29. With You
WITH YOU
Be Somebody [Thousand Foot Krutch]
“I cancelled our dinner plans. After everything that happened last night, it would be too overwhelming. Mum was sad, but I promised she would meet you soon. Do you want me to take you home now? It’s okay if you don’t want to chill with me,” Conner says.
“You were like, ‘begone peasant’, earlier today, whenever I tried talking to you.”
I grab the seat belt, drag it across my chest, and push it into the buckle. “I’m fine now.”
Conner examines me before reversing out of the car park. “I’m going to talk to Andy whenever he returns to school.”
“Why?”
“Do you really need to ask?” When I don’t respond and instead tighten my hold on my phone, he says, “I’m just going to talk to him.”
“What if he doesn’t want to talk?”
“He will,” Conner says with a curl of his top lip. “I will not take no for an answer.”
“That’s not what I meant. Andy is temperamental.”
“I know. It’s one reason why I don’t like him.”
“What are the other reasons?”
“Disrupting class whenever he’s bored, flaking on group assignments, smelling like pot all the time, selling pot at school.” Conner shrugs. “It’s an endless list. So, it surprised me when I found out that he was not only your friend but considered a very close friend.”
“Childhood friends,” I say.
“It explains a lot. You’re nothing like him…or anyone, really.”
“You make it sound like I’m an alien.”
“I think you are,” he admits, smirking. “A perfect alien, designed perfectly.”
I scoff, then wince at the sudden pain clutching my stomach from all the bruises. Conner glances at me, then back at the road as the light turns green.
It’s silent for some time. But like all the other times, it’s a pleasant silence.
The music plays in the background, a song that Conner seems to repeat sometimes.
It’s an alluring song, and whenever Conner sings it, my heart beats faster than humanly possible.
Those hazel eyes are full of wonder. As I listen, I know he’s going places I’ll never be able to go.
But it makes me happy that at least one of us has a future worth building.
I smile at the thought of being in the supermarket and stocking the fruit produce as he comes on.
A musician, artist, businessman—whatever he does—with a smile on his face.
It’s the same look he gave me, and I know he made it.
Even knowing I won’t be there to experience it, I would see it, and that’s good enough for me.
As I realise we are heading towards Central and further away from our usual route, I say, “Where are we going?”
“Getting food,” he answers with a smirk.
I gaze out the window and scan the densely packed block of buildings.
The traffic is heavier, but we aren’t rushing, so waiting doesn’t bother us.
We talk more about his family and what they do.
His mum is a therapist, and his dad is a doctor.
I then laugh as he tells me that his younger sister is a princess, and his brother is becoming Gollum from The Lord of the Rings.
He is addicted to gaming and plays a lot of FPS—not sure what that means—games, compared to Conner, who enjoys role-playing games.
“Sorry that we didn’t play Dungeons and Dragons today,” I murmur, realising we spent the entire time in the art class.
“I messaged Aaron and told him I had something more important to do. They don’t care when I flake. They know that it’s for a good reason when I do.” He leans towards me as he says, “And you are most certainly an important reason.”
“Conner,” breathe, heat spreading down my neck.
“What do your parents do?” Conner says.
“Um…my mum stays at home,” I answer. “And my dad is a, uh…police officer.”
He raises his brows in surprise. Then, it’s as if something clicked, and his body slumps. “That’s the reason the police scare you. You’re afraid your dad will find out you’re buying beer while underage.”
“Yes,” I breathe.
“Okay.” He nods a few times. “I’ve uncovered one mystery about Noya.”
I force a tight smile and look away. I’m a lousy liar, and I know it. Looking out the window, hiding my face from view, is what I need to do so that my lie doesn’t crumble.
“Oh…also, before I forget, look in the glove box. There’s something in there for you.”
I open the glove box and reach for a small box with a bow wrapped around it, but Conner dives for it and takes it before I can. “Fuck, not that. Not yet.” He points to the paper inside. “The letter.”
With a shake of his head, he places the black box with a pink bow beside him.
I take the letter out and feel something hard and rectangular inside. Flipping the flap open, I reach inside. A shallow breath escapes my parted lips as I hold the savings card. “Conner, I can’t,” I say, placing the card back in the glove box.
“I went to the back while you were at work. Surprisingly, they don’t close until eight.
I guess it’s because the bank is inside the shopping centre.
I spoke to the lovely lady again, and—even knowing what she did was illegal—we both wanted to help you out.
It’s already connected to your other account.
