Fourteen #2
However, he wasn't wrong. They both probably needed a trip just as much as I did. And regardless of how they treated me, they were still my siblings.
I was contemplating bringing it up to my rival despite it being a long shot.
"I’ll see," I muttered. Easton’s lips curled into a smile, one that I rarely ever got to see.
He punched me in the shoulder playfully. His punch, although playful, was painful. I rubbed my shoulder as he chuckled and climbed back into his bed.
***
It was finally the day of the first round of Thinkfast: Valedictus Duo’s.
I was so hyped that I woke up an hour earlier than I normally would, super energized and humming as I got ready for school. I even had an apple for breakfast. Not only was it a stellar start to the day, but it canceled the liquor I had for dinner last night.
My siblings found my happiness incessantly annoying, but I was in too good of a mood to let them bring me down.
One would think that I would be as nervous for Thinkfast as I was for the day of the election. They would not be wrong because I was nervous for the competition, but I was overjoyed at the chance to redeem myself. I could finally prove that I was capable of succeeding.
I could prove it to myself.
I only had to spend two hours at school before it was time to go to the convention center that the event was being held in.
It was ridiculous that I had to show up to school in the first place, but it was per school policy that I had to be present for those couple hours of class or I would not be allowed to participate in the first round of Thinkfast.
I was under the impression that the school would hire a bus driver for Javier and I to get to the competition.
I was wrong, they wouldn't pay someone to bring the two of us on the forty-five-minute drive. So, we had to drive ourselves. I didn't have a ride, so Javier gave me one. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice because if I didn’t make it there then he couldn’t participate.
I laid my head against the window and watched as the scenery passed us by. All to be heard was the faint sound of the car driving on the ground beneath us. He didn't put any music on, which I found odd. We weren't speaking, so any normal person would put music in the background.
Not enjoying the silence and remembering I had a question for him, I cleared my throat loudly.
His pupil shot to the corner of his eye to get a glimpse of me. “Are you good?”
I hit my chest with my fist twice. “I have a question.”
“But are you okay?” he persisted.
I skeptically raised a brow before nodding once.
He focused his eyes on the road once again and his shoulders relaxed. “What’s the question?”
"Did your parents pay for me to go on the trip with the student council?" I knew that Mr. Rowe had confirmed that his parents did pay for my trip, but I wanted to hear it from Javier.
"Maybe."
"It's a ‘yes’ or’ no’ question."
“What if I don’t have a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer?”
“Then I’d say you're fucking with me,” I said with huff.
I could see a smirk forming on his face. “So you think that I would convince my parents to pay for you—the one person in our school that hates my guts—to go on the club trip?”
I blinked. “That was what Mr. Rowe said.”
Javier exhaled. “Yes.”
Holy shit. The Cortez’s spent their money on me and I didn’t even ask.
"But why?"
The car slowed down as we approached a red light. Once the car was fully stopped, he turned toward me. "My mom really likes you for some reason."
There was a light, tingly sensation in my chest and I was unsure of what it was, but I knew it wasn’t a bad feeling. “But your mom and dad wouldn’t have known I hadn't paid it off if someone didn’t tell them. That someone being you, Javi."
"Okay, I asked them to do it, sue me," he said with a casual shrug. "Also, stepdad."
“Huh?”
The light turned green and the car began moving again. "He’s my stepdad."
Javier continued to drive, his mood unchanged. Neutral. I paused, finding his clarification a little random.
"Okay, stepdad," I slowly repeated. "Anyway, why did you tell them? I mean, I'm thankful. Thank you. I just don't get why."
My rival sighed at my continuous questioning. "It was a good deed, okay? Can you just accept and enjoy it?"
"You made it clear to me a few days ago that we are not friends." I said, my tone firm. "Why do you keep doing nice things for someone that you hate?"
"You throw around the word ‘hate’ a lot. I don't hate you, Eli." His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. “I just think that you have a shitty attitude the majority of the time and I am shocked that you have managed to make real friends."
His words stung far more than they should have. I didn’t disagree with what Javier said, but it hurt hearing it from him felt like a knife to the gut. In order to not let him see that I was offended, I clenched my jaw and glared.
"Well if I am such a bad person then why aren't you making me walk to the convention center instead of letting me ride in your car?"
Javier’s eyes softened and his grip on the wheel loosened, but he didn’t spare a glance my way. “I never said you were a bad person.”
Finally, his eyes met mine with a lopsided smile as he reached his arm out and gripped my shoulder. He squeezed it a few times, meanwhile my stomach was doing somersaults at his touch. What was wrong with me?
When his hand returned to the steering wheel, I noticed how much colder my shoulder suddenly felt. Trying to mask the odd sense of disappointment that rushed over me, I laid my head on the headrest and shut my eyes. I intended to spend the rest of the car ride in silence.
“Do you really think that I would make you walk?” Javier blurted before we had even made it to ten seconds of silence. I responded with an uncaring shrug. He wasn’t pleased by my nonverbal response. “It’s too far to walk, but even if it wasn’t I would give you a ride.”
“Thanks,” I muttered.
Javier wasn’t finished talking, though. “Do you walk a lot?”
Another shrug.
“If you ever need a ride, I’ll come get you.”
I opened one eye to get a view of his expressions. “As if.”
“I’m serious. It’s not safe to walk alone everywhere you go, not where we live. And you seem to walk a lot, so I'm sure you could use the free lift. Whenever you need a ride somewhere, you let me know.”
I nodded, but it wasn’t enough for my rival.
“Okay?” he stressed as his hand squeezed my shoulder once again. His tone was stern and demanding, no room for debate. He was awaiting my confirmation, meanwhile, all I could think about was his touch.
“Okay.”
“Okay,” he repeated, satisfied. After that, he turned on his playlist to drown out the silence the rest of the car ride.
That was probably a good time to bring up that I did not have his phone number in the event that I needed to call him for help.
I ended up not bringing it up because we had each other’s social media so that would have to be enough.
Besides, it wasn’t like I was ever going to take him up on his offer.