Choices

Chapter 10

It was Friday. I hadn't seen or heard from Mason since. I stood at the front of our house as I adjusted my bag strap.

Walking down the driveway I headed for the main road. I was going to walk to school today. I had gotten up early and decided to walk as I had enough time.

After a few seconds, I heard the rumbling of a car engine behind me. I continued moving and didn't pay attention to it as I assumed it was somebody passing through.

The car slowed down beside me and I looked up to see..... Noah.

I turned around with a small smile "oh hi Noah".

"Hi H-Hannah". He looked up with a smile.

With a nervous smile on his face he asked "um.. you want a ride?".

I shifted from foot to foot and blurted the first thing that came to mind "you're going to school right?".

I mentally face palmed. Of course he's going to school. Where else would he be offering you a ride to?.

I chuckled to hide my cringe "of course you're going to school, that was a stupid question with an obvious answer".

Realizing I hadn't answered his previous question I added "sure, thank you".

I moved around to the passenger seat, settled down and put on my seatbelt. He revved the engine and continued on his way.

There was a few minutes of awkward silence. My hands itched to turn on the radio, music, literally anything to fill the silence.

Deciding to start up a conversation I asked "um.. do you live in the same street?. I've never seen you take this lane before".

Not that I would have noticed. He was practically non existent to me before a few days ago.

"No. Um... My family moved a few streets down last week and I usually go to school early". I noticed he held the steering wheel very tightly.

"Really?. That's nice."

"Yeah I guess. I also like the environment. It's more quiet and peaceful."

"Why was your old place noisy?".

"Let's just say we had our share of nosy neighbors."

"Oh" I chuckled.

Now that we had conversed a little, I stopped staring ahead and actually observed the car. The car was very nice. It looked like something that was well taken care of and cleaned regularly. The seats were plush and comfortable. It looked expensive.

I would have never imagined Noah owned a car like this. I guess you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. If I had imagined Noah coming to school, he'd probably be sitting at the very back of a bus with a book covering his face.

I chuckled. I was way off.

He looked at me "what's funny?".

"Nothing, I really love your car. It's nice".

Red tinted his ear "thank you, my mom actually got it for me some months ago".

I adjusted and faced him "you're lucky, my mum is the reason I don't have a car right now".

"What do you mean?". I noticed his tight grip on the steering wheel loosened. He was probably getting comfortable. I also didn't feel awkward anymore.

"She says I'll only get a car when I'm in college". I rolled my eyes "I'm a bit envious when I see others with their car. I really can't wait to get mine".