You can transfer money from whichever account you want.
You just need to activate the card and set the PIN. ”
“Why would you do that?”
“Noya, you know why I would help you out any way possible—within limits.” He wickedly grins as he says, “I wouldn’t kill anyone for you, but I will hurt a certain someone starting with ‘A’ and ending with ‘ndy’ for you.”
“Conner,” I say, but hold the card dearly. “Thank you.”
“No problem.”
“I’d like to kiss you now,” I admit.
“What?” He snaps his head towards me, then back, and he quickly pushes on the brake as he notices the red light. “Jesus, fuck!” The car behind us honks its horn. Conner winds down his window and calls, “Sorry, man!”
He turns to me as if I were the culprit for us nearly running a red light.
But if I am honest, he acted more dramatically than he should have.
He could have eased on the brakes, and we wouldn’t have gone over the white line.
But I suppose what I said caught him off guard, and the way he went about it was dramatic and… cute.
“Is something wrong?” I ask.
He scratches the side of his face and goes red with blush. “You’re certainly catching me off guard today, that’s for sure.”
“Is that a problem?”
Conner turns towards me with a pensive look as his brows furrow. “If you can give me a reason you want to kiss me—a valid one, and not over a card—I’ll grant your wish.”
“Okay.” I ball my hands into fists and bite my bottom lip before answering, “I really like you, Conner.”
“Not good enough.”
“What?”
“Why do you like me?” he says. “I can list ten things I like about you, but can you do the same for me?” He smiles mysteriously. “And not anything about me buying you food.”
“But I like the food,” I admit lamely.
“I know. That’s how I keep you around. All I have to do is feed you, and you keep coming back,” he laughs.
I place my hand over my mouth to cover my giggle. “You’re mean sometimes.”
“Am I?” He turns into a parking lot with five fast-food places and a supermarket beside it. “Would someone so mean come to Central to buy the girl he likes pizza?”
True to Conner’s words, there it is. A fast-food pizza place right before my eyes.
Conner’s phone vibrates, and he glances at it before placing it on the cup tray and unbuckling his seat belt. “It’s ready. Are you coming?”
“Coming?” I say.
“Yeah.”
I nod, poke the buckle, step out of the car and hop up onto the footpath. Conner opens the door and gestures for me to enter. It’s warm inside, and I feel my pores opening. The beady sweat slips down my forehead.
Conner comes up behind me, and I suck in a breath as his arms wrap around me and he rests his chin on my head. My hands go over his hands, and I close my eyes to inhale the smell of meat and cooked dough.
“Smells good, huh?”
I smile and nod.
He releases his hold on me, yet his hand lingers on mine, lacing between my fingers. My face is burning, but it’s not from the heat inside the pizza place this time.
“Hey, man,” Conner says to the cashier. “I’m here to pick up order two-five-three-nine for Conner.”
The man goes to the trolley behind him and grabs three pizzas stacked on top of each other, something wrapped in silver foil, and a small box. Conner holds all of it, balancing them on top of one another.
“Grab the two-litre drink from the fridge there,” the cashier says and points to the refrigerator.
“Noya, my hands are a little full. Could you get the drink, please?”
“Which one?”
“Orange,” he answers.
I grimace, go to the fridge, grab the lemon drink I notice him order whenever we go through McDonald’s drive-thru, and then open the door for him.
“Noya, the keys are in my pocket. Can you grab them and open the door?”
I reach in and go to grab them when Conner shifts slightly away. My hand moves away from whatever I had reached for, and I grab the keys, fish them out, and unlock the door. As soon as we enter the car and close the doors, the smell of the pizza fills the car, and my mouth salivates.
I’ve never had pizza before.
“So…” Conner shifts uncomfortably in his seat. “I got Meat Lovers, vegetarian, and pepperoni. I thought about cheese instead of vegetarian, but pepperoni is like cheese…if you take the pepperoni off. So, which one do you want?”
“I’d like the vegetarian one,” I answer.
Conner glances at the pizzas and then at me.
“Look, I’m going to come right and say it.
When you reached for my keys, you grabbed something else.
Right now, the vegetarian pizza is the only thing stopping it from rising further.
” He leans toward me with the two other pizzas. “Pepperoni or Meat Lovers?”
“Um…” I glance at the vegetarian pizza on his lap, and my cheeks flush. Looking away, I mumble, “Pepperoni, please.”
“Here,” he says as he hands me the box. “I also got garlic bread because who buys pizza without garlic bread? And two lava cakes.”