19 Kate running late

I carelessly rake my hands through my hair and look in the mirror. I do not have time for a shower, so I know this look would have to do. I hope I don’t run into anyone I know, but oh well if I do. I am late. Once again I stayed up chatting online with Candice, and neglected to set an alarm.

Candice was not allowed to talk on the phone after 9, but her mom is oblivious to the fact that she can communicate on the computer in her room. Since Candice and I rarely see each other because we are both so busy with school, sports, and our separate lives, the computer is a great way to chat and catch up, and we use it regularly.

We have been best friends for three years, after meeting at an all-sports summer camp. We only live twenty minutes away from each other, but we go to different schools because Candice goes to a private school. Because sports generally take up our weekends, running for me, and soccer for her, we do not see enough of each other. This also means I frequently do not have time in the mornings because I value sleep over primping. Today, I don’t have a race, so I am going to drive a few hours out of town to watch her play soccer.

I run out of the bathroom, grab my coat and bag on my way and yell my goodbyes to my parents. “When will you be back?” Calls my over protective mother. “Not sure.” I yell back, and close the door behind me to help cease conversation. The vibration coming from my bag less than a minute later, as I pull out of the drive, indicates that is not going to cut it for my mom.

 “What mom?” I say, a little too snappy, and I realize it a moment too late. It is not her fault I am late, and I should be grateful she is letting me drive myself to Rexburg, I am a nervous driver, and my parents are usually pretty cautious about where they let me drive. Since Riley and I are almost always going to same place, I do not drive often. But today, he is going fishing with friends, so I am driving myself.

“Excuse me? That was rude.” She says, and I can just picture her, standing in the kitchen, eyebrows raised, hand on hip, thinking how selfish I am being. She is right, and I should apologize.

“Sorry, I am running late, what do you need?” I sigh and give in. Fighting with my mother is not going to help my day be any easier, the drive be any less nerve racking, or my appearance be any cuter. A little respect from me will, however, make things better.

“What I need is to know when you will be home.” She has the same tone, and no doubt has not yet dropped her hand from her hip. “I am your mother. That is kind of my job.”

I silently count to ten in my head, and commit to getting along with her, wishing it came as naturally as it does with my dad. I try again. “Yeah, I know, I really am sorry. Can I call you when I have a better idea? I really have no idea how long this will take, or if I will be home tonight at all. Candice’s mom said I could stay over with them if the game goes late.”

“That would be great. Keep your phone on so I can reach you.” The edge is gone from her voice, and I know that she is satisfied.

“K, bye mom”

“I love you dear!”

“You too…”

I snap my phone shut, and look up in just enough time to slam on my brakes.

I come within centimeters of smashing the car in front of me. My nerves feel like they are standing on end, and I can feel my heart rate increase. I can’t drive to Rexburg like this, I have to calm down, and regain some composure, or I will be a nervous wreck by the time I get there. I pull off the road, and shut the engine off. I know this is not going to make me any earlier, but I would rather be five minutes later than risk driving distracted and get in an accident. I pull out a notebook, hoping to calm my mind so I can get back to driving.

The car I almost hit pulls off the road a little in front of me. It is a newer car, black, clean, and it looks fast and expensive. As I uncap my pen, I see the driver’s side door open, and realize the driver is getting out.

“Great, just what I need…a lecture” I mutter under my breath. I have a habit of talking to myself, something Riley teases me mercilessly about. I really do not have the patience to deal with some hot shot telling me to be more careful, as if I did not realize that already. I look over at my phone, and think about pretending I am on it so I will have a legitimate excuse for not talking to the person, but then realize it will look like that is why I almost hit them. Even if it is, I do not want it to be that obvious. I decide to grin and bare it. I recap my pen, and lean across the center consol to return the notebook to my bag.

Someone raps on the window, I take a deep breath, and punch the button to roll the window down. Nothing happens, and I realize the car is off, I turn the key slightly, and listen to the whirring noise as the window retreats into the door frame. I take a deep breath and turn, ready to face the music, and instead of seeing the grim face of my near-victim, I see the practically perfect smile of none other than Kyson, the Yankee hat wearing, womanizing, new kid who I had blown a snot covered noodle on, and then snubbed for the past two weeks. We had several encounters over the past couple weeks, but none I could look back on happily. He was a nice enough guy, really hot, but he had the arrogant, frustrating quality about him, like he knows he is good looking, and uses it to his advantage. I can’t exactly fault him for it, but that combined with my embarrassment over the snot-noodle, has lead to an intense dislike of him, fueled by the fact that my friend Lauren talks about him non-stop, and even Braden thinks he is cool. I wanted at least one ally in my quest to dislike this all too likeable guy.

