Too High For The Net

9| Movies and Accidents

"Ready to be blessed by Emma Stone?" Hugo asks me, opening the door to the passenger side of his blue Jeep Wrangler, Lorelai.

I giggle and get in. "Oh, yes. After The Amazing Spiderman and Cruella? I want more."

I never thought that this plan would actually happen. I believed that it was just a small joke of some sort, and that we wouldn't actually watch a movie together. But here we are. When I told Rowan and Fi all about it, they freaked out and then the conversation ended up being Rowan teasing Fi saying, Oh, you wish Jonah would do that to you, huh? with a smirking emoji.

Hugo turns on the Bluetooth and connects his phone to the car, shuffling some songs from a playlist. "Any particular music you would like to listen to?"

"This is fine."

"You sure? Are you a Swiftie at least?" he glances at me.

I smile. "I like her music, but I'm not a super fan like Fi. Oh, Fi is a mega Swiftie. She knows everything that's Taylor Swift related. She's like that with One Direction."

Hugo barks a laugh. "Same goes for Jonah." He steals another glance. "But I want to know about you. What's your preferred music?"

I shrug. "Gracie Abrams."

"Conan Gray?"

"Him too. More Gracie, though," I nod my head. "And Arctic Monkeys, too."

We stop at a red light, and Hugo takes out his phone. From the corner of my eye, I could see him on Spotify, and suddenly the song switches to Do I Wanna Know? by Arctic Monkeys. I instantly beam once I hear the guitar riff, and I hum to the tune while I look out the window, watching the sky go from orange to a mellow blue.

"Who's your favorite artist, Hugo?" I ask, turning my attention to him.

He drums his fingers on the wheel. "Guess."

I purse my lips. "You sort of give the find of a boy that listens to Kanye West, Travis Scott, and Kendrick Lamar or something."

"Nope," he says, popping the 'p'. "I don't listen to rap that much."

I raise my eyebrows. "Really?"

"Don't act so surprised," he grins at me. "Not every guy you see is a hardcore fan of Kanye."

"Right. Sorry."

He smiles and looks back at the road.

"So, who do you listen to then?" I ask.

He lifts a shoulder. "Niall Horan mostly. A little Frank Ocean here, a little Shawn Mendes there. And lots of Selena Gomez."

"I love Selena," I say, resting my head back against the headrest. "What about favorite actor and actress?"

Hugo glances at me with a smile of amusement and an arched brow. "What, are we playing icebreaker?"

I shrug. "Better than silence."

"Favorite actors are Tom Hanks, Andrew Garfield, and Leo DiCaprio—"

"Oh, Titanic Leo has my heart. So does my favorite Spider-Man."

"—and favorite actress? Hmm," he makes a face like he's fighting with himself for an answer, "agh, that's hard. At the moment, it's Emma Stone. Ask me again next week and my answer's probably different. You?"

I ponder about it. "Favorite actors are Ben Barnes and Louis Partridge."

"Oh, you're one of those girls."

I shrug again. "You know I love a London Boy." He laughs and so do I. "Favorite actresses are Florence Pugh and Emma Watson."

Hugo lets out a long whistle. "I guess you have a thing for British."