Your Time To Shine

Part 5

“Come on, I’ll take you for a coffee, get you cleaned up.” Luke offered, it wasn’t that late, only about five 'o clock, because they’d helped Ms. Gomez say goodbyes around the neighbour hood, helped pack the rest of her bags, filled the petrol tank up, then drove off to the airport, which took about two hours, but because of traffic took exactly three and a half... luckily, Ms. Gomez had come early, just in case of any delays in the traffic. 

“But... I really should be getting back...” Sara stammered through her words like she didn’t know what to say, or she was afraid of saying something she shouldn’t. This was a lie, her mother understood that she had taken a liking to Luke to say the least, and the traffic might have been bad now if they tried to go straight home.

Luke pulled back from the hug. “You know you’re just saying that. And you’re already out, I’m sure your mum won’t mind. I know this great place, a bit further up North than here.” 

She calculated what she could do- she had a few questions she wanted to ask Luke, like about how Mrs. Brown had said there was a ‘rumour’ going round that he had kissed Sara- how had all that started? More about Luke, she wanted to ask him about the tattoo. Just out of interest really. Unable to deny the offer, she stifled a grim laugh. “Fine, I guess I can’t really say no since you’ve got the car.” 

Leading her over to the car before opening the door again, with manners that of a gentleman, Luke’s face opened up into a grin of victory- that was one point to Luke. “It’s settled then,” He ruffled his hair playfully, shutting the door when she had fastened her seat-belt. This time, Sara was sitting in the front passenger seat, just next to Luke. That way, they could speak to each other and not feel sufficiently awkward. 

When Luke was in the car, belt fastened, he jerked his foot forward until it pressed down harshly on the pedal, the car suddenly roaring to life, the vicious growl of the engine signalling it was ready to go. Revving it up a few more times, Luke looked to the side to see Sara’s raised eyebrows. Finally, he kicked at the other pedal, the car jolting forward as he slithered his hand smoothly over the steering wheel, reversing perfectly. For a young lad, Luke was quite a great driver. 

On the road, there was lots of signs, sparkly little lights, big monster lampposts, stray cans and food wrappers and drink bottles from a nearby fast-food restaurant, McDonald’s. It was the typical motorway, with broken-down cars streamed all over what seemed like the never ending road.

After about thirty minutes of driving on the motor way, Luke finally turned in, heading towards a town centre, the bright lights of the buildings flashing. There were lots- hair salons, book stores, clothing stores, cafes, restaurants... you name it, there would probably be one there. The lamp-posts were dappled with some form of glitter like there’d been a massive festival not long ago. He breathed in, the smell of freshly made bread enticing him with the promise of food. “This,” Luke introduced. “Is what I like to know as my child-hood home.” There were a few houses, but they were big, like they’d be owned by rich people. If you peaked between the gaps of the buildings, you could see slightly smaller, yet somewhat prettier, white-brick cottages. 

He must have lived in one of them, Sara decided.                                                                            “Wow,” Sara gasped. “It’s beautiful.” Her eyes gleamed as she took in all the awe-inspiring beauties of the small village, even when they turned onto a parking lot, trees and flowers scattered around the grass that surrounded the parking spaces. She had never been anywhere like this before, even with snow topping the trees, water droplets from the melting ice dripping from the leaves, it was really breath-taking. It wouldn’t be long before all the snow and ice melted.