Across The Street

[4] bouncing nerves

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"If we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives."
- Lemey Snicket

[4] bouncing nerves

Her smile seemed to consume me, invading my thoughts, and piercing my skull with that perfect white teethed smile and stunning complexion. "Wait, me?" My voice stuttered, completely awestruck she was talking to me. Yes, me Nolan Livingston. Not anyone else but me.

She nodded her head, "Yes you," her hair cascaded down into her shoulders without any intentions to move it. "Want to do me a favor?" She repeated once again.

I blinked. My heart was beating, fast. Too fast.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.

"What kind of-of favor?" I licked my dry lips, nervously shifting onto my other foot. I wished I had taken more time to fix my hair or make sure my clothes actually looked semi decent. I silently thanked Morris for having minmint chewing gum so I wouldn't have to worry about bad breath. But she seemed unfazed at my clothing or hair style. Actually she didn't look anywhere else but my face.

I tried to do what she was doing and only look at her face.

"Get me away from here...all this." She gestures around the room, the police station. To top it off, she sent me a big smile. Maybe she was trying to use her charm. If so, she was good at it because I could barely think straight.

"Y-Your parents should be coming soon though," I reminded her, and mostly myself. I didn't want to jump towards the thought of having her in the same car as me. No matter how badly that sounded convincing, she didn't seem like a girl I should hang with. Well hang with right now, since you know she is in a police station and all.

She laughed bitterly, shaking her head, "As if! They'd rather have me in here for the rest of my life, which means, I need your help." She tapped her foot a few times like she was getting impatient with me.

"I don't know-" I began to decline, shaking my head and backing up.

"Listen," she cut me off, "If you don't hurry and make up your mind, they'll notice." I peaked at Morris and the other officer. They were discussing something, bent over a paper and too engrossed to notice us talking. "Now, you won't have to drive me far, just please? Dude-"

"I have a name."

She met eyes with me, sending me a smirk. She had a cute, mysterious smirk."Well, I'd love to learn it when we get in the car, hm? Let's go? Please, what's-your-name."

I walked away from her and she scoffed, thinking I wasn't going to help her. I turned around. "Hello? Are you coming?" She grinned then got up and strolled towards me and we walked out.

I couldn't believe this was happening.

Her lips quirked upwards, walking a little aways from me. I glanced over at her, she was pressing her pretty lips together, lost in thought, and looking around. Her hand came up to tuck away a dark piece of her hair behind her pierced ears. Did she seriously have six of them pierced? 1...2...3...4-

"Why are you staring at me like a that?" She asked suddenly.

"Huh - oh, sorry! I was, um, looking at your ear piercings..."

"Oh, yeah? Like them? I did four of them by myself. The others I had to get a friend to do it." She said conversational.

I unlocked the car and we climbed in. Starting the car, she leaned over to retie her shoes. From being in such a tight place with her, I could smell vanilla and simply none other than her. No other words to describe the simplest, most amazing smell, her.

"Nice car," she complimented me as a I drove away from the police station. I wonder what my brother would say, if he even noticed. Or if he found out what I did.

"Yeah, thanks." I cleared my throat as my nerves bounced everywhere in the car, seeming to trap me. "Now, uh, where to?"

"I don't know," she propped her feet on the dash board, converse on full view. "Anywhere really."

"Which is where exactly?" I asked her impatiently, wanting to hurry and drop her off. I didn't need Morris or anyone else for that matter to find out that I met a girl - a very beautiful girl - get in my car to leave the police station where she was supposed to stay at until her parents came. She flipped on the radio, a song I didn't know playing.

"Hey, what's your name?" She didn't answer my question as she kept flipping through the radio, different genres of music playing for about three seconds before she changed it, seeming not pleased as to what was playing.

"N-Nolan," I said. I still couldn't believe she was in the car with me. My heart was racing and my hands were slipping on the steering wheel from my sweaty hands.

"Last name?" Her gray eyes focused on the side of my head and I almost swerved off the road, her gaze so intense and distracting.

"Livingston." I managed out instead of stuttering.

"Livingston?" She asked, sounding like she heard wrong. The radio had stopped on a Fall Out Boy song, the beat really catchy.

"Yeah, it's Livingston." I said as I stopped at a red light, sneaking a glance at her. She was frowning slightly, looking ahead of her. She looked deep in thought.

"Like," she took her feet off the dash board to sit with her legs up to her chest. "Living-ston."

"Yes," I decided to joke with her. "Me, I'm not really living, but my last name sure is if you know what I mean."

She cracked a smile - a real looking smile - and I'd be a fool if I said my heart didn't almost collapse from it beating so fast and my breathing to become somewhat unsteady.

"Wow, a good sense of humor, huh? We don't have that many guys around here with that. Let alone a brain." She seemed a little amused.

I laughed, the sound filling the car, "I guess they are - what? - zombies?"

"Must be. Except they don't go for brains. They go for butts and boobs," she shook her head. "Most boys are so stupid, you know? They are mindless, self absorbed jerks." She looked over at my expression on my face, "Well, not all boys anyways. Some are okay, tolerable at times. Like you, right now, you're tolerable."

"That's nice." I said, fighting a smile. "At least I'm tolerable?"

She nodded her head, "Damn straight, " She gave me a long look before speaking again. "Hey, you know, I saw you last night at the police station. Didn't I?"

"Yes. And I saw you." I answered, my finger nervously tapping the steering wheel to the beat of the new song playing, hoping for her not to question me any further. Luckily, she didn't.

"I guess it was meant to be then, huh?"

Questions:

What do you think will happen next?

How do you like their relationship so far?

• Please comment what you think about this chapter •

- Talia