The Switching Arrangement

Chapter 6

This chapter is pretty long. But stay till the end. I promise it'll be worth it 😉

🙈🙉🙊

I stare at Garrett's Saturn Aura and find my feet embedded to the ground. Under my breath, I curse to myself. How could I have been so naïve? Of course Garrett has his own car. And of course I would need to get on it with him for this date.

The only other person who's not family that had driven me before is Jayden. She takes me to school every day since we live in the same neighborhood.

I mean, would Mom even agree to this?

"Grey, are you okay?" Garrett's already next to me, face lit with concern.

I look up to him. His face is dotted with freckles. I used to not notice them. The little specks of oranges are so light on his skin that they are almost invisible. But I do see them now. Something I would call signs of originality on such a commercial face.

And I like that you won't notice them unless you've spent a bit of time with him.

I like how his eyes are not just green. They're green with little touches of brown. I like how he makes fun of my nerdiness, but not in a condescending way. I like that I was wrong about him. I like how he came to Art Club just to see me. I like how he picked up my painting instead on anyone else's.

I realize that if I want to find out what more I can possibly like about him, I need to take risks.

"No...nothing. Where are we going?" I ask, managing a smile.

Garrett laughs. He inch his face closer to me. "Depends. Are you up for an adventure?" he whispers.

Warmth suddenly invades my face and I look down. Without thinking, I push his body away.

Why is he always so confident about invading my personal space?

"Sure... sure. I mean, that depends. What kind of adventure are you talking about? Cause I'm kinda afraid of...penguins. And tigers. Definitely tigers. And also really tall places. Plus, I don't think I'm up for any extreme sports since I fell down that one time when..." I trail off.

Garrett burst out laughing. I look at him again and know that I just spewed out a bunch of nonsense.

Ugh, what happened to that cool persona I put on in the art room? Did she just left on the sight of that Saturn Aura?

After a few more seconds, Garrett finally stops laughing and without saying another word, pulls my hand to the car.

🙈🙉🙊

We drive in the quiet for a couple of minutes before Garrett finally breaks the silence.

"By the way, that's a really nice sweater," he says, keeping his eyes on the road. "But... It kinda looks like it belongs to a guy?" His voice is cautious, like there is hidden meaning behind his words.

"It's my older brother's," I answer.

"Oh," he says, with a sigh of relief. "You have an older brother?" he asks, glancing at me.

"Two, actually," Self-conscious, I fold the end of the sleeves in an attempt to hide the stains. "Rigel and Janus. I'm really close to the eldest, Rigel and I take all of his old clothes," I explain, smiling at the thought of my amazing brother.

"They really fit you. And that necklace you're wearing kinda pulls off the whole look. Is that supposed to be something of a deeper meaning?" he asks, pointing at the moon-pendant necklace I'm wearing.