Helpless (Book 1)

Chapter Nineteen

"WELL, ALEX, HERE we are," Laurens declares with a shaky breath as he parks his car in front of my home. I stare at the front door for a moment with a blank look on my face, my arms around myself once more and my knees up to my chest. I see Laurens eyeing me worriedly in my peripheral. He chews on the corner of his lip, frowning, his brows furrowed together. He tilts his head to one shoulder, resting a hand on my own shoulder.

 "Alex? You alright?" Laurens says.

 I jolt a little, blinking out of my daze before whipping my head over to Laurens. I flash him an unconvincing reassuring smile as I lower my legs to the floor and unbuckle myself. I nod. 

 "Mhm," I say. "I'm fine, John. Really. Thanks for the ride home. I'll uh...see you at school tomorrow."

 I push the passenger side door open and climb on out, dusting my hands together before turning around to shut the door. But Laurens reaches across the door, his hand sticking out and he winces slightly but lowers his hand back when I slowly reopen the door. I poke my head through, frowning with confusion. 

 "Alex, wait," Laurens says. His eyes flicker to his phone in his cupholder and then back up to me. His peach-colored skin turns into a lighter shade of pink as he scratches the back of his neck. "I um...I just realized...I um...I never got your number."

 He winks, a cunning grin on his face. I grin stupidly, laughing through my nose as I shake my head side to side, rolling my eyes. I wiggle my fingers, gesturing to his phone. 

 "Give it to me," I say, trying to make myself sound stern but I couldn't help but let out a giggle. Laurens grins as he hands me his phone after unlocking it. 

I type in my contact information, such as my number and email if he needed to email me and hand his phone back. He grins stupidly, making a disgruntled noise of triumph through his nose before clicking his phone off and tucking it back into the cupholder. I pull back out of the door and close it again. But Laurens's arm sticks through the small open crack between the frame and the door itself. I frown, confused once more, before slowly pulling the door back open and leaning forward inside the car, ducking my head and arching an eyebrow.

 "Alex, wait," Laurens says with a frown. "I'm serious this time. I uh...I have a couple of questions to ask you..."

 I rest my forearms on the leather seat and smile fondly. "Go ahead."

 Laurens glances at me, almost hesitantly, biting the corner of his lip. His bright blue eyes flicker up and down, searching me, scanning my face, trying to memorize every detail of me. I raise an eyebrow again, looking up at him with the fond smile still on my face as I tilt my head to one shoulder. Eventually, Laurens sighs defeatedly and looks at me dead in the eye. Serious. 

 "I was uh...I was wondering if you'd um...if you'd like to come to the game on Friday...I can pick you up and drop you off afterward," Laurens offers.

 I stare at him bemusedly, blinking a couple of times. Last time he did that...well... 

 "Are you sure this isn't a date?" I say with a teasing smirk.

 Laurens's blushes a deep tomato red and chuckles to himself as he shakes his head, his eyes never leaving mine. "No. No, it isn't. Just um...just...I kind of want you to be there at the game, you know? To like support me? That is if you want to, of course. You don't have to..."