“Hey!” he says. “You okay?”

He is smiling at me, but not in his usual arrogant way. His voice actually sounds genuinely concerned.

“Uhh, yeah, just a little…rattled, I guess.” I take another deep breath, and let it out slowly, hoping he will leave. I have been avoiding him for a couple weeks now, and this is more than a little awkward for me, as I really have no legitimate reason for disliking him other then the fact that he is exactly the kind of guy I despise, and I have humiliated myself in front of him. Just thinking of that scene makes me turn red. I put my hand to my face hoping he will not notice. He has never mentioned it, and I am not even sure he knows it was me.The silence and my nervousness makes me prattle on, “I just…sorry, I can’t believe I almost hit you, I hate driving, but am usually really safe, I guess we all have off days, I mean…well, sorry!”

“Where ya headed?” He asks casually.

“Excuse me?” Here I am prattling away, lost in thought, and forget he is standing just on the other side of the partially down-turned window.

“Hmm, well, how else can I phrase this? Where are you going? What is your destination? Where did you plan to stop? Name the place your journey ends.” He smiles the familiar cocky grin I had seen on his face on more than one occasion over the past few weeks.

“None of your business!” I snap at him, back to my surly, running late, too little sleep self.

“Woah, no need to be edgy with me. You almost hit me, I am just trying to offer you a ride as you are obviously in no condition to drive.” He has his hands up, and is backing away from the car as if he thinks I might physically harm him, but his face holds traces of amusement.

“Sorry,” I mumble through a sigh. My second apology that morning, I am on a roll. I hate to be in the wrong, but I am being rude, and he does have a point. I am distracted, and I am the one who almost hit him, not the other way around.

I see a look of satisfaction flit across his expression before he carefully pulls his mask back on. A slight smile creases a dimple on the lower left side of his jaw. “What was that?” Now he is smiling in earnest. He knows he has won. I am defeated. I am late. I look awful. I am tired. I am not looking forward to a long drive, and, to top it all off, I almost hit him. I have no leg to stand on, and definitely not one that provides arrogance and disdain.

“I said I was SORRY! What do you want from me, a sworn affidavit?” I am certainly sorry, but that does not mean I am going to roll over.

“Nope, no affidavit, just permission to give you a ride.”

“No.”

“No? Why not?”

“Because I am going to Rexburg, which is several hours from here. Not exactly ride territory”

“Rexburg huh?”

“Yeah!” I can’t help but be slightly sarcastic, after all, what is it with all the questions.

“Great, let’s go.” He turns and starts back toward his shiny black car, not even bothering to wait for my answer.

I scramble to get my door open, and call out to him, “What? What do you mean “let’s go”? You can’t drive me to Rexburg!”

“Why not?”

“Because, it is over three hours away, and I hardly know you.”

“Well, I have no plans, and that gives us plenty of time to get to know each other.” With that he gets in his car, and revs the engine.

I stand there, on the side of the highway, I feel stupid, and I am not sure what to do. The prospect of not driving clear to Rexburg by myself is tempting. I really do hate driving. But, this is Kyson. I am undeniably attracted to him, and even more undeniably, I do not want to be. Spending time with him, time alone with him, even if it is in a car, is a bad idea.

“Do I have to pick you up and carry you to the car, or are you coming?” He calls from the driver’s side window.

I feel my resolve shatter, if you can call it resolve since it lasted only a few moments, “Just let me lock up, and let my mom know the change of plans.”

It is just my luck. I look my worst, and he looks…well, incredible, but he usually does. And now, I am going to be stuck with him for several hours. I decide to make the most of it. Lauren is going to be so jealous, she talks about him all the time. Candice will be happy, she hated the idea of me driving all the way by myself, and she knows the whole story about him, from the hideous sweatshirt and noodle, to the locker snooping, and my attempts at ignoring him. I have a feeling she is going to expect some explanations from me.

I call my mom, and okay it with her, she is also delighted, she has met Kyson a few times when he has been by the house with Riley, and she is aware of his family moving in to the town. She is extremely curious about them, as they seem to have money, but have made no attempt to be social. I am sure she will be quizzing me when I get home, so I make a mental note to ask some questions about his history.