My eleven o’clock curfew comes before the movie ends, and Nico’s mom is fine with him driving me home. I feel a little ache in my chest about tonight almost being over. I’m sad that I’m going home now. But I’m also excited for all my next times with Nico.
He unlocks the car and we both get in, me with my skateboard between my legs.
“Seat warmer?” he asks, his finger hovering over a button on the dashboard.
“Seriously? Seat warmers. Sunroof.” I twirl my finger at the dashboard. “That fancy digital screen with the map on it and the radio stations. This car is the complete opposite of Bessie.”
“Bessie?”
“Our crappy family van. And yes, my dad actually named our car.”
“Well, my mom’s car is too fancy. Why do you think she makes me ride my bike instead of driving? I only get to use it on special occasions. Like tonight. Otherwise, it basically lives in our garage or at the courthouse.”
“Courthouse?” I remember my useless trip there, where every attorney looked at me like I was pathetic when I asked them if they could help me. “What does your mom do?”
“Attorney.”
“Really?” I perk up. “What kind of attorney?”
“Boring real estate stuff.”
“Oh.”
He looks at me, confused. “Why?”
“I need an attorney.”
Nico laughs. “For what? Did you rob a liquor store and not tell me?” He backs out of the driveway and presses the remote attached to the sun visor to shut the garage door.
“I’ve actually been trying to find an attorney to help me figure out how I can get my vaccinations. Since I’m a minor.”
“Oh, right. Of course you’d need an attorney for that.”
I shrug. “Yeah, well, it’d be nice if I could actually find one willing to help me.”
“My mom might know someone. I can ask.”
“Thanks. I’d appreciate that.” I’m not very optimistic, but it’s worth a try. “I can’t pay anyone. Not much, at least. I do have some birthday money saved up, but I thought I might need to use it to pay for actual shots.”
He shakes his head. “We’ll figure it out.”
He looks at me and smiles.
My stomach leaps. My nerve endings shatter. And I smile back.
“Okay, cool,” I say, turning on the seat warmer to indulge myself. “That’s really cool.”
“It is.” He flicks his blinker, looks over his shoulder, and switches lanes.
I burrow deeper into the bucket seat. It’s heating up, and I don’t hate it on the first night of November. I don’t hate anything about this night except for what happened with Teddy and Avery at the party.
We pull up to the curb in front of my house, and Nico puts the car in park. Across the street, you’d never know a huge football game had gone down a few hours ago. Everything is dark and closed up for the weekend.
“Wanna hang out again soon?” he asks.
“Yeah.”
“Cool.”
“But can we take your mom’s car? I think this is the most comfortable ride I’ve ever had. Way better than a skateboard.”
“I’ll ask.”
“I bet she’ll say yes.”
Nico leans across the center console. “Can we stop talking about my mom now?”
“Oh, did you want to talk about your dad instead?”
“Funny.” He pokes me. “But for the record, my parents are divorced and my dad lives in Washington. The state, not DC. I visit him in the summer.”
“Ah. Okay.” I pretend to jot down notes in a notebook like the one Officer Cooper held in our living room the night of the scarlet A.
Nico pushes my fake notepad away with his hand. “Can I kiss you good night now?”
I put my hand to my forehead and fall against the seat dramatically. “If you must.”
And he does.
And I decide kissing Nico only gets better and better.