detour

one // test drive

        There was nothing wrong with Jonah Osborne. Simply put, he was a nice kid, as far as I could tell from my one play-date with in the second grade. The thing is about next-door neighbors is the veiled fantasy of both families to easily coexist and even enjoy each other's company on the same street is almost never true. Every morning, I would watch Jonah Osborne walk out of his house, fumbling to lock the door when I stood by my driveway, waiting for Nessa Williams to pick me up. He never once offered a ride, even though his Jeep easily fit 3 other passengers. But I was never bitter. There never was a reason to be.

        It was the day after finals ended. The glory of the "Best Four Years of Your Life!" were finally coming to a close Saturday morning at graduation, with prom that night being. 

        "Honey, can you come down here a second?"  Mom's voice echoed up the stairs. It was a Friday morning--er, afternoon, apparently, as I glanced at my phone. 12:09pm; the beauty of sleeping in. Never did I expect there to be prim and proper Mrs. Osborne with her dull-eyed son in tow.

        "Oh, I," I was at a lost for words. Not at the fact there were the unspoken neighbors in my threshold, but the fact that I was in front of an eighteen-year old boy in an overly-large t-shirt and shorts two sizes too small. "Mom, I'm not wearing a bra." I hiss.

        Completely ignoring the aforementioned article of clothing missing, Mom introduces me to Mrs. Osborne and Jonah Osborne, as if we didn't gossip about their poor choice in yard shrubbery over dinner. When you live in the suburbs, the gossip could honestly be about anything. "Hi, uhm, I would like to apologize about my current appearance," I say, reaching my hand out to Mrs. Osborne. Her blonde wispy curls seem to be as tight as the smile on her face.  I reach over to shake Jonah's, as if he were a business partner more than a kid in my graduating class. His eyes don't even do as much to glaze over my chest. He seems to like the marble flooring a lot.

        "You were accepted to John Hopkins, right?" Jonah says, looking up for the first time. From my view of him on his doorstep and the look in his rear-view mirror, it did not prepare me for this. My half-glances were injustifiable. His eyes were breathtaking, the kind that you will probably get prescribed an inhaler if you look into them too long. So that's why I looked away first and smiled towards his mother. 

        "Uhm, yes. How about you?" I asked, puzzled how he knew. Of course it wasn't kept a secret-- I wanted to scream to the entire world about my acceptance letter, but I didn't know word travelled next door. 

        "So was he. Lacrosse scholarship." His mother smiled, dewy-eyed. He looked down at his palms again. "That's actually what we've came here to talk to you for. Jonah was saying how he'll drive up to campus by himself since my work conflicts with the start of early admission. I am sure as a mother you can understand my nervousness at the thought," she added, looking over to my mother.

        I focused my eyes on the petite woman, pencil skirt and all, and the quiet, quiet boy next to her. "So would you like to join him? Since you two are going to the same place and all." Her eyes were bright with anticipation, and yet not as mesmerizing as her son's, the swirls of grey and greens were undoubtedly alluring.

        "I, for one, am all for saving greenhouse gas emissions," my mother started, quite uncomfortable and a little perplexed at the proposal, "but I'll have to talk to my husband about it. I'm afraid I'm not that comfortable with Aubrey driving all the way up to Maryland with someone she's never gotten in a car with before." Mrs. Osborne nods absentmindly, as if she wasn't used to not getting what she wants.

        I glance over to Jonah. His hair is a little flat, a muddy blonde I never was keen on. I always preferred brunettes. I wonder if he had just woken up too. And then, his chin lifts up and I find his hurricane-stormed eyes lock onto my pair.

        "Let's go out for a test drive then, shall we?" I suggest, and I watch the beginnings of a smirk form on his face that didn't leave my mind the entire trip back upstairs to change.

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Author's Note

I feel like I barely see author's notes in stories anymore, but I just want to connect with my readers more so I'll try to write author's note at the end of every chapter (Do people even read these? I usually don't, honestly.). Anyways, I am slowly falling in love with this story. I'm a sucker for road trips, and a slight love/hate relationship, which will soon ensue. My goal is to stick with one story until the end for 2015, and I plan it to be this one. I will not scrap this one! (But I make no promises.)

Enjoy the adventures that are soon to come between Aubrey and Jonah. 

-Sandra