By the time we'd started walking to the carpark, it was exceptionally deserted, apart from a few teachers still lurking around the campus. A thousand Elvises had left the building, eager to start their weekend.
Scooter insisted on carrying on my bag, and only after his adamant persistence had overthrown my own, did I allow him to take it. Thankfully my homework load this week was irregularly light, so I didn't feel as guilty as I could have. Nevertheless, I thought the gesture was incredibly gentlemanlike, which was an uncommon trait in the average teenage boy.
I had never actually seen his car prior to the moment, so seeing a cherry red Corvette before my eyes, was an absolute surprise.
"IS THAT A 1990 C4ZR1? MAN, COST A BUCKET TON OF BANK."
"Believe me, I know. I worked my ass off for four Summers but holy shit woman! You know cars?!"
"Yeah.. haha. My dad taught me everything I know."
Scooter's smile had dissolved almost instantly.
"You're lucky."
"Why?"
"Never mind. Let's hit the road!"
He tried to cloak himself with a smirk, but it was the same sort of fake smile you put on for school photo day, and I could see right through it. Something was definitely up, but in all honesty I didn't know him well enough to do something about it.
I eventually shrugged it off because he gave me his iPod to plug into the car's stereo.
"What's your pass code?" I asked.
"Uhhh, just put it on shuffle."
I obliged to his wish, and the first song came blasting through the stereo.
♫ "HI BARBIE!" "HI KEN" "YOU WANNA GO FOR A RIDE?" "SURE KEN" "JUMP IN!" ♫
My mouth was gaping so wide you could fit an entire tennis ball in there. I turned to face him. HIS mouth was gaping so wide you could fit an entire basketball in there.
"SKIP SONG, GABRIELLA. SKIP SONG."
"No way man, this was my jam when I was three."
Unashamed and unable to control my secret love for Aqua, I begin to sing along to the song.
♫ "I'm a barbie girl, in a barbie world. Life in plastic, it's fantas-" ♫
He unsuccessfully dived for the iPod, but in the process forced the car to swerve slightly. He didn't look like he was going to attempt it again, so I continued belting out the song in triumph.
And the thing is, by the time the second verse rolled around he joined in with me doing all the guy parts. It was astounding. I had been hanging around with this guy, for what, twelve minutes and already me, shy little Gabriella Cope had never felt more instantly comfortable around a guy in her entire life.
Scooter's music taste was impeccably vast, but I loved every song. The music jumped from Ed Sheeran to Hoodie Allen, from Ke$ha to All Time Low, from Maroon 5 to the Harry Potter soundtrack. Time had flown by and I hadn't even noticed.
"Whoa whoa whoa, I thought we were just going to Starbucks or something! You've been driving for forty five minutes, where even are we?"
"Relax, we're almost there, two minutes away. And you thought I was going to take you to Starbucks for our first date? Really, Gabby?"
"Gabby? Nobody ever calls me Gabby. The last person to call me Gabby was.. my mom."
"Oh hey, I'm sorry, I didn't-"
"No no, it's fine. In fact, I kind of like it. It makes me feel kind of really, at home."
"Well, Gabby, we're here, and I'd like to introduce you to my idea of home."
