andante ❈ benjamin pavard

NINETEEN

"Nice car," Zoe commented, looking around her. Ross slid his sunglasses down to cover his eyes. It was pretty sunny for mid-afternoon.

"Thanks," Ross replied, graciously accepting the compliment. "I picked a restaurant closer to the stadium, in New Jersey, if that's okay." 

"Not okay. I hate New Jersey," Zoe deadpanned. Ross actually looked scared for a second. "Kidding, totally kidding, I'm not that much of a snob." Zoe nudged Ross' arm as he turned the corner. The edges of his lips quirked and he snuck a glance at Zoe.

"Sorry- I'm just nervous. I don't know if you know this, but you're crazy beautiful." She scoffed at the admission. 

The New York scenery blurred as Ross drove through traffic. It wasn't rush hour yet so the traffic was pretty standard. Zoe turned to look at Ross, who quickly avoided her gaze and he blushed deeply. She wasn't used to having that effect on boys; usually, it was the other way around.

"You're so full of it." Zoe shook her head, resting her arm against the car door. They slowed to a stop at a red light.

"What do you mean?" Ross laughed, loud and boisterous. He lifted a hand from the steering wheel and placed it on the back of her neck, stroking her loose hair. "I'm serious. Why can't I be serious?"

"Because you're so cliché." It came out with no bite. "The sunglasses, the shiny car, the charming smile. How many girls have you asked out so far?"

Ross actually guffawed at that. An honest to God guffaw. Zoe had never seen one in real life before.

"What do you take me for? A slut?" Ross as incredulously, but his smile was still as before. "For you're information, I've been building up the nerve to ask you out all semester."

Zoe sat back, impressed. She paused. "What does building up the nerve mean?" She hadn't encountered that idiom before.

"Like, getting the courage. I've been pretty scared of you. Because you're like, so intimidating." Ross gives a self-deprecating smile and they began driving across a bridge. There were a lot of bridges in New York. She didn't know that Manhattan was an island until last year. 

"Me? Intimidating?" She pointed at herself and laughed. She could feel her accent slipping through.

"Yes, you." Ross tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, still keeping his eyes on the road. Boys driving with one hand was indescribably hot. "You seem so aloof to the freshmen lifestyle. Like you're above all the binge drinking in some guy's room and hiding all your alcohol in like, I don't know, your hamper. And I don't know, European girls are intimidating in general." He glances at her. "Say something in French."

Zoe stared. "You're fucking weird." Ross laughed.

"What does that mean?" He asked. The wind was messing his hair up and Zoe had no desire to correct it.

"I said it's very windy," Zoe lied, grinning.

"You did not say that." She had never been a good liar. "I'll take it, though. You still scare me, but I'll take it."

That was a new phenomenon. She usually was the one being intimidated. Well, not usually. It was just one time. With Ben. But he meant everything to her at the time. She was so awestruck by his good looks and boyish charms that she didn't see the obvious flaws in him. His incessant need to be on the move and his ability to act like simultaneously nothing and everything mattered. Zoe felt the brunt of the latter. One minute she was on Cloud Nine and the next she was falling helplessly through the sky.

The rest of the car ride was pretty normal. They talked about their lives prior to Columbia. Ross went to a boarding school in Connecticut and played hockey. Zoe didn't know the first thing about hockey. Her knowledge started and ended on the fact that it was played on ice. She couldn't even tell you how many players were on a team. Zoe told him about her family- about her brother Mathieu. She dutifully left out any mention of knowing any football players. It wasn't like Ben would be there, anyway. She didn't know if she would bring it up even then.