Page 68 of Playing with Fire

"Who’s that?" he asks.

"Because you're a child."

"And you're barely an adult."

"At least I am one." I fight back. In my perspective you remain a child because you are still 17.

"Maturity counts." he crosses his arms. I'm more mature than you.

I laugh at his comment. Your sense of maturity is an illusion if you believe you surpass mine.

"Maybe you're the one who's delusional." he sneers. We shouldn't overlook the fact that he's annoyed, along with possibly being bipolar.

I watched my jaw move downward by the smallest possible amount.

"Wow. You know–"

As I'm about to speak Kylie interrupts me with her words. "Alright, you two! That's enough, let's go!" she yells from the back seat.

I roll my eyes. Passing him I mutter under my breath "You're gonna kill us all" while deliberately nudging his shoulder.

I'll aim to hit your side of the car if we crash. I found his sarcastic remarks irritating.

We both share mutual feelings about one another. I wished he would take the first hit if I lost control of the car, and he felt the same way about me.

I'm just joking. Jeez.

I fastened my seatbelt as Jaxon started the vehicle to depart from the hotel. I inserted my headphones and took a break from stress for the initial few hours.

During our drive we stopped at two bathrooms stations we refueled our car and took turns driving.

I exchanged my rear seat position for a spot in the front row while Elijah assumed driving responsibilities.

My headphones stopped working which made me open my eyes. I accessed my phone and noticed multiple messages from Hazel.

I smile at her message. The thirty-minute drive to the house begins to trigger my vacation jitters.

I love that feeling. The stomach fluttering you feel right before a vacation starts. It's the best.

The red light made us pause while my window stayed open, and my elbow rested on the windowsill. The car next to us honked to get my attention.

Looking out the window I spot a red Jeep with almost no doors holding guys who appear to be my age. Maybe older.

"Hey!" One of them yells. "My friend thinks you're pretty hot!"

I smile as they all start laughing. They all engage in conversation with each other while shouting additional remarks.

Just as I started to respond Elijah interrupted me. Please stop harassing my sister guys. He moves closer to be visible through the window.

"Sorry, bro, but she's, like, smokin' hot." Another Callls out.

I released a brief laugh just as the traffic light turned green. A portion of me remained dissatisfied after our departure from that encounter.

Receiving compliments from people feels nice but I think calling someone hot or smokin' hot isn't the best way to compliment them.

I'd instead be called pretty.

The fine could be exchanged for something like sexy.

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