Then he added, “I dropped you off there yesterday, duhh.”
Okay. But I don’t remember telling you where I lived yesterday either. You drove me here.
He textedHerea few minutes later as I frantically tried to make sure I looked presentable. Why was I making such a fuss, though? I normally made a fuss, but why so much so over a guy who probably wasn’t interested in me?
“Ahem,” I murmured to my sister as she watched TV with her friends.
“What do you want, Étienne?” Riley side-eyed me, her palm up.
“What’s wrong with you?” I took a step back.
“What’s wrong with me? You turned off the music and stormed out of here. Ass.” She rolled her eyes, increasing the TV volume to shoo me away.
“Riley.” I shook my head.
She ignored me, though her friends were eyeing the both of us.
“Stop!” she yelled as I stepped in front of the TV, then threw the remote on the floor by Nate’s feet. “What, Étienne?”
“Riley. Can you let Frankie out in a little? I’m leaving. And I probably won’t be back for a while.”
“Gah. Leaving where?” she asked, raising her left eyebrow before adding, “I didn’t hear Dana’s car pull up.”
“Uh. Nowhere. Can you let him out please?”
“Fine.”
“I’ll close the gate right now, so you don’t have to worry about it,” I said as I crossed the room and neared the side door.
“Whatever. Leave,” she said. Ashley waved in my direction as I closed the side door.
I walked the five feet from the side door to the green metal gate and looked to my right and down the driveway. Thad was parked in the street, blocking the entrance to the driveway, and he waved when he saw me, his smile shining through the window. His straight, silvery blond hair hung over his pale-white forehead so perfectly you’d think he styled it on purpose. Maybe he did. Maybe I wasn’t the only guy in school who cared about their hair.
His entire being was the complete antithesis of mine. Me with my tanned olive skin and curly brown locks, parted on the left to drape the right side of my face, and him with his relaxed hair, and skin so pale it almost looked pink.
What’s he doing?I wondered as I approached the passenger door. He awkwardly leaned over the center console to open the door for me from the inside, as if my hands were full. But they weren’t. It would have been weird if he got out of the car and opened the door, but this was even more awkward.
“Hey Étienne. I, um… I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to get it. The door was being weird this morning,” he said.
Was he as nervous as I was?
“Thanks.” I smiled. But the door swung shut with ease. “So. Uh, where to?”
“Well, there’s a coffee shop a couple miles down Mack. Want to go there?”
“Sure. Do they have outdoor seating?” I asked, trying to think of something to start a conversation.
“Yeah, they do. But hopefully there’s an umbrella on the table or something. I’ll burn to a crisp.” He laughed awkwardly, then backed out of the driveway.
Yeah, you would fry in the sun. I looked down and grinned from the thought of him having to run away from the sun on a cloudless summer day.
As I looked back at the red-bricked ranch I called home, my sister’s eyes caught mine. She and Nate had been peeking out from behind the curtains of the dining room, seeing this entire interaction with Thad.
Ugh. Well, there goes my cover.
At the café I ordered a lemon iced tea. It was far too hot outside to even think of drinking anything above room temperature. And I never liked coffee anyway, so it was an easy choice. Thad ordered a cappuccino. How his insides weren’t melting from the scalding hot drink on a summer day beat me, but he seemed to enjoy sipping it after we found a small bench in a shaded corner on the patio facing the avenue. All of the tables shaded by parasols had already been taken.
The funny thing is, he didn’t look like the kind of person who’d sip on a cappuccino at a café with someone like me. Or with anyone. He wasn’t a jock, but he did stand out in a café culture setting. Was I being judgmental and stereotyping him? Maybe.