Dirty Deeds

CH 16: In the Car

     We're not more than two miles from the hotel when my phone rings for the fifth time. I push the ignore button. Again. Matt glances my way. "You can answer that if you want, you know."

"I don't want to," I say. "It's Layla."

"Oh. She's annoyed with you, huh?" Before I can answer, the phone rings again. I sigh. "I don't think she's going to stop until you talk to her."

"Sorry," I say. I click the answer button. "Hello?"

"Michelle!" Layla screeches in my ear. "What the hell?"

"I told you," I say, "I'll see you tonight. I'm turning the phone off now, Layla."

"But..."

I click the hang up button a little harder than I have to and hold it down, satisfied to see the phone flash the goodbye screen at me. "That seemed a little harsh," Matt remarks.

"Between her and Punk, it was a frustrating morning."

He frowns and tightens his grip on the wheel. "What is the deal with you and Punk, anyway? Are you guys dating or something?"

"Me and Punk?" I ask with a laugh. "No. God, no! We're just friends."

Matt seems to relax a little. "Oh. It's just that he always seems to be around you." He hesitates, then says, "I just don't know how you can be friends with him. He's kind of arrogant."

"So am I," I say.

Matt grins. "I see your point."'I stick my tongue out at him. "Seriously, though. Doesn't that straightedge crap get old?"

"You know," I say, "contrary to what you might think, he doesn't preach about it all the time. He's a smart guy, and he can be pretty funny. Just don't ask him to go drinking with you unless you're willing to sit through the evils of alcohol speech."

He shakes his head. "Your experiences with him and mine are very different. So are he and Layla dating, then?"

"No," I say. "They don't really get along."

"I thought you said yesterday that she liked him?"

Oh, crap. I forgot about saying that! I mutter, "Uh, yeah, I did."

He turns to look at me. "Hey! You weren't just trying to get away from me, were you?"

"No!" I say. "I wasn't trying to get away from you, exactly..."

Matt blinks, then laughs. "Oh my God! You made up that excuse to get away from Maria? I should have known."

I feel like an idiot. "Yeah."

He smiles at me. "You could have just told me."

"I was trying to be nice for once."

"But that still doesn't explain why Punk was outside my room this morning."

I sigh. "I forgot to bring my cell with me this morning and Layla got panicky when she couldn't get ahold of me. She told Punk I was missing, and that I'd gone off somewhere with you. He happened to see me come out of your room and now he's assuming the worst. Between that and the fact that we're riding together today, there are probably going to be rumors flying tonight. Sorry."

Matt chuckles. "Don't worry about it. Rumors don't bother me." He pauses. "What about you, though? Can your reputation afford to take the hit? After all, I'm a loser, right?"

"Matt!" I'm shocked. "You are not a loser!"

"I know I'm not. But I'm sure your friends don't agree with that assessment."

"Oh, who cares what they think? They don't know you. If they did, they wouldn't think that. I don't think you're a loser."

"No?"

I shake my head. "Definitely not."

"Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure you said, 'Hi, Loser!' to me a couple weeks ago. That was you, right?"

I eye him. "Sure. But you said I was a shallow bitch yesterday, so I think we're even."

He grins. "Touché."

We both lapse into silence for a few miles. Matt looks like he's deep in thought. I feel surprisingly relaxed. I thought it would be awkward to spend so much time in the car alone with Matt, but it isn't. I'm actually enjoying myself. "Hey, Matt?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for asking me to ride with you today."

He looks my way. "Sure. I'm glad you decided to join me. I hate taking long drives by myself."

"Well, we have that in common, then."

"You know," Matt says, "this seems kind of weird. Up until last week, you'd never said a kind word to me, and now all the sudden, we're hanging out like we're best friends." He checks the road, then looks back at me. "And I still have no idea why you're being nice to me now."

I bite my lip. "Maybe we shouldn't try to figure it out."

"Maybe," he says, but he sounds doubtful.

"Maybe I just needed a change."

"And yet you still hang out with Punk and Layla."

"What's wrong with Layla?"

Matt rolls his eyes. "Are you serious?"

"Name me one thing wrong with her. And be careful, because she is my best friend."

"Okay. She hates me."

I can't really argue with him there. "Only because she doesn't know you."

"She doesn't know me because she doesn't want to know me." He sighs and looks at the road. "You know what? It's fine. You have friends who hate me. They don't have to like me, and I don't have to like them. It's not like you and I are dating or something."

He says it so casually, but the words themselves are like a punch in the gut. I take a deep breath and look his way, to see if I can gauge what he's thinking. His face is carefully neutral. "Yeah," I finally say, closing my eyes so I won't have to see his reaction. I'm not sure I want to know why he said that. But that relaxed atmosphere in the car? It's totally gone now.