Movie || Noah Centineo

-5-

[UNEDITED]

"Where are you going?"

With the way Nathan was looking at her, all puzzled and a tad bit worried, Luna felt red-faced and bashful. Her mouth slightly parts, looking both ways in a nervous squint. With her cheeks flushing more, she answers him without a second thought. "I was on my way to school,"

'So much for skipping the day,' she thinks to herself. She just feels so out of it suddenly - this whole scene is making her flustered.

His concerned face pinches some more, like he thought she was out of her mind for walking under this weather at this time given the distance of their school. She can't blame him, she certainly does think it's kind of a crazy thing to do. Nathan, who now had a torn expression etched on his features, looks away from her and glances at the panels under his car's dashboard.

For a few seconds he just sits like that, eyes glued to whatever he was looking at. With the sun's heat beating down and the bizarre happenings of the past minutes, Luna felt extremely queasy. In what felt like forever, he finally speaks up.

Nathan sticks an arm out of the vehicle and folds his elbow, resting it atop of the rolled window. His hair is long, dark and wavy; it sits disheveled on his head with the tips of it falling to his bright eyes. He absentmindedly brushes it away.

"Do you need a ride?"

Luna didn't mean to but she felt her eyes practically shoot forward at his unexpected offer. Embarrassed, she quickly straightens herself. "There's no need, I'm good," She smiles, nodding and trying to play it off cool. She hooks her pointer fingers through her jean's belt loops. "Don't worry about it," she waves her hand dismissively.

His thick eyebrows furrow, skeptical, obviously not on board with the idea of leaving her to walk to campus. Stealing a quick peek at the time, it projected 7:28 am in bold, white light. He shakes his head, feeling slightly resolute. "It's really no problem, Luna. We're headed to the same place anyway," He insists. He then sticks his head out the window just enough to look up at the sky, squinting immediately as he does. "And I'm also pretty sure it's too hot out to be walking so far."

Nathan hit all the points that were in Luna's head; the most logical solution here is obviously to just get in the car but that's exactly what got her weighing her options in the first place - it was just the mere idea of having to be with him alone for a few minutes that got her wanting to use her legs instead.

'It's just a ten-minute ride, suck it up,'

Sucking it up, Luna looks up to see an anticipating Nathan. She nods softly, "Okay," She gives in, swinging her backpack off her shoulders. He gives her a look, a somewhat pleasant but completely unreadable one, before reaching over to open the passenger's side for her. She climbs in quickly.

Luna was a quarter grateful but three-fourths unnerved.

-

A minute had passed between them both in silence; it wasn't an awkward silence per se but it definitely wasn't a pleasant one either. It seemed tense. She noticed also that Nathan kept looking out of his window, as if he was nervous. Luna didn't have to think hard, though, to figure out that he probably doesn't want people to see him with her.

She turns her head. Luna was thankful for the soft tunes playing from the car's stereo, at least there was some kind of noise filling the air.

"So, uh, if you don't mind - why were you just walking?" Nathan prompts beside her, keeping his eyes on the road. She looks at him, kind of relieved that he spoke up. "I take this route to school everyday and I've never seen you on the road before," He adds thoughtfully.