"Okay, I'll pick you up then."
"All right, but you better get some sleep," I advised.
"I will," he replied, then we said our goodbyes and I yawned again, rolling over and doing just that.
By the next morning, I wasn't sure about the idea of riding to school with Derek. When I tried to call to tell him not to bother, I could get a ride from Alex (who didn't notice that I didn't come home the night before, as he happened to be in the shower when I snuck in), he didn’t answer.
I was just stuffing my books into my backpack when Derek pulled in, so I called out a goodbye to Alex and went out to Derek's car. I saw him turn down the radio, which I was thankful for, and then I opened the door, sliding into the passenger seat.
"Hey," he greeted.
"Hey," I replied, shoving my backpack in the floor. "I tried to call you."
"You did? Sorry, I must've had the music too loud."
"Well, I wasn't really thinking about this in the middle of the night when you called me, but maybe you should drop me off up the road from the school or something."
He shot me a funny look. "Uh, why?"
"Because people could see me getting out of your car. People will know we came to school together."
"Oh no," he mocked. "I'm going to have to marry you for sure now; your reputation will never recover from getting a ride to school."
I rolled my eyes, reluctantly smiling anyway. "I'm not talking about my reputation, I'm just saying people will notice, then people will talk..." I trailed off, thinking he would get it.
"And it will be another normal day of high school? I'm not really seeing the big deal, Nikki."
"People might think... something other than what's going on," I said.
"Spell it out, 'cause I'm still not seeing the crisis situation," he stated.
"People might think we're dating," I said in the same tone some might say, "People might think I have the plague."
He merely lifted his eyebrows, remarking, "I'm sure stranger things have been thought."
I could only stare at him. "Derek, you hate me, remember? Why in the world would you want anyone to think we're dating?"
"I didn't say I wanted people to think that, Nikki, but... I mean, I'm single now, you're single now, and we are sleeping together, so..."
"Yeah, but not like that," I argued.
He shrugged. "I don't know, I wouldn't really worry about what people think."
If he wasn’t worried about it, maybe I was overthinking it. Maybe I was being paranoid.
“Here,” he said, lifting a Starbuck’s cup out of his cup holder.
“What’s this?” I asked, taking the cup and frowning at it.
“Hot cider. That’s what you like, right?”
I blinked. “It’s for me?”
Eyebrow rising, he nodded and lifted his own cup to take a drink. “It’s kinda cold out today. Figured it would be rude to drink one in front of you.”
I cut him a suspicious sideways glance, but I wasn’t going to turn down hot cider.
We arrived at the school soon after that, and since my locker was in the opposite direction of Derek's, we said we'd see each other in class and went our separate ways.