Midnight Memories

Chapter 39: I Won't Go Home Alone

"Fucking finally!" Ian, Lidia's brother, shouts the second he gets in the car and gives me a feast bump one Saturday afternoon.

He doesn't even wait for me to pull up, he just slides inside the moving car without a care. I barely even manage to slow down.

"You are crazy!" I tell him as I turn to the right, speeding up and driving away from the airport.

He throws the small sports bag in the backseat before fastening his seatbelt and letting out an exhausted sigh.

"Did you move to a completely new city with just a single bag and a laptop?" I ask him confused, eyes on the road.

"Your point?" He asks as if he doesn't get what I'm saying.

"Ian, no one does that."

"I'm not no one, Selena." He says making me roll my eyes at him.

"Crazy," I mumble again, throwing the McDonald paper-bag at him. "Here, I've grabbed you some lunch. Lidia said fast food is your weakness."

"Damn, that's true. Thank you for picking me up, by the way. So? How's it going?"

"Eh, so-so. Nothing fun to tell, still struggling to keep up with my job and classes." I brush his question off. I know exactly what he wants to know.

Ian and have been keeping in touch these past couple of weeks, and he knows some bits of what I'm going through. But right now I don't feel like hearing his nagging.

The thing about Ian is that he sounds and looks like a kind of authority. Maybe it's because he's older than me or any of my friends (32), his job (general surgeon), or his past that he never shares, but sometimes, most of the time, he sounds absolutely mature and rational.

Although it doesn't mean he doesn't have humor and is not hilarious when he wants to be.

He's like a fresh mix, someone that can talk to you about serious surgeries, explain the details like he's talking to a kid, and the next second he can throw the textbook at you and then start laughing about it. Yeah, a unique type of psycho, but I'm glad I have him as a friend now. And hopefully, I won't ever get on his bad side.

Texting and calling him about medical stuff for my homework has bonded us so much, that sometimes when he's tired after a long surgery, he tells me to "fuck off". Seriously, that's how close we are.

"Are you still being a loser?" He asks casually and from the corner of my eye, I see him type on his phone with one hand and eat a handful of fries.

"Are you still being an arse about it? I told you not to speak up if you don't have anything nice to say."

"It's 'ass', Selena. You're not a kid, talk properly. And you need tough scolding, not soft shit. By the way, did you rent this car?" He changes the topic never looking up from his phone.

Wow, he'd really get along with someone I know, just fine.

"No, I borrowed it from Snow."

"Snow?" I feel him stop typing for a second, thinking about it.

"She's a friend."

"Snow..." he repeats as if testing the name, "It's a beautiful name. And why aren't you getting a car? Don't you have money? I can lend you some."

"How can you be nice AND tactless at the same time, Ian? Really," I speed up a bit to avoid the traffic jam, that's probably waiting for us ahead. " Besides, I really like walking," I tell him honestly. If I get a car I won't even move my pinky. "And as if you are that rich," I mumble under my breath.