The Player Next Door ✓

30 | Jumping Jiminy

Chapter 30: Jumping Jiminy

Espresso poured through the thick foam of steamed milk, entwined with a caramel drizzle.  I inhaled the aroma of coffee to satiate my daily craving.

"Do you need a room?" 

Luke broke through the tender moment I shared with my caramel macchiato.  He was watching me from the driver's seat of his car. 

If he thought I was weird before, it's definitely been confirmed now.

"Not if it makes us even more late for school," I said, eyeing the electric clock on his dashboard. 

8:02 AM

We're late.  

"Now you're concerned with time?  You didn't seem too focused on it before."

"That was the BC era.  Before Coffee," I said, reinventing the definition of the Latin calendar.

Luke switched playlists and drove me to school, possessively making sure that I didn't get a speck of coffee on his fancy leather seats. I faked a spill once or twice, just to get to him.  I enjoy annoying him, like I used to this summer. 

These were rare moments. We've returned to our normal pre-summer-camp lives, where Luke hanging out with me is a computational error. He had resumed his place at the top of the hierarchy. And when the view from the top is so beautiful, why would he ever come down?

That's why I enjoyed moments like these. Moments where I would forget that he was Luke Dawson, the basketball hotshot, and think of him as Luke, my friend. They were rare. But they were special. 

Sort of.  He was still a pain in the ass.

He pulled up to the front of the school steps. "You can get out here and I'll park."

"Why?  So that we won't be seen walking in together?"

He sighed, "So that you don't miss any more class than you already have. It's 8.11 and counting."

"Shoot," I cursed, unbuckling my seat belt and sliding out the door.

I ran towards the school's front steps but his voice stopped me.

"Millie," he called out through the open window, "You still think I'm embarrassed by you?"

I stopped and slowly, very slowly, nodded. Why does he care what I think anyway?

"Then come to a party Austin's throwing tonight," he said, "You can meet my friends."

"Tonight?" I exclaimed, "But it's a weekday!"

"I'll pretend you never said that."

**

Matt, the coffee bean barista, must not have class first period. What a win. I need to copy his schedule senior year. 

That's all I thought while I was begging my way out of another late-with-no-late-slip class entrance. I was mid-beg, when the door opened behind me and someone else walked in even later than me.

He didn't apologize. He went straight to an empty seat.

"Excuse me," the teacher said, interrupting my apology, "Last week I specifically said that I will not tolerate tardiness in this class."

"I wasn't here last week," he shrugged, making himself comfortable.

I stared at him alongside the entire class. I didn't think it was possible for anyone to give Luke a run for his looks - but this guy was a challenger.  Brown hair that fell over hazel-green eyes.  A charming megawatt smile and a small nose piercing. (image above)