Under the New York Sky | ✔️

•C h a p t e r T w e l v e•

"Get out of here Ryan," Aden called out to him, there were two red dots on his cheeks.

Ryan guffawed, "Alright fine, I gotta get home anyways. Have fun, but not too much fun." Ryan winked and eyed the two of us as he walked off. I kept my gaze at the ground, suddenly super interested in the cracks of the cement as I felt my cheeks heat up.

"Come on, lets get going," Aden said. I was surprised to see his cheeks tinted red. I nodded and hopped into the passenger seat in his car — an attractive one at that, a black Ford Escape. He turned up the radio and backed out of the parking lot as I clicked on my seatbelt.

We sat in a comfortable silence for a while, accompanied by the radio. Ten minutes into the ride, the radio began playing Pocket Full of Dreams by Hedley and I grinned in excitement. It was a song I hadn't heard in a really long time, and at one point I was obsessed with it.

Aden began mumbling the lyrics under his breath and my head snapped into his direction.

"You also listen to Hedley?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

He nodded, eyes trained on the road, "Yeah, used to anyways."

"Do you listen to rap?" I asked and Aden shook his head.

"Gosh no."

I sat back in my seat, satisfied and glad he didn't listen to rap. Rap music was not really my thing, to me, it just felt like a bunch of shouting and a lot less singing. Aden smiled at me from the driver's seat at my satisfaction.

A few moments later he pulled into an underground parking lot to park his car. We both got out, entering the elevator a few meters away from his parking spot. He twirled the key loop around his fingers.

"If you live so close to school, why even drive?" I asked him as the doors shut behind us.

This elevator had better not crash.

"Because most of the time I wake up too late to walk," he smiled sheepishly as he pressed the button to his floor.

"Hah, figures." I muttered under my breath, shooting him a toothy grin.

"Excuse me?" Aden's voice went up a pitch as he approached me. I leaned back against the wall of the elevator as he leaned in towards me, my cheeks heating up with our proximity.

"I didn't say anything," I feigned an innocent look, my eyes widening slightly as I stood up taller. It was futile though, Aden was still towering over me.

Aden opened his mouth to say something when the elevator doors opened.

He gave me one last look, a sly smile on his lips, "I'll get you back for that."

"Oh, I'm sure you will," I drawled overconfidently as I followed him down the hall to his apartment. He opened the door for me and I stepped inside.

It was a cozy apartment, with a cabin like feel. Everything was beige or brown, and many accessories and some of the walls were wood. The living room was on one side and the kitchen on the other side. The kitchen was typical, with a stove and a countertop behind it. There was a hallway that led to an array of bedrooms and the bathroom.

He set down his keys and his wallet onto the table. "We can get started right away to get it over with."

I nodded in agreement and we sat down around the small dinner table in the kitchen.

I took out my chemistry notes and the textbook, tossing it haphazardly onto the table. "This is seriously a dumb project. Like we're literally reiterating the whole unit on a piece of poster paper," I plopped down onto the chair, complaining as I began writing the main points into the paper.