The Girl in Seat 23 {l.r.h.}

nine.

"I'll drive you home. Where do you live?" Luke asked me, grabbing his leather jacket from the back of his chair.

"Let's walk."

He gave me a puzzled look. "Walk? It's dark outside."

"I like the stars."

He scratched the back of his head. "I don't know, it could be dangerous."

I smirked. "Don't worry, meathead. I'll protect you." I started a brisk pace toward the door, causing Luke to jog behind me.

"I..." He huffed. "I wasn't scared. I was just-"

"What are you scared of?" I interrupted.

I'd caught him off guard. "Nothing."

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, tough guy, what's the real answer."

His cheeks turned a rosy shade of pink in the pale moonlight as he mumbled something undistinguishable under his breath.

"What?"

He cleared his throat. "Heights," he said quietly.

I put my hands over my mouth in a vain attempt to disguise my obvious laughter. "What heights? You are the heights! You're like twelve feet tall."

Poor thing's face was red as raspberries. He frowned. "Why would you ask me if you were gonna make fun of it?" I was silent. He shook his head. "You know, Rosi-"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Rosi, huh?"

"Yes, Rosi the Rioter," he sneered. "You couldn't say something nice to me if you tried." I stopped waking, turning to face him. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

I smiled at him for maybe the first time, my deep emerald eyes searching the endless constellations within his oceanic eyes. "Your eyes are like Polaris," I whispered.

He smiled back at me, cocking his head to the side. "What?"

Moment over.

I rolled my eyes. "There's this thing above the roof of your limo, it's called the sky. And there are these giant balls of flames, like 'Great Balls of Fire', the Jerry Lewis song. Yeah, they're called stars. And there's a really big, really bright star called the North Star. And it's fancy, science-y name is Polaris."

He scoffed. "Can you be serious for five minutes?"

"Can you be real for five minutes?"

"I am real."

I giggled. "Yeah, really annoying."

He tried to suppress his grin. "You love me."

"Maybe."