Journey (3)

Chapter 17

two weeks ago- maisie peters 

I climb out of my newly repaired car, closing the door behind me. I'm so relieved that it was finally able to get fixed. 

"How's your car?" Natalie asks, as she walks past. "It looks like that guy you called really managed to repair it."

"He did," I say, nodding. I walk over to join her. "It barely cost me anything." 

"Nice," Natalie says, approvingly. She looks over at me, with a small smile. "That was quite sweet of Connor to give you that number, right?" she suggests.

"I wouldn't say sweet," I reply, shaking my head. "But it was nice. It's not a big deal, though. We're friends." 

"Friends," Natalie repeats, thinking for a moment. "You know, I've been there before. In my experience, 'friends' is usually a mask for something else."

"Remember when we tried that," I say, sighing. I'm tired of everyone suggesting the same thing. We're friends, and that's it. That's the only way that we work. I look over at Natalie. "It didn't work out," I say, reminding her.

"Okay, okay," Natalie says, still smiling. "Although I don't completely take your word for it, why don't we see." She nods, gesturing slightly ahead of us. "There he is, walking in. Why don't you say hi to your friend."

"I don't need to do that," I say, defensively. Natalie still seems like she won't drop it, so I sigh. "It's weird," I tell her. 

"Not really," she says, shrugging. "He's your friend, right?" Natalie asks, and I nod. It's true, he is. 

"Yes," I say, nodding. "And I don't have to prove anything." I give Natalie a look, warning her not to persist. I'm not in the mood to defend this anymore. 

Natalie grins at me, as if she's just about to do something. Sure enough, she calls out Connor's name, causing him to turn around. "Connor! Come on, come over here," she calls out.

Connor looks at Natalie, and then at me, a confused look on his face. Shrugging, he walks the short distance over to us. "Hey Natalie, Tessa," he says, falling into step with us. 

"Hi," I say, looking pointedly at Natalie. If I say it, maybe she'll stop trying to suggest that I'm covering up for something. 

Natalie smiles. "Connor," she says, still looking over at me. "Tessa wanted to say hi." She grins, knowingly. I want to sink into the ground. How much more embarrassing could this get? 

"Okay..." Connor says, seeming confused. This is just too awkward. He leans past Natalie to make eye contact with me. "Hi, Tessa," he says, putting emphasis on my name. 

I smile, still feeling completely mortified. "Hi," I say, again, repeating myself. I hope that I don't look completely pathetic. "My car got fixed," I tell him, shrugging.

"That's great," he says, nodding. "I'm glad that my friend was able to come through for you." Natalie gives me a look, raising her eyebrows. I make a point of ignoring her.

"So," Natalie says, jumping in to the conversation. "I just realised that I left something in my car. I have to go back and get it, but you two should keep going." She smiles at me, so I roll my eyes. 

"Natalie," I hiss, as she starts to turn away. "This is childish. What are you doing?"

"I have to rush back to my car," Natalie says, seemingly ignoring me. "You two don't need to wait. It's okay."

Before either of us can protest, Natalie is already walking away, making the atmosphere between Connor and I a lot more awkward. 

"She doesn't really need to get anything from her car," I tell Connor, rolling my eyes. I actually can't believe this. "She had this really stupid idea of like...setting us up. I don't know why. It's weird, right?"