never | h.rj

13.

In the blink of an eye, Mina felt an impact on the side of her. Instantly, she wanted to scream. She was flushed with fear, praying and hoping that the car was okay before herself. The only thing she could think of was how her parents would react and it terrified her.

Mina hunched over her steering wheel with her head down, not noticing the other driver pulling away to avoid confrontation.

The next thing she heard was someone tapping on her window.

The boy peered in to see Mina shaking. When she sat up to see who dared to touch her window, he saw tear streaks streaming down her face.

Mina sensed a strange feeling of comfort when she laid eyes on the boy outside her window. The worried expression on his face made her instantly unlock the door for him to open.

"Oh my gosh Mina, are you hurt?" Renjun's eyes frantically searched her for any injuries while she just sat there without a word.

He took one long glance at her eyes that would not meet his. They were red, bloodshot. This was probably like her third time crying today. She was still visibly shaken and still shaking. Renjun took it upon himself to deem her unable to drive herself home.

He placed an arm around her shoulders, gently.

"Come on, I'll take you home. I'm not letting you drive like this."

The girl didn't object. She just followed silently as Renjun led her to his car. As she sat in the passenger seat, she watched him park her car back in its respective place in the parking lot.

From where she was the car looked fine except for a single dent on the side that wasn't too large but it definitely was noticeable. Mina took a deep breath and decided she'd just have to come up with some elaborate, yet believable, lie to tell her parents.

Her thought process for forming her lie was interrupted when Renjun climbed into the driver's seat. He asked her once again if she was alright and this time he received a response. 

"I'm okay," she replied in a small, shaky voice. Physically, she wasn't lying but emotionally...

Renjun glimpsed at her once more before carefully driving out of the student parking lot. He started on the route to Mina's house, noticing the girl's nonstop fidgeting with her fingertips. 

Once they entered her neighborhood, Mina's leg began bouncing rapidly and she started biting the fingernails she was just picking at. 

"Hey, it'll be okay," he spoke softly, gently placing his hand on her knee to stop the movement. "Just tell them you ran out of gas or your car wouldn't start." 

Mina looked up at him with scared eyes and slowly shook her head. She knew her limits and they had been reached for the day. She was in no position to lie to her parents in their face and make it believable. She needed some time. 

Almost as if he was reading her mind, Renjun looked down at his watch. 

"You know, if we were working on our project we wouldn't be done for another hour or so..." he said. Renjun could clearly see that she didn't want to be here and who was he to try and make her? 

"Let's go somewhere else and I'll help you think of what to tell them, I'll even vouch for you."

Mina thought his offer over. At first, she thought him vouching for her would be pointless because she told her parents about their broken friendship but then she remembered that they don't listen to her. 

Well, would you look at that?

Mina wiped the tears that were building up in her eyes from fear and quickly nodded her head. Renjun gave her a warm, reassuring smile before switching the gear into drive.