𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎... // 𝙵𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚗 𝚃𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚜

14

A FEW MISTAKES

Jadrien's Perspective

On December 13, 2021, I saw Ferran Torres once more. And it was because I was picking up him and Eric from hanging out with each other. I think they went to some Barcelona museum that neither of them had ever went to, and I'm sure it was my brother with his old man's heart who came up with that one.

Either way, there I was, sitting on the street corner in my car, a half hour early. There was nobody around, and I had all four windows down as I belted out the music on the radio, seat belt unbuckled, all snuggled up in my navy blue windbreaker, blue sweatpants, and athletic socks that may or may not have belonged to Eric. I had my hand on my chest, the other one on the steering wheel as I danced in my seat, completely in my mind, away from the world, when Eric said, leaning in through the passenger seat window, "Hey, Jade."

I jumped in a huge flinch, not expecting him to be there. I quickly slammed my pointer finger on the mute button, staring at him. Standing behind him on the sidewalk was Ferran Torres, standing there with a royal blue t-shirt on, gym shorts, and a white bracelet band on his wrist. He had his large hands casually in the pockets of his shorts, and his shoulders were relaxed. He wore a big grin on his face, and I felt myself go red just looking at him, out of embarrassment of how good he looked, and of how bad I looked.

Wow, guys who casually can be outside in shorts and a t-shirt in this cold temperature truly are attractive. That just tells me that they must be really tough. A scene flashed in my head of me shivering outside on a cold day, and him giving me his jacket, and I started to smile at the thou-

"Hello!" Eric waved his hand in front of my face. "Earth to Jade!"

"Oh, uh, huh, sorry, what?" I asked him quickly, aware of how much of an awful impression I was putting on myself in front of Ferran.

"I was jus' teasin' you 'bout your singing, is all," he grinned. "Now, can Ferran get a ride home, too?"

I felt my eyes look everywhere but Ferran's or Eric's eyes, shifting uncomfortably as I felt my face get warm. I would have done my makeup nicer... worn something less... puffy, like my windbreaker. I guess I'll have to heat up the car and then just take off the windbreaker... Then all I'll be in is my sweatpants and a grey tank top. The tank top is tight, but... Hopefully I'll be attractive to him... Right...?

"Jadrien!" Eric suddenly snapped. "What the heck is wrong with you? Why aren't you answering me? Can Ferran get a ride or not?"

"Oh, yeah, no. Or, I mean, yes. Yes, of course he can have a ride home!" I leaned over to see Ferran standing behind Eric and gave him the sweetest smile I could pull off, before saying to him with a wink, "Come on in, Ferran. We'll make Eric sit in the back."

He grinned a little bit before saying, "It's okay. I can sit in the ba-"

"No, you can't. I'm the driver and you're the guest. Eric sits in the back."

Eric shrugged, not bothered by this at all- I knew he wouldn't be- and got in the back seat. Ferran pulled open the door to the car then and slipped in, and all the sudden, I started to worry about this drive. If I couldn't keep my eyes on the road because they were too preoccupied looking at someone else...

I rolled up all the windows, saying, "Ready to get going?" as I buckled my seatbelt.

"Sure," Eric said from behind me, leaning his legs on my chair. Whatever. I didn't care. My thoughts were too preoccupied to care about such pointless arguments like that with my brother. I let him keep his legs there.

I started driving, subtly turning up the heat slowly, until it was full blast. "So, Ferran," I said, unable to contain my smile about the fact that I was actually here, in a car, next to Ferran Torres. I was so excited, I didn't even care about my brother 'third wheeling' in the backseat. "Can you give me directions to where you're living?"

"Sure. Just keep straight on this road for a while. I hope this is alright. Eric said it would be... But, you know, I do kind of live out of the way of things right now. I mean, I just moved to Barcelona, so..."

"No, no, don't worry about it, Ferran! I don't mind at all. It's a pleasure to drive you home."

He smiled softly, saying, "Yeah, Eric said you'd have that sort of attitude about it. Thank you."

"You're welcome," I smiled, feeling waves of heat coming to my face. I waited about a minute, before asking Ferran, "How long until the turn?"

"About four or five minutes, I reckon."

"Okay," I nod, then wait about half a minute before saying. "Can you do me a favor and take the wheel for me for a second, Ferran? I've got to take off my windbreaker."

"Oh, uh, sure, of course," he nodded, looking a little surprised at this request. 

He took the wheel as we continued driving, and as I slipped my arm out of the first sleeve, Eric laughed, rolling his eyes, saying, "Sorry, Ferran. We have a really laid back family. We do stuff like this all the time."

"Oh, no, it's fine. Least I can do while I'm gettin' a ride home from you guys." I stared at the veins and muscles in his arm as he held the wheel and I slipped off my windbreaker. 

Finally, I got it off, threw it back in Eric's face, who yelled, "Hey, Jade!" in annoyance, fixed my shirt so that it fit the right (tight) way and that the top sat lower on my chest. 

I then took the wheel, letting my hand brush Ferran's, saying, "I've got it now, thank you."

"Sure," he nodded, letting go and leaning back in his chair.

I pushed my chest out and tried to draw attention to my cleavage, hoping that Ferran saw.

I don't think he saw.