Sylvan

Chapter 2

I was sitting in Ferrari GTC4Lusso. Scratch that, I was sitting inside Noah Sylvan's Ferrari. It felt surreal. Before this evening we hadn't even exchanged a word, and now here I was sitting in the backseat of his car. I couldn't settle on whether to be excited at getting a ride from him or annoyed for the way he got me to.

Gabriel was riding shotgun and gaping at the dashboard with awe, much to my annoyance. He was enjoying the Ferrari way too much. I couldn't fault him though. He was obsessed with cars, and compared to our Mom's plain Honda SUV this must've felt like a heaven. Even I couldn't help myself from admiring the finely stitched leather seats with Ferrari's horse logo, the glass roof or the sound of roaring engines. Though Noah had slowed down the car when he caught my panic-stricken face through the rearview, we were still moving fast.

"Gab, behave yourself," I reprimanded my brother as he started playing with the touch screen on dashboard. His fingers immediately backed off and I was certain he was pouting.

"You want to listen music?" Noah asked Gabriel and his green eyes met mine through the mirror. My heart fluttered. I sucked in a breath before looking away. Too much eye contact with Noah Sylvan wasn't good for my already hopeless crush on him.

Gabriel must've nodded because they started going through the playlist on the screen. Noah let him pick the song and Burn it down by Linkin Park filled the silence. It was little loud for my taste but my brother loved heavy metal and EDM, at least for now. He picked up from somewhere this music taste made him cooler. I knew for a fact a year from now he'd switching to rap or indie and claim them as superior.

"Did you know about the guy who sings for this band?" Gabriel said excitedly. Ugh, kids.

"Chester Bennington," Noah answered.

The momentary pause that came from my brother's side let me know Noah caught him off guard by telling him the name of Linkin Park's lead vocalist. Even he didn't know that. But apparently that didn't stop him and he continued even more excitedly. "So you know he killed him-"

"Everyone knows it Gab, and it's not funny," I jumped in. Kid has no filter.

"You keep a firm hand on your little brother," Noah commented, his eyes once again meeting mine through the rearview mirror. "So you like to exercise control where it's easy." He hummed.

I glared at him and he smirked. "Just like you who exercises control over people using daddy's money."

Noah's eyebrows rose, amused at my jibe, before his attention was turned back on the road. "You're wrong Martin. I don't control people, they're already too eager to please me, it requires hardly any effort from my side. Daddy's money spares me that extra work too."

My glare sharpened. This boy was so full of himself. His arrogance should've been enough to cure me of my crush on him, instead I felt my stomach fluttering and face heating when he threw a teasing grin my way. Damn, he's beautiful. It was hard not to swoon and my sharp gaze faltered for a millisecond.

"Good to know your father gives you a comfortable life, unlike ours," I retorted sullenly, "we don't have nannies or housekeepers running behind us, so it's up to me as Gabriel's elder sister to teach him etiquette and public decency. It's not exercising control, it's taking responsibility and looking after your younger sibling. Perhaps if you put in some work, you would understand." I wasn't used to being this harsh with others but Noah's taunts and condescending smirks were pushing my buttons and I couldn't stop myself.

"So Gabriel is your responsibility and you look after him," Noah mused. "You know it involves not losing him in the forest in a freezing cold."

Ugh!! This guy is infuriating!