Vienna

chapter sixteen

I sat staring at the clock, my eyes straining to stay open. I was so tired from the weekend that I could barely stay awake the following Monday at school.

We ended up having a pretty chill rest of the weekend, mostly just hanging out with Ethan and exploring the college town. Luckily, I didn't run into the green eyed Devil again after Saturday's tour.

Now, I was waiting for the stupid minute hand to strike twelve so I could be free to lunch. My stomach was growling.

I bounced my knee, scanning the classroom. The only movement came from students silently packing their backpacks, also in anticipation for lunch. It was April in California so sunlight was beaming in through the windows, occasionally blinding my peripheral.

The moment the shrill bell rang, I was halfway out the room and nearly tripping over every backpack in my path. 

When I made it to my locker, I smiled at the sight of Daisy standing in front of it. She was curling a strand of her strawberry blonde hair around her finger while scrolling mindlessly through her phone.

Perking up at my presence, Daisy sends me a wide smile. "How was class?"

"Same old," I shrug. "I'm extra hungry today, though. In n out?" I suggest to her with a menacing grin.

She returns my excitement and nods her head in agreement. Once I place all my books in my locker and slam it shut, Daisy is already linking her arm with mine and dragging me to the parking lot.

Before we make it to the double doors leading outside, we spot the rest of our friends crowded around Noah's locker.

"You're not pulling hard enough!" Logan huffs while Noah pulls at his locker. 

This seems to offend Noah, as he immediately drops his arm and sends Logan a death glare. "Are you questioning my strength?"

Logan simply rolls his eyes in response, shoving Noah out of the way to pull at his locker himself.

"What's going on?" Daisy questions as we reach them.

"Noah's locker is stuck," Logan grunts out while pulling at it.

Daisy rolls her eyes at Noah, "I swear your locker gets stuck at least twice a week. Why don't you just ask to switch lockers?"

"And admit defeat?" Noah asks her exasperatedly before continuing. "Okay, here's my plan. Lucas, I'm gonna need your car keys. Daisy, you go get some paperclips from the front office. Nate, you go to the cafeteria and get a turkey sandwich with extra cheese. And Vienna, you just stand here and look pretty," Noah says seriously, sending a wink my way when he mentions me.

Lucas hums at Noah's response with a nod, considering his plan for a moment. The rest of us, however, immediately recognize Noah's stupidity and send him incredulous looks.

"How would the sandwich even help?" Nate asks with a shake of his head.

Noah looks at him with a guilty look plastered on his face. "I'm hungry," he mutters.

The rest of us break out into laughter, to which Noah glares at us angrily.

"As much as I would love to see that, V and I were about to head to In N Out. You guys wanna come with?" Daisy chirps.

"OOOH!" Noah exclaims excitedly, looking around at the rest of the friends as if to urge them to say yes.

Logan lets out an exasperated groan and drops his hand from Noah's locker in defeat, "Yeah, whatever, it's Noahs problem anyway. Let's go."

"Shotgun!" Noah yells out, earning himself a death glare from me.

"Oh no you don't," I threaten him.

"Race ya!" he yells and starts running for the parking lot.

"You're a dead man, Noah Walker!" I yell back, chasing after him to Daisy's car.

I push my legs to run as fast as they can, not caring about the looks I get from the other students in the hallway.

No matter how long of a stride I try to take, Noah's stupid athletic self remains meters ahead of me.

By the time I make it to Daisy's car, I was out of breath and Noah was already grinning in the passenger seat. I throw myself into the backseat with an irritated grunt.

I muster up every ounce of evil in my body and send him my meanest glare. Yep, that's right. I am super intimidating and Noah will be shaking in his boots.

For some reason, Noah must be immune to my menacing gaze and snickers instead. "You run as fast as my grandma," he gloats.

"You- you look like my grandma!" I wince, immediately regretting my horrible comeback.

"You're off your game today, V," Noah chuckles. Oh, he's a dead man.

Finally, the rest of our friends reach the car and pile in. However, there are seven of us and only two rows of seats, so we quickly realize we can't all fit.

I notice Hannah plopping onto Logan's lap on the other side of the car. Meanwhile, Nathan and Lucas were trying to squeeze in beside me.

"Scoot over, there's no room," Nathan's gruff voice orders from beside me.

"There is literally no where for me to scoot over to," I snap.

"Ugh, just-" he says, grabbing my waist and pulling me onto his lap. "There, much better."

I squeal in surprise and gape down at him, speechless at the way his hands were wrapped around my waist. More so speechless at the heat I felt on the skin where he was touching me.

I was immediately hit with the intoxicating smell of his minty cologne, trying my hardest not to breathe it in. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't come up with a single intelligible thing to say.

Seeming to notice my flustered appearance, Nathan plasters on a cocky grin and wraps his hands further around my waist.

This movement snaps me back into reality, and I quickly slap his hands away from my waist with a threatening glare. "Don't manhandle me!" I narrow my eyes at him.

"Don't pretend you don't like it," he winks, making my jaw drop. What an egotistical shit.

I move to leave his lap, but he wraps his arms around my torso to keep me still. I struggle in his arms, trying to free myself from his grasp which makes him only tighten his arms in response.

"I would stop doing that if I were you," Nathan whispers tensely in my ear, causing a chill to run down my spine.

I crease my brows at him in confusion before realization washes over me, causing a red hot blush to spread on my cheeks. My heart races, and I look down at him sheepishly. His statement took me by surprise, in all honesty I didn't know I could have that kind of effect on a guy. My inexperience is borderline embarrassing. 

My hazel eyes meet his green ones, an emotion I couldn't quite read swimming in them. My eyes roamed over his face, noticing a few freckles and small scars I hadn't ever noticed before. I don't think I've ever really looked at him this closely, his face seeming more boyish from this angle.

When my eyes roam back up to his, his intense gaze already locked on my eyes snaps me out of my trance. I clear my throat in embarrassment of being caught staring, and I quietly duck my head to face away from him.

With my cheeks still burning, I reach forward to plug my phone into Daisy's aux and press shuffle on my playlist.

As Doin' Time blasts through the speakers, I try to ignore the feeling of Nathan's hands on my waist and instead tune into the conversations going on around me.