THE RIDE
585 Words
Detention finally ended an hour later.
The teacher dismissed us without even looking up from his papers. I grabbed my bag and hurried out of the room, desperate to leave the school as fast as possible.
The hallways were almost empty now.
Most students had already gone home.
The late afternoon sun shone through the tall windows, casting long shadows across the floor.
I stepped outside and immediately stopped.
It was raining.
Not just light rain.
A full storm.
“Great,” I muttered under my breath.
I hadn’t brought an umbrella.
I checked my phone.
No signal.
Of course.
I sighed and stepped under the small roof near the entrance, trying to figure out what to do.
My house was a thirty-minute walk away.
In this rain, I’d be completely soaked.
Then suddenly—
A car horn honked.
I turned toward the parking lot.
A sleek black car slowly pulled up near the entrance.
The driver’s window rolled down.
And there he was.
Adrian.
Of course it was him.
He leaned his arm casually out the window.
“Waiting for someone?” he asked.
I crossed my arms.
“None of your business.”
He glanced at the pouring rain.
“You planning to swim home?”
“I’ll walk.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“In that storm?”
“I’ll survive.”
Adrian studied me for a moment.
Then he sighed like I was being extremely difficult.
“Get in.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“I’m not getting in your car.”
“Suit yourself,” he said with a shrug.
He started rolling the window back up.
Thunder rumbled in the sky.
I looked at the rain again.
Then back at him.
Then at the rain again.
Adrian watched me with clear amusement.
“Your pride is impressive,” he said. “But so is the storm.”
I groaned.
“Fine.”
I walked toward the car and opened the passenger door.
“Don’t get used to this,” I warned.
He smirked.
“Relax. I’m not k********g you.”
I slid into the seat and shut the door.
The inside of the car smelled faintly like leather and something expensive.
Adrian started driving without another word.
For a few minutes, the only sound was the rain hitting the windshield.
Then he glanced at me.
“So,” he said casually, “why did you transfer here?”
I looked out the window.
“Why do you care?”
He shrugged.
“Curiosity.”
“Don’t be.”
Silence again.
Then he chuckled quietly.
“You really don’t like me, do you?”
I turned toward him.
“You tore my notebook, stole my lunch, got me detention, and bullied me all day.”
He nodded thoughtfully.
“Fair point.”
I stared at him.
“Are you always like this?”
“Like what?”
“Impossible.”
He smiled slightly.
“Only with you.”
I frowned.
“That’s not reassuring.”
For a moment, Adrian didn’t say anything.
Then he glanced at me again.
“You’re not scared of me.”
It wasn’t a question.
I hesitated.
“Should I be?”
His eyes returned to the road.
“Most people are.”
I studied his face for a moment.
The confident smirk was gone now.
For the first time since I met him…
He looked almost serious.
And somehow that made me even more curious about Adrian Black.
- Writer
