After Dark

Nine

"Hey." Liam smiles at his two friends after the final bell has rang.

"Hey. Are you ready?" Paige asks.

It's Friday and Liam has agreed to drive them all to Ember's after school. He nods in reply to Paige's question while shutting his locker.

"Cool. I call shotgun." Paige grins.

"Shit." Ember grumbles while following the two of them out. "I get control over the radio then."

Paige shrugs in response and Liam doesn't say anything. He doesn't listen to music often so he's okay with whatever his friends decide to play. Their agreements seem to make Ember happy and make up for the fact she'll have to sit in the back.

When they reach his car Liam gets in the driver's seat and Paige and Ember climb in as well.

Ember melts into the leather seats in the back and lets out a noise that sounds like a moan. "I forget how comfortable your car is, fuck."

"Better than the bus?" Liam smiles a little while starting the bar.

"Way better than the bus." Ember sighs happily.

"Extremely better than the bus." Paige agrees.

"The bus is hot, filled with sweaty ass people so it always smells like BO, we're not allowed to roll the windows down, you have to squeeze together. It just sucks ass in general."

"That it does." Paige nods seriously. Liam smiles as he backs out of his parking space and begins the drive.

"Sounds like my car is one nice upgrade."

"At this point you're just boasting about your rich boy car." Ember says. When Liam looks at her in the mirror she's glaring playfully at him.

"Maybe I am." Liam smirks. "This is the one thing my parents gave me that I actually like."

"How depressing and sweet." Ember hums. "If you put emphasis on the depressing part it will basically sum up your personality as a whole."

"That's just rude." Liam huffs right as Ember bursts out laughing. "And dumb, which sums up your personality in a whole."

"Hey!"

"You were asking for that one." Paige muses. Liam glances over at her and she's smiling.

Ember grumbles under her breath in the back seat. It sounds something similar to rude ass mother fuckers but Liam doesn't say anything. He just smiles.

"Oh shit!" Ember pops up suddenly. She leans forward between the seats and starts messing with the radio. "I just realized I'm not claiming my use of the radio. How dare I?"

Liam lets out a small huff that sounds like a laugh. Paige laughs quietly under her breath. Ember just grins while finding her pop punk station.

The drive isn't terribly long but they've listened to quite a few songs by the time they get to Ember's house. She hums along to some and taps her foot to the beat. Paige looks out the window with a little smile and Liam focuses on driving. There's no real conversation between the three but the quiet that surrounds them is comfortable.

Liam parks in Ember's driveway. There's another car next to him that's a shiny red color. He shuts the car off as the girls start to climb out.

Ember reaches the door first and swings it open. "I'm home!"

Liam and Paige follow her inside the door. There's three teenagers in the living room. Ian and Javi are on the couch while Izzy is on the sofa.

Izzy smiles at Ember. "Hey babes."