Free Fall [PETER PARKER]

SIXTEEN: A FAIR TRADE

chapter sixteen

"Can I give you a ride home?" Liam asked Ana as they walked slowly to the end of his driveway after a long night.

They'd spent the majority of their time teaching each other what they were good at. Ana had managed to teach a basketball player how to execute a nice looking cartwheel and Liam had been successful in teaching a cheerleader how to perform a solid free throw. And Ana would be lying if she said she didn't have fun doing it.

The party was dying down slowly, people still lingered in Liam's house but it was about the time when Ana should've been heading out. There was no reason for her to hover and she didn't want to overstay her welcome. It was better to end things on a good note.

Glancing back at his house where the shadows of the partiers inside were visible in the window, Ana smiled tightly. "You don't have to do that. I take the train at all hours and I can take care of myself. And I think you'd better take care of things here. Who knows what could've happened while I was kicking your ass in our one-on-one." Perhaps there was also a bit of embarrassment that Ana would prefer to avoid by declining Liam's offer. She didn't want to go from his mansion like home to her apartment complex. Not that there was anything wrong with living in an apartment, she just couldn't help but feel a little insecure about it.

With a look of disbelief on his face, Liam shook his head with a grin. "So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Well in that case you'd better watch your back before I steal your spot on the squad."

"Okay, fair enough, we'll call it even." They made the mutual agreement and fell into a comfortable silence. Ana could sense a bit of reluctance to leave from Liam, he was taking quite his time to say goodbye, so Ana figured she'd just have to start. "Thanks for having me. I had a nice time."

"Yeah, me too. We should do this again." Ana smiled at the suggestion. That wouldn't be the worst thing would it? "So I'll see you around?"

Nodding, Ana slowly began to walk away. "You will." With that, she finally turned and went on her way with a bubbly feeling. She wanted to jump and squeal but it was too soon, she hadn't gone that far down the block yet. She snuck a quick glance behind her and found that Liam was still standing at the end of the driveway watching her.

They both were surprised to see each other's faces, but Liam simply waved while Ana felt her cheeks grow hot. Usually that meant something when a character made eye contact with someone when they were both supposed to be turned away from each other. It meant that they were both thinking about the other person, and couldn't help but steal one last glance of them to capture that moment for a final time. She liked that.

She moved further and further away from the house as she walked home. The events that had played out through the night were fresh on her mind. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so much in one night. The way that Liam had tried so hard to listen to what she taught him to do and would goof around just to make her smile sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach. And when he was instructing her on how to accurately hold a basketball before the toss, there were times when their hands touched for just a moment and Ana found herself caught by surprise every single time. There was something so easy about Liam that made her time with him just fly by. He had a way of making people feel comfortable around him. He always had something to say, there was never a dull moment with him, and even when there was silence, it was a nice kind of silence.