Hopelessly Falling [book 2]

Chapter Twenty Four

XIV
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**Layla's POV**

"Bro, how rich are you? Goddamn. Why haven't you bought me an actual working phone or some shit by now? Do you want me to become a gold digger or something? Is that what this is?" I said to Eli, my eyes wide and staring at the jeep in front of me. He chuckled.

"Trust me, this thing was dirt cheap when I bought it. It couldn't even drive. Me and some friends fixed it up and made it actually functional again," he strolled over to it and patted it on its hood as if it were an old friend.

Allow me to catch you up to speed. So, Eli convinced me to skip school and spend the day with him so that he could essentially be my chauffeur around town... I guess my company is just that good... anyways, he claimed that he wanted to give me the "full highschool-Eli-Parker experience", and that he couldn't do that in his nice car (which also happens to currently be my car).

So, here we were, in the middle of the fucking woods at a sketchy warehouse that he claimed was 'his spot' back in the day.. also known as less than a year ago. He explained that his parents would never allow him to get any of the things he wanted to because they weren't 'respectable' or 'elegant' enough, so whenever he'd buy something he knew they wouldn't approve of, he would bring it here.

From what I could see from where I was, this included some records next to an old record player, some beer, a surf board, and oh right, the fucking Jeep he just so happened to have.

"Her name's Bella," he told me, and I chuckled.

"You named your car?" I asked, walking up to the passenger's side.

"Of course," he responded, hopping in the driver's seat.

It was one of those Jeeps that didn't have any top to it, or any doors- it was basically just the cage. The color was an army green, and I honestly really liked how it looked- even with the few rusted parts. Eli usually looked so put together- per his parents- so seeing him in this warn down car with a huge smile on his face made me smile. He felt back in his element, and I could tell.

"I'm assuming you got sent to some fancy college where everyones last name is long and profound?" I asked, and he rolled his eyes in response.

"Yup.. they told us at orientation that we're expected to wear a tie to every class. A tie. I don't know what the girl equivalent to that would be but I can assure you it's torture," he complained, putting the key into the ignition and twisting.

"Oh, girls have many equivalents that we have to wear every day, anyway," I replied. He raised his eyebrows, not quite believing it but knowing better than to question me.

The engine practically roared alive, and I could help but let out a giggle. It wasn't that anything was funny, but in that moment I was so weirdly excited. I didn't even know what about, but I was.

"Are you ready?" He asked with a grin in my direction as he buckled his seat belt. I smiled back at him, genuine excitement coursing through my veins.

When he started driving, I looked around and buckled myself in. When we finally got to an actual street, I let out a happy 'woohoo' and stuck my hands up into the open air as it whooshed around me. I thought I heard him chuckle at my kid-like excitement, but I was too focused on laughing and holding down my hair to look over at him.

I had taken off the cute clothes I was planning on wearing to school... or well I guess you could say that Eli took them off for me... and changed into a pair of Jean shorts, high-top vans, and a cropped tie-dyed hoodie. Finally looking over at Eli, the smile remained on my face as I watched him focus on the road with a grin on his face. The jeep was stick-shift, and needless to say watching him drive it was attractive as hell.