CHAPTER FIVE SAMANTHA BAKER AND JOEL GOODSEN GO ROLLERBLADING
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ATHENA'S FINGERS LIGHTLY drummed the steering wheel out of pure discomfort as she briefly glanced at Steve in the passenger's seat before shifting her eyes back to the road. The only sound that was filling the silence that arose when neither of them spoke was 'I Would Die 4 U' by Prince faintly playing in the background. "So..."
"We don't have to talk." Steve immediately deadpanned, eyes heavily set on the window beside him and thoughts revolving only around Nancy.
"Jeez, okay," Athena widened her eyes for a brief moment as she continued to drive. "Just trying to fill the awkward silence, but whatever."
"Yeah, well, don't." Steve snapped, gaze still set firmly on the window.
Athena fought the strong urge to roll her eyes and she bit her tongue as she knew Steve was in an incredibly vulnerable emotional state, and arguing with him would only make both of their lives hell in this particular moment.
A silence, once again, fell between the pair until an idea popped into Athena's head, and she couldn't prevent the excited smile from tugging at the corners of her lips, the girl entirely proud of her own idea. "Hey, have you ever rollerbladed?"
Finally peeling his eyes away from Athena's passenger side window, Steve's puzzled expression now focused on the girl, a frown etching his eyebrows inwards as he tried to mentally piece together the relevance of the conversation. "What?"
Athena nonchalantly shrugged, still watching the road as she felt Steve's bewildered eyes drill into the side of her face. "It's a simple question, Harrington. Yes or no?"
Steve's voice was filled with utter suspicion, and his dumbfounded eyes—which were now scanning her face—were trying to decipher exactly what she was planning. "When would I have ever gone 'rollerblading' before?"
"So, that's a no, then. Got it." Athena smirked, then abruptly turning into a nearby street and fighting the strong desire to just drop Steve off at his house and ignore the nagging feeling of guilt she would, consequently, feel if she did so.
She may hate the boy, but she couldn't ignore that a distraction was well needed. She knew exactly how it felt to be in his position, particularly after her breakup with her ex-boyfriend, in which nobody helped her. She would've killed for someone to drag her into some spontaneous activity to take her mind off the situation. So, putting aside her distasteful feelings about Steve Harrington, Athena chose kindness—a rare occurrence when it came to him.
