Chapter 401: Highway Reminiscing
I only had to wait another extra minute before Amanda came whirring around the bend, zooming fast, and her high beams leaving bright streaks in the night like a dashing comet in the sky except with four wheels and an engine.
Had this inkling she might have been behind that corner for a little while longer than just a minute actually...
With a beckoning honk of the horn, she pushed the passenger door wide-open for me, and I promptly took my place riding shotgun. The moment our eyes met, I could pretty much sense the giddiness and the excitement coursing through her.
“Wow, well don’t we look ravishing this evening?” She said with an amused grin, her predator-like gaze scouring hungry and her feast was me. “What’s the special occasion?”
It was also made clear the moment I got in that perhaps Sammy went too above and beyond with her choice of attire for me. Here Amanda was casually exuding grace and beauty with the plainest of clothes, meanwhile, I’m sitting here right beside her looking like I was overcompensating for something.
“Sammy...” was my limp quiet excuse for why I looked like I came out of a billboard for some cologne advertisement.
“Hmm, then maybe we should have her choose your own style from now on too,” She said, eyes glinting lasciviously in approval. “You can look good when you try, and when you do look good... oh, you look very good indeed.”
.....
“I always look good,” I said, unable to suppress the defensive tone in my voice. “In my own special way...”
“Yes, yes, you’ll always be my handsome prince to me,” She replied, and I couldn’t help but feel somewhat patronized. “Anyway, how was work? Anything interesting happened?”
From the passenger seat, I could still see them there, Nick and his father, a rather odd pair seen through the cafe window.
Beside the counter, talking to one another... I think it was the first time I was seeing Nick look so lax. I didn’t even think it was even possible for that dude to smile, but right then, I was staring at the impossible in the face.
But what was this feeling? This strange sense that I was missing something?
I turned to Amanda’s expression, her cheery smile, her eager eyes... should I tell her about what happened? Should I tell her about Jay?
Take away that smile? Snuff out that eagerness?
Ruin the night?
Anything interesting...
“No, not really,” I turned myself away from the cafe, leaning back on the headrest, shutting my eyes close. “Pretty exhausted, though.”
To my side, I heard her faintly chuckle. “For future reference, try and refrain from telling a girl you’re exhausted when you’re on a date with them. Sometimes it’s better to lie about these things, you know?”
Better to lie, huh?
I nodded, giving her a slightly apologetic look. “My bad, I’ll keep that in mind.”
After a movement, Amanda shifted gears, and we were off, speeding down the main road at a smooth and gentle pace.
Every so often, for some inexplicable reason, my eyes wouldn’t stop wandering over to look at her. I’d catch myself staring, tell myself to stop, and then a few minutes later, I’d rinse and repeat the whole process all over again.
Something about her, especially tonight, I just found myself so mesmerized by, which was weird, because there wasn’t exactly anything special about her at the current moment, she was just her usual self.
Maybe it was the night, it had to be the moonlight shining through, or maybe all along Hayley was right, upon closer look... Amanda had this beautiful glow about her.
A star in the dark, burning passionately bright.
“Don’t think I don’t notice you staring,” She muttered whimsically, briefly throwing a sly leer towards me. “I’m not sure why you are, but in any case, don’t take that as any reason to stop now.”
“I’m allowed to admire, aren’t I?” I said.
“Careful there,” She warned. “Flirting while driving is just as dangerous as texting, you know?”
She turned around a corner towards a rather familiar route, and that’s when the thought occurred to me.
“Come to think of it, you’re not still living in the apartments, are you?”
“Oh no, no, a million no’s I’m not,” She said, shaking her head vehemently, a shiver trembling her shoulders. “I moved out as soon as I could. After what happened... getting abducted... I couldn’t stand the thought of living in the same place, sleeping in the same bed I got kidnapped.”
All it took was a single somber second rippling across her expression for me to know that that incident was still a wound afresh in her memory.
“I live somewhere else now. I rented a house a lot further ahead, it cost more but I really couldn’t care about the price, I just wanted out... on the bright side, it’s only a ten-minute commute to college now.”
Talking about this was bringing me back to the day she first walked up to my porch all abrupt and sudden like.
It was after that outing with that flaming love detective. Minding my own business, thinking about life, and there she daintily strolled on over in her bright yellow and white like a sunflower in full bloom.
I remembered how meek and restrained she was back then too. So quiet and polite with her words, so reserved with her motions... she was pretty much an entirely different person back then.
Who would have thought things would play out as they did? Fast forward to now, and you got someone who was the complete opposite of it all.
Witty, daring, somewhat crass, and a little shameless. I daresay it was an improvement.
Guess, that’s just what love does to a person, does to her... does to me...
“Do you still get nightmares?” I asked, recalling back to our conversation that day. “Something like that isn’t bound to leave your mind easy.”
“I used to... sometimes, only sometimes, I still do too,” She confessed, and yet when she spoke, she didn’t sound at all troubled. “But when I do, I just think of you... I always think of you... and when I do, the nightmares stop, and it’s only you... saving me like you always do.”
“A Knight in shining armor, huh?”
She shrugged. “Pretty much.”
“I’m flattered,” I said, before giving a little sigh. “Except that isn’t exactly who I am... in reality, I’m just some guy.”
“I know,” She replied. “And maybe that’s why I prefer the real you all the more.”
I turned to her, bemused... catching her lips again curling upwards.
“Because despite being just some guy... you still sought out to save me anyway,” She said softly. “So you might not be a knight, might not have the sword and shield, but in reality, you are my hero... and to me, that’s miles better than any sweet dream.”
It seems Hayley was too right, after all. Amanda as she was... was simply too blinding.
“Careful there,” I said, trying and failing to hide the red in my face. “Flirting and driving, remember... you don’t wanna get pulled over do you?”
Again, another giggle, an endearing sound at that, reminding me all over again how just how cheeky she’s gotten over the course of our time together. “You’re cute when you’re embarrassed.”
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