When former beauty pageant queen, Ellie Wilde, hears of her grandmother's sickness, she's the first to offer to drive her to her chemotherapy. What she didn't know she was agreeing to was an obnoxiously cheerful blond boy somehow nudging his way int...
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"Go left," Ellie directs, watching as the trees on the backroads pass by them in a blur. Cooper follows her instructions, taking a smooth left turn down yet another empty road. "You're getting a lot better at this driving thing."
He snorts. "I better be. I've had my license for nearly a month now. Let's take the third right we see. If it's a dead end, then we'll take the first left after that."
She nods in confirmation, though his eyes are trained on the road and he doesn't see her nod. Leaning her head back against the headrest, she turns to Cooper and studies his profile. "I still can't believe someone gave you a license."
"I would be offended," he says, turning so his eyes can meet hers briefly, "but you're the one who taught me how to drive. So really, that's just a dig on your own driving abilities."
"Shut up and look at the road," she says, shoving at his shoulder as a smile tugs at her lips.
They continue driving down the road in silence, apart from the hums of some acoustic song Ellie's never heard playing lightly through the speakers. The sun shines through the window, landing directly on her face. Her eyes flutter shut at the unfamiliar warmth and for once, she feels at peace. Just an empty road, the sunshine, and a calming acoustic—
"Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down," Cooper belts just as the song comes to an end and the new, much louder song, takes over the car.
The sudden shift in mood nearly gives Ellie a heart attack and the serenity she'd previously felt fades in an instant as she turns to Cooper with wide eyes. He looks back at her, a childish grin spread across his lips as he continues rapping the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song.
"I got in one little fight," at this moment, he reaches over to deliver a fake punch to her shoulder, "and my mom got scared. Sing it, El!"
"She said, 'You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air," she says in the most monotonous tone she can muster up.
Cooper accepts her poor delivery of the line, happy he even got her to say it, and continues dancing and singing to the tune, only pausing briefly to take the third right turn. He reaches for the volume of the stereo as the song comes to an end. "So. It's Saturday."
Ellie nods slowly, glancing down at her lap. "Yeah."
"And we've missed the last few Saturdays—which is fine. But I thought maybe we could start our Saturdays back up again," he says, a nervous edge to his voice. "Only if you're ready of course."
She takes a moment to consider his offer. Of course life has to go on, even after the loss of a loved one. She's been putting off her life, exactly what her grandma advised against. Maybe it is time she gets back in the swing of things, she thinks. She looks over at Cooper and he turns back to her, eagerness dancing across his eyes.
"Okay, sure."
"Great!" He exclaims, any nerves he'd previously felt fading away from his features instantly. "I've actually already chose our task. I was hoping you'd say yes."
