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“’Cause they weren’t around, okay?”
“Geez, you don’t need to bite my head off.”
Her knuckles are white from holding the steering wheel so tight. I definitely struck a chord. “And I’m not a bad driver. You’re distracting me.”
I shake my head. “Whatever.”
“Whatever indeed. God, you’re more annoying than I remember.”
“Ditto.”
She turns on the radio, and a pop song blares through the speakers, making me jump in my seat. “Jesus Christ. A little warning.”
“Sorry.” She lowers the volume, and I’m surprised that she didn’t argue.
“I guess you can be considerate when you want to be.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? When was I not considerate?”
“Hmm, let’s see. You always played music super loud whenever you came over, even though you knew I took naps after school whenever I had a game.”
“Oh my God, Keanu. That happened once, and Mia and I had no idea you were home.”
“It happened more than once.”
“No, it didn’t. The only other time you were pissed at us was when you had a girl in your room, and for some reason, our music was interfering with your… err… performance.”
My jaw drops. “My performance wasn’t the issue. Never received any complaints.”
She smirks. “That you know of.”
I narrow my eyes. “You’re just jealous that I never wanted to fuck you.”
She scoffs. “Oh yeah. You got me, Keanu. That’s the reason I hated you so much. It was because I secretly wanted you.”
“Deny it all you want. Every girl wanted me in high school, and you weren’t the exception.”
“Aren’t you conceited and a half? Does your ego have to ride shotgun when you drive?”
I don’t really believe Leigh had a crush on me in high school, but picking on her is better than worrying about our problem. “Denial, denial, denial.”
She groans, then turns up the volume on the radio to a deafening degree. I guess that’s payback. I could keep harassing her and decrease the volume again, but that would only give her the satisfaction that she’s bothering me. Instead, I sing along to Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” at the top of my lungs. Fitting song for us.
LEIGH
If it wasn’t bad enough that Keanu is literally under my skin, he’s trying to get there figuratively as well, and I’m letting him. My attempt to drown out his jabs with the radio backfires, and the pest proceeds to sing along to every single song as loud as he can. I’m surprised he knows the lyrics. It doesn’t matter that he sounds great because he’s using my voice. It pisses me off. But I bite my tongue during the rest of the drive.
It can be difficult to find a spot to park on Flora’s street, but by some miracle, a van pulls out in front of us next to her apartment building. I hope it’s a sign that Flora will have an answer to fix us.
Before I exit the car, I turn to Keanu. “Pull your hood up. I don’t want to be recognized.”
“Why? Because you’re with me?”
“Exactly.”
“What makes you think I want to be seen with you?”
“Well… you should have thought about that before we left the house. I don’t have a hat in the car for you.”
