Vienna

chapter nine

"And then the donut guy skydived out of an airplane!" Hannah laughed, recounting the events of last night to her boyfriend.

School was out for the day and I was walking to Daisy's car with Hannah and Logan.

I hadn't forgotten about Nathan's texts last night, but I was hoping he had.

The last thing I wanted to do was spend an afternoon with him. Especially teaching him calculus. It's almost as if the devil went into my mind and found the perfect way to torture me.

I had almost made it home free when I heard a deep voice call out, "Gray!"

I freeze for a split second to weigh my options. On the one hand, I can't avoid him forever and he is probably faster than I am. But on the other hand, never go willingly. That's rule number one in the criminal handbook.

With latter obviously outweighing the former, I break out into a sprint towards the parking lot. Maybe I can actually make it to Daisy's car and tell her to floor it before he reaches me.

But before I can make it to her car, a firm hand lands on my shoulder and turns me around.

I look up at the owner of the hand sheepishly, trying to hide the fact that I was avoiding him.

"Were you running away from me, princess?" Nathan smirked.

"No..." I said in a guilty tone. Over his shoulder I could see Hannah giving me a weird look, and I realized I would have to explain later why I'm suddenly talking to Nathan Cole.

"You're not trying to get out of coming over, are you?" he asked. "You know what happens if you bail," he threatened with a tsk.

I narrowed my eyes at his threat and let out a groan. "Let's get this over with," I said.

As he led me to his car he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, which I immediately pushed off. "Watch it," I said and continued walking.

He let out a laugh and opened the passenger door for me. I slid in and waited for him to start the car.

Nathan turned his music on as he drove down the street. Before I even heard what song was on, I pressed skip. Just to spite him.

He cocked his head at me and shook his head with a laugh.

Suddenly he starts singing along to the next song that played. I turned to look at him in disbelief. Is he purposely trying to annoy me?

I reached over to turn the radio off, but he swatted my arm away before I could get there.

"Uh uh," he shook his head. "My car, my music," Nathan said.

"It's not the music I don't like," I stated.

Nathan looks over at me from the driver's seat. "Then what is it?" he asked.

"You're a terrible singer," I told him. "I was just trying to spare my poor ears."

He gasped and placed a hand over his heart in offense. "That hurt, Gray," he said.

"That hurt, Gray," I mocked childishly.

Instead of responding, he just continued singing the song. My poor ears.

Finally, we pulled to a stop in front of a beautiful three story Mediterranean style house. I spotted a basketball hoop in the driveway and various sports balls littered around the yard.

"You coming?" Nathan asked. I hadn't even noticed him get out of the car, let alone open my door.

I followed him inside, gaping at the nice furniture and decorations.