Page 25 of A Scandal in Homeroom
“You look and or smell nice,” he offered.
I rolled my eyes. “That was pretty lame. Also, I doubt you could smell me over that.”
I pointed to his vaping pen.
“Does it bother you?” he asked.
“Maybe. A little. I mean, don’t you want to smell me?”
He took out a small case from his back pocket and put the pen away.
“Better?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Do you need a coat?”
I pulled my hoodie off the coat rack that was just on the other side of the door. I put it on and zipped up, turning to lock the door behind me as I met him on the stoop.
“How come you’re not wearing a coat? You had to be cold walking over here.”
“I left it in the car,” he said. Then he raised his hand and pointed a fob at the car parked in front of my house. It was a seven series BMW. The car beeped, and I stopped, realizing it was his.
“You don’t have a car,” I said.
“I don’t.”
“What is that then?”
“A rental,” he answered.
I shook my head. “You didn’t have to rent a car. I told you we could walk.”
“Yes, but I was led to believe there was a lot of door-opening that had to be done, so I thought a car might help in that regard.”
I laughed. No, actually, I giggled. Gah!
He quickly moved to the passenger side door and opened it for me. I was still smiling as I got in. Then, as a courtesy, I leaned over and reached for the lock on the driver’s side door.
Except instead of unlocking it, I locked it. Which he realized the second he tried to open the door.
“What are you doing?” he asked me through the window. “Don’t you want me to get in the car with you?”
“No,” I said, loud enough so he could hear me. “It’s what a girl is supposed to do. You open my door for me, and I lean over to unlock your door for you.”
He showed me the fob in his hand. “It opens all the doors at once.”
“Yes, I understand that now. I don’t ride in a lot of Beemers. Sue me.”
He hit the fob again, opened the door and got behind the wheel. “Well, that wasn’t the best start, was it?”
“I was being considerate,” I mumbled, justifying my actions.
“Here I thought you were about to take the car for yourself and leave me behind.”
I eyed him warily as he reached for his seatbelt. “Can you drive okay over here? I mean the whole right side, left side?”
“Sometimes I cross over the lines but usually the oncoming traffic lets me know by beeping their horns consistently.”
