Make My Way

Chapter Five

Stella's POV

When the movie was over we agreed to attempt to finish our parts of the story. I only had half a page left when my stomach decided to start pretending to be a whale doing its mating call. Neil looked at me and gave me that smile that made me melt. "You hungry?" he asked politely.

I glanced at the time on the corner of my laptop screen. It was already 6:45 PM. "A little bit," I said sheepishly and he laughs.

"Well then, let's go."

"What?" I asked, very clearly confused.

"Well we don't have a lot of good food to eat here, so we're going out." He grabbed his keys and ran out the door, leaving it open for a puzzled me to follow. I find my way to his car and hop into the front seat. He starts the car and turns to me. "So, where are we going?"

"I don't know; take me to your favorite restaurant."

"Yes ma'am!" After a few minutes of driving we arrived at the best pizza place in town, which was also my favorite restaurant. We sat down inside and a waitress took our order.

We sat in awkward silence for a minute or so when I said "Soooooo how about this weather" Oh my gosh did I really just say that. I'm such an idiot.

"Oh, you know. it's okay. A bit humid. Does horrors to the hair. Some days, I wake up and it's like I have a bloody Afro," he said sarcastically in a British accent. I burst out laughing and he joins in. The waitress comes back to our table and breaks up our giggling.

We each grabbed a slice of pizza and took a bite. I chew a few times and freeze. I made eye contact with Neil and wiggled my eyebrows. He copies. We tried not to laugh and failed terribly. I swallow and take a sip of my drink, and realized something. "Crap. I just realized I didn't bring any money."

"No. That's fine, it's on me." The melting smile made a return.

After another thirty minutes, we left our table. When we reached the door, I saw it pouring outside. The rain was coming down hard and guess what? Visibility was terrible. "We'll never be able to dive all the way out to your house. It's too far into the country and the roads won't be good. Why don't you just stay at my house. It's closer and makes more sense than driving out of town. Come on, let's run." He sprinted out to his car before even giving me the chance to answer.

We drove back to his house and once we were inside I complained, "Ugh, I'm soaking wet and I don't have any other clothes." Thunder rolled outside.

"Be right back." He disappeared around the corner and when he reappeared he was holding a size large Patriots hoodie.

I giggled softly and took it, muttering a small, "Thanks." In the bathroom, I slipped off my dripping wet, black leggings and my school sponsored basketball shirt. I pulled the sweatshirt over my head and it dropped down almost to my knees.

When I emerged, I saw Neil sitting patiently in the living room, playing on his phone. When he saw me, he said, "Hey. Want to watch something?"

"Sure. Surprise me."

He popped in a disc and returned back to his seat with two blankets. He handed one to me and grabbed the remote. The opening title came up. 'Monsters Inc.'

I squealed in a very high pitched voice and immediately regretted it.  I tried to cover it up by saying, "I love this movie!"

He smiled and sunk back into the couch. The last thing I remembered before I fell asleep was Boo laughing at Sully.

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Neil's POV

I laid down on the couch in the living room and sighed. Stella was sleeping in my bedroom. I had woken her up and made her sleep on my bed, despite her arguing. Then, once she gave in, I had taken her leggings and t-shirt and thrown them into the dryer. Now, I was trying to think about something, anything else. God, I have such a huge crush on her and I couldn't believe this was happening.

I got lost in my thoughts and jumped in surprise when I heard the front door open. I stood up, shaking. What if it's my parents? What will I say? A single figure stumbled into the room. "Greyson?" I said, confused.

"I was at... a party..." His words slurred together and he swayed towards me. I caught him before he fell. "I can't go to the dorm..." He couldn't even make eye contact with me and I decided to just take him to the guest room. "Why are you in here?" he asked.

"Um, I fell asleep doing... Schoolwork."

"Oh," he said.

I took him and laid him down in bed. I shook my head. Greyson was my brother who went to college here in town but lived on campus. Apparently he went to a party and got drunk but didn't want to be found on campus. I silently prayed that he hadn't been driving like this. I went to the kitchen and got him a glass of water before returning to the couch and going to sleep.

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Stella's POV

I opened my eyes and saw light streaming in. There was a Patriots lamp on the nightstand. Where am I? After a moment, I comprehended where I was. I pushed the covers off of me and I took a deep breath in. Ah. It smells so good, I thought, It smells like him.

When I sat up, I smelled something else- bacon and pancakes. I followed the smell into the kitchen. Neil was standing in the kitchen with two plates full of waffles and bacon. "Hey. I made breakfast. It's just ego waffles I made in the toaster and microwave bacon, but it's better than nothing."

"It looks great," I said, happily. We ate our food and he gave me my clothes back, completely dry. I thanked him and went to get ready. I took a quick shower and brushed through my hair.

When I came out, I found my phone sitting on the couch. I picked it up and saw that I had multiple texts from Aria. I considered replying but it only had 2% left. It began ringing and I picked up. I was notified that my car was done in the shop. As I pulled the phone away from my ear, the screen went completely black and wouldn't turn on again. Great. When I told Neil about my car, he offered to take me to go pick it up.

We got in his car and drove to the shop. We pulled into the lot and parked. Across the lot was a lime green bug. Neil punched me lightly and yelled, "Slug bug!"

"Ha. The joke's on you. That doesn't count. It's mine, idiot."

"What?!"

"Yep. Well I better go inside and get it from them. Thanks for everything this weekend!" I slid out of the car.

"No problem. Don't forget to finish that last half a page of the story!"

"See you later!"

I walk into the building and look out the window. He waves at me as he drives away.