out?’
I snort. ‘Yeah. I can just see that happening,’ I mutter under my breath. ‘That would be one way to humiliate myself.’
An hour later, I hear the intercom. Noah’s still watching TV as I go to my door.
I press my eye close to the peephole. I’m careful not to linger, opening the door a fraction the moment I spy AJ.
When he enters my apartment, I get distracted, because he’s wearing his jeans slung low with a white cotton tank, the front of which is smeared in engine grease. His biceps too, are covered, and even his face hasn’t escaped; there’s an oily mark smudged just below his right eye. He’s holding his checkered shirt balled up in his fist, along with his leather jacket. His scent fills my nostrils, petrol and a slight aroma of sweat, mixed with something more earthy. I open my mouth to say something, only I can’t, because it’s like I’m back in the halls of Eastvale High.
