Untitled

Ch. 8

Ch. 8

"I GUESS YOU DIDN'T MEAN WHAT YOU WROTE IN THAT SONG ABOUT ME. Cuz you said forever, now I drive alone past your street," I scream at the top of my lungs the lyrics to the iconic song Drivers License by Olivia Rodrigo, and I can see Lucas laughing, catching him quietly singing along.

"C'mon dance with me," I whine, grabbing his arm. Wow I'm kinda annoying as a drunk.

"I don't dance," Lucas says, taking a quick glance away from the road to look at me trying to look stern, but he breaks into laughter when I begin singing I Don't Dance from High School Musical 2. I guess you can say I'm in a big singing mood. I also really wanted to dance or be in a club or something.

"Where are we going?" I ask a little too loudly.

"I'm driving you home," he replies just as loudly, mocking me.

"Wait. I told you I can't go home like this," I look at him motioning to my body, scared he was actually taking me home.

"Well you should have thought of that before you drank who knows how much," Lucas scolds me, but he starts smiling again. This man really likes to joke around.

"I like your smile," I blurted out before I could even fully process it myself. Awkward. "Omg just disregard that," I continued, covering my mouth still kinda shocked I said that.

He just laughs it off not really saying anything. I wonder why. Was it because he's friends with Jordan and doesn't want to make a move? Who knows.

"I bet you're hungry. Want some pizza?" Lucas asks me, changing the subject.

"Pizza sounds so good right now," I reply and just on que, my stomach starts to growl.

"Good. I know a perfect place. Okay it's not perfect since the good ones are all closed, but it will satisfy your hunger," Lucas explains.

"I'm surprised you're not drunk," I state randomly, but I was curious.

"Yea you ruined all the fun. Right when I was about to get a drink, you bumped into me!" Lucas jokes once again.

"Well in my defense, you're the one who wanted to get out of there," I explain matter of factly.

"It's called chivalry. It's not dead, you know," Lucas continues.

"The thing about chivalry is that it's outdated and sexist. Men think they are superior to women so they open their doors thinking that they can't possibly do it themselves for example," I rant on.

"Hey hey hey. Don't take it the wrong way. I heard what happened with you and Jordan, so I thought you could use a friend," Lucas defends himself.

"Oh you heard," I say slightly embarrassed.

"Yea. I'm sorry. You deserve better," Lucas says apologetically.

"Thank you, but it's whatever. I don't really wanna talk about it," I respond, not wanting to talk about Jordan because all I can think about is him and Abby making out in my head.

"I understand," Lucas says.

"Okay how far is this place? We've been driving for over an hour!" I asked, surprised that it was already almost 12:30.

"Oh yea it was back there a while ago, but I wanted to drive a little more to sober you up. Plus, I'm a fan of your singing. How do you feel?" he questions.

"Still drunk, but it's definitely dying down," I reply.

"Okay I'mma head back towards the pizza place," Lucas says and makes a quick U-turn since there were barely any people out on the streets.

"You know I just realized that all we ever talk about is Jordan. I wanna know more about you," I state curious because we talk but never deeply.

"Well, all you wanted to talk about was Jordan. But, I mean you know I'm from Australia. Um my mom's a math teacher at the high school. I play basketball," Lucas says, barely scratching the surface.

"Really? That's all you got? Why'd you leave Australia? And don't say because your mom got a math job," I further the conversation. I was getting a little personal and I hope I didn't make him uncomfortable, but I was dying to know and my drunk self has no filter.

"Umm you see my dad cheated on my mom. They weren't in a good place for a few years now, and we were eventually coming here as a family so my dad could further his business chain food restaurant, but me and my mom just ended up going without him cuz she said we needed a change," Lucas finally begins to open up.

"I'm sorry," I say, feeling bad for him.

"Ah yea it's all good. I don't really talk about it cuz I don't want anyone's pity, but it was nice to let it out. I do miss my friends though," Lucas takes a deep breath out like it was a literal weight off his shoulders.

"I understand," I say and look out the window and see the pizza place approaching.

"Away from the sad stuff, let's go eat pizza!" Lucas exclaims excited to eat just as much as I am.