Movie || Noah Centineo

-4-

[UNEDITED]

At exactly 7:04 am, Luna comes padding down the carpeted staircase, her bag thumping against the small of her back as her damp hair sticks to the nape of her neck.

She was running so late; she woke up literally 20 minutes ago so she had to do her morning routine five times the speed she normally goes about it. The number of times she nearly slipped while showering was inhuman.

Swinging her backpack off her shoulders, she frantically shoves her pencil case, earphones, planner, and phone charger inside. Her eyes quickly dart around the living room, checking to see if she was forgetting anything else.

She was relieved that Alex hasn't come by yet because she didn't want to get him late, though usually at this time he'd already be here. They always got to school a few minutes before their first class at 7:30. She guesses she wasn't the only one who overslept.

Thoughtfully, Luna dashes to the kitchen and grabs a few granola bars for her and Alex to snack on; if he's running late, then she's sure the guy hasn't had breakfast too. She then walks over to the dark gray refrigerator that had much too many magnets adorning it from out-of-the-state and out-of-the-country trips and rummages through its contents for two bottles of water and two milk boxes. She stuffs it inside her bag.

Jeez. Finally reclining from her frenzied state, Luna takes a seat on one of the walnut-wood bar stools lined up in the marble kitchen island. She runs a hand down her sleep-deprived face.

She slept at around 2 am last night; her thoughts rendered her unable to keep her eyes closed for more than a few minutes - no matter how exhausted she was.

Nathan Trinidad had sent her a friend request; it wasn't anything big, she knew it wasn't, yet it refused to leave her thoughts. Everything about it was just so strange. The last time she'd really conversed with the guy was about atoms years ago in chemistry class and, currently, he was Ethan's - who hated her with his life - best friend; the last reason is reason enough for them to not be acquainted with each other.

Yet he saved her ass yesterday in History class at his own expense, didn't join in when Ethan was calling her and Alex out in the bleachers during lunch, then sent her a friend request last night.

It doesn't add up - she doesn't trust it, she can't. It doesn't sit well with the circumstances, but there was a small, reoccurring thought at the back of her head thinking otherwise; she tries to block that possibility completely. She's sure she wasn't just being judgmental.

Keen on taking her mind off of it, Luna fishes her phone out of her jean's pocket to send Alex a text. Seeing that the time was now 7:11 am, her stomach felt weird. Where was he?

hey alex, where r u? is everything okay?

She waits a couple of minutes for a reply but, ultimately, gets none. She clucks her tongue, checking for the time again. It was 7:17. She knew she really had to get going. Unsettled with Alex's no-show, she takes her backpack warily by the straps and walks out the door.

Luna, as far as she knew, was the only person she knows that didn't know how to drive yet. She just never saw the urgency or rush in learning how to with school and everything taking up her priorities - but now, as she walks under the heat and humidity of California, she realizes she should take up driving lessons as soon as she could.

It was foolish of her to think that she wouldn't be caught in a situation like this ever; sure, it's happened numerous times before wherein Alex was sick, running late or too busy to pick her up, but he'd always send a message so she'd know to take the bus or Steve would drive her. But last-minute no-shows from Alex without a word never happened before, but she should have known it was bound to sooner or later. She wasn't mad or annoyed or anything - instead, she was worried. Is he okay?

hey, im on the way to school. r u? or have u not woken up yet dork

After hitting send, Luna pushes her phone back uncomfortably in her jeans since she had a feeling she wasn't going to hear from him soon. It was 7:23 now and she was barely halfway to her destination - the urge to just go back home was strong, so strong it was making her falter in her tracks.

Mentally, she constructs a pros and cons table in her head. If she decides to go to school, there's just no way she was going to make it in time for her first class - she'll be late for a good 10 to 15 minutes and she won't want to be humiliated when her teacher calls her out on it. Also, she'd be sweaty and gross and she'd rather not show up looking like so - for sure that would be something Ethan and Pia and their friends would like to snicker about.

The only good things that would come out of going was not missing her lectures and maybe seeing Alex, that's it - but, right now, the desire to strip off the clothes she just threw on herself this morning - a white shirt tucked into some jeans - was tipping the scale.

'You know what - fuck it,' Luna thinks dismissively, set on just going home. She turns on her heel and makes her way back, already formulating an excuse to tell Steve when he asks why she wasn't in school. She felt lame for getting so excited over skipping a school day.

Luna was about to send Alex a message when, from a good distance, she gets distracted by a familiar-looking black Jeep. It's engine grew louder as it drew closer to where she was; she looks down on her phone, conscious that maybe the people in the car were people from her level. She quickens her pace.

Luna wasn't sure if her paranoia was just getting the best of her but she swears the Jeep slowed down. She steals a glance up to try and see who was driving but the tint of the window was too dark.

Sucking in a breath, she continues walking but it seems that the Jeep was backtracking too. "What the fuck," Luna whispers under her breath, panic starting to settle in her system.

"Luna?"

She quickly looks up to where the voice resonated from; the window of the Jeep had rolled down and Nathan Trinidad's concerned face was in view.

[A/N: Hi guys! Sorry for the long-ish wait only for this meh chapter :c but I need to build up the next coming chapters somehow! Anyway, I just want to say how much the comments, the number of votes, and how many people keep adding this story to their libraries and reading lists mean so much to me! Also, the fact that this is #5 in the Peter Kavinsky tag?! So insane! Thank you all so much hehe I appreciate seeing all the support this story is getting! Please continue voting and commenting <3]