Their Girl

9: Go For a Drive

As always, thank you for your patience. I hope you all are well. Enjoy <3

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I neatly set my textbooks inside the locker and closed it. Victor leaned back against the lockers, waiting patiently so that we could get going to Japanese. We used to be able to walk alone, not stressing if one of us was ahead or behind, but now each boy made sure someone was at my side always.

It's been days since they found out, but I still hadn't heard from Andrew. I really wanted to be the one to tell him, but I was more so worried that he wasn't answering, so Mr. Blackbourne assured me that he would reach out and notify him of the situation. Maybe it was better that way. He is good at handling things.

"Hey, you ready?" Vic asked, noticing I had spaced out. I quickly apologized.

"Yeah, sorry, let's go."

We began walking, neither of us saying anything. I appreciated the silence, because I knew I had nothing new to say and that we didn't need to talk. He bumped his wrist into mine and I thought maybe he thought the same thing.

There was something soothing about him, his quiet passion, the way he always seemed to notice every little detail. He complimented the little things I did with my hair. He noticed the subtleties in my handwriting and my facial expressions, things the other boys didn't always pick up on. And he was kind.

Gently, I wrapped my pinky finger around his as we walked the rest of the way to class. He opened the door for me when I got there, and my cheeks flushed as I walked in. All the boys did it, but it was a kind gesture that amazed me over and over again.

Dr. Green began the class right away, taking roll and then starting with last night's homework. Then we split off into partners for our class work: a phrase matching and translating assignment. Victor and I made a good team. We finished fast, and he handed it in to Dr. Green who checked it over and gave us the thumbs up, with permission to use the rest of class as a free period.

Dr. Green was loved by his students, which didn't surprise me in the least. He was charismatic, and young enough to be a "cool" teacher. He gave just the right amount of homework, and there were rumors that he was so adored by the students that they gave him a second job as the school nurse.

I twisted around in my chair to face Victor. "So, have any plans for tonight?" I asked.

"I've got dinner plans," he said.

"Ah, I see. With a special someone?"

He smiled. "No, some old musician friends of mine are coming over."

"Oh, that's cool! You'll let me know how it goes?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Vic?"

"What's up?"

"Do you think you could drive me home after school? I know it's a bit out of your way-"

"Yeah, of course I can. I'll let Kota know."

I nodded and thanked him, taking a breath and staring at his desk. Students had carved their initials into the desk in prior years and others had gradually filled it in with graphite. My eyes traced over the letters, left to right, left to right. I could feel Victor's eyes on me but he didn't say anything.

Soon after the class ended, and I went to gym with Nate. It was the same thing as always: warmups, laps around the track, games. We had options for games: frisbee, soccer, flag football. But if you didn't want to do any of those, you were allowed to walk around the track.

"Hey! What do you wanna play today?" Nate asked, jogging over to me.

They split up the laps for boys and girls starting second semester due to teasing from the boys, so we couldn't run together anymore (which sucked).

"Actually I was gonna walk the track today, if that's okay with you. You could play a game, if you want."

"It's okay, I'll walk."

"Nate, I know you'd rather be out there playing. Those kids like you, and I don't wanna keep you from... having a social life."

"Sang-"

"You two! Get moving!" Coach yelled.

I smiled and pushed him towards the field. "Go have fun, okay? I'll be fine."

He nodded, and without arguing anymore he took off to join the guys playing flag football. Nate was well liked in this class (especially by the girls) but he usually stuck by me, which meant he didn't get a lot of chances to make friends, and I hated that. Although I appreciated it, so much, I wanted him to experience highschool. To feel like a normal kid for a little while.

I watched him play as I walked around the track. He was really good at sports, and I could tell he was having fun. Every time he'd score one for his team, he'd have a huge grin on his face. His teammates would congratulate him, and he'd look for me on the track. I gave him a thumbs up.

After class he waited for me outside the locker rooms to walk me to the car.

"Hey peanut," he smiled and hoisted his book bag over his shoulder. "Ready?"

I nodded. "You played really good today, Nate."

"Thanks." He looked at me, and I could tell he was thinking. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"You riding home with Vic today?"

"Yeah, I hope you don't mind," I said, hoping I hadn't hurt his feelings, but if I had he didn't show it.

"Not at all, I'll walk you to his car."

When we got there, Vic was waiting for me, leaning up against his car door. He had a really nice car, but it was modest, just like him. He was doing something on his phone but put it away when he saw us approaching.

"Hey," Nate said.

"Hey, don't forget to check your phone. Mr. B wants to talk to you," Vic said, and Nate nodded. "I'll get her home safe."

"Bye honey!" I said, giving him a hug. "I'll see you later."

He hugged me back tightly. "See ya around."

Victor lead me around to the side of the car while Nate waited for me to get in. As I was ducking in I overheard him talking to Kota on the phone.

"How was gym?" Kota asked.

"It was good. Really good," Nate answered, and I smiled a little as Victor shut the door.

Once we were out of the parking lot and safely on our way, Victor turned down the volume on the classical music emanating from his car speakers. I tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear.

"How was your day?"

"Mine was good, how was yours?"

"It was good."

There was a long pause before he spoke again. "Sang..."

"Yeah?"

"Is everything alright?"

I sat quietly for a moment, unsure how to answer that question. There was so much turmoil, so much emotion hidden inside. I had a good day, but that was surface level. I was trying not to let everything get to me, but it was hard. And being with Victor was... I didn't know how to describe it. I just felt like he understood all the things I didn't say, so I didn't have to say anything. It was easy to be with him. He put me at ease.

"Sang?" He asked again, patiently awaiting an answer.

"Yeah, everything's okay I just... I just need to go for a drive."

"Okay."

He nodded, taking in my few words for what they were, and maybe he knew all the things I didn't say. Either way, he passed the turn for my street, and he drove.