Poison

[ 21 ]

"Where are we going?" I blurt into the silent car.

"I told you: out," he answers, which gets a head shake from me.

"We're out right now. What's the destination?" I urge and he represses a smile.

"Can't you just horribly sing along to your music and let me drive in peace?" he questions as he turns on the radio. I offer him a pout and watch as a slow smile spreads across his face. "You're going to like it."

We eventually reach a large, modern building constructed of long glass windows and smooth, cinder exterior. I squint to read the name and he waits for me to catch on. "An interactive museum?" I question with my eyebrows slowly making their way up my face. He offers a brief nod and turns away from me.

"Yeah," he answers in short. "Come on, let's go."

I get out of the car wearing a stupid smile, which seems to catch his attention because he chuckles quietly. "So why'd you choose this place?" I wonder as I stare up at the towering building.

"I don't know," he replies as he raises and drops his shoulders slowly. "I figured it seemed cool enough."

"Cool? You bash my love for history and museums all the time," I defend with squinted eyes.

"I don't bash it," he rebuts in a corrective tone. "I tease you, which is completely different."

"So...you drove forty minutes away to come to an interactive museum because you thought it was cool," I propose dubiously with a mocking nod. He chuckles quietly but keeps his gaze locked ahead on the glass doors.

"No, I drove forty minutes away to come to an interactive museum because I thought you'd think it was cool," he corrects me. "Again, completely different."

"You thought I'd think it was cool?" I ask with raised brows. I stop for a second to stare at him and he pauses and gives me a brief glance.

"That's what I said, right?" he retorts before turning and continuing up the steps. I rush to catch up and find that he's still talking. "You know, of all the history-related things in our town, none of them were remotely interesting. This was by far the most entertaining one in the entire county."

"So you went out of your way to look for a place?" I'm shocked. He actually looked up things for us to do and now here he is confessing to it.

"Obviously," he responds with a small scoff.

"So...do you take all the girls here?" I ask as I peek up at him through my lashes.

He gives me a short side glance before looking around. "Why does it matter?" he wonders playfully before offering a dismissive shake of his head. "I've never even been here."

He slowly approaches the counter where a man is working. "Hello," he greets us with a joyous smile. He'd make a good Santa Claus impersonator. In his pale, chubby fingers he holds up two tickets and gives them a light wave. "Two?"

"Yes," Asa answers while extending his card. I watch him exchange his money for tickets and a pamphlet. After flipping through the pages for a few seconds, we start towards what I'm assuming is the first exhibit.

"I'll pay you back," I insist when my eyes land on a sign that displays the pricey admission fee.

"You don't have to," he assures me and when he sees that I'm going to protest, he allows a small smirk to fall onto his plump mouth. "You can get the next one."

"Next one?" I play into his flirtations as I walk beside him down the long corridor.

"Yeah, find something that you think I'd find cool and then take me there," he proposes and I tilt my head up in thought.