The Nerd and The Frog

Walking On a Dream

Once inside, Daniel placed his seatbelt on and pressed the button to start the car, it instantly came to life. He connected his own phone to the cord, then calmly handed Alan his phone.

"Feel free to select any music you want." Daniel spoke politely, his right hand grabbing the gear shift carefully once Alan took his phone. He shifted gears with ease as he drove out of the parking spot towards the exit.

Alan was a bit too distracted to select a song as he watched Daniel switch gears with just a smooth motion of his hand. This is the sexiest thing I have ever seen... except for seeing him somewhat naked... that was sexy too. Alan thought, a rather pleased smile on his face.

Not wanting to seem like a creeper, Alan turned his attention to the phone resting in his hand, unlocked with the music app open for his selection. It was always strange going through someone else's song list, especially if their taste in music was not the same. Daniel definitely had more popular songs and artists in his playlist, which Alan expected to see. However, there was one song that caught his attention and he couldn't help but push play on it.

"Empire of the Sun?" Alan spoke out loud as he looked at the screen, hearing the song "Walking on a Dream" being emitted over the speakers.

Daniel, switching into 3rd gear as he drove down the street, glanced over at the question. "What? The song is good..." Daniel answered honestly with a grin.

"I'm just... surprised..." Alan admitted with a shrug as he placed the phone onto a mount on the dash.

"You seem to be surprised at everything with me for some reason." Daniel spoke, his attention back on the road. "Where am I heading, by the way?"

"Oh, I'll put it into your GPS." Alan stated, grabbing the phone once again, typing his address into the mapping system. "And... I don't know. I had expectations that are just being broken today."

"Expectations? Of what, exactly?" Daniel asked, curious.

"Well... of you, really." Alan quietly admitted, placing the phone back onto the mount once again as the AI spoke directions through the speakers, occasionally interrupting the song.

"I'm... not understanding." Daniel admitted, downshifting as they neared a red stoplight.

"Besides the frog thing..." Alan stated with a smirk, only to see Daniel roll his eyes. "I mean, you're pretty cool, Daniel. You're popular, you're really good at soccer, you dress awesomely, you're.... attractive..." Alan caught himself, before the words "totally fuckable" slipped out his mouth. "Let's put it this way: You fit the very definition of a well-to-do popular, preppy, rich kid."

"Ok... I wouldn't call myself that." Daniel replied, a frown on his face.

"You drive a damn Lexus." Alan rebutted, only to hear Daniel laugh.

"Fair point. But, it's something that I had to work to get. My dad didn't just hand it to me. I had to prove to him that I could drive it." Daniel calmly admitted, shifting gears again once the light changed green. "My grades are consistently good. Granted, I'm not top ranking like yourself, they are well above a 3.5 GPA. I also had to work 2 full summers to save up enough money to give to my dad to put towards the final payments of the car. I dropped $5,000 on this car before he gave it to me. Otherwise, my older brother in college was going to get it."

"You work?" Alan asked, baffled.

"The hell, Alan? I'm not a rich brat in the slightest. I'm not sure where you get this idea from." Daniel stated, surprised. "I mean, you know a lot about cars. I wouldn't think an academic like yourself would give two shits about cars."