“Mina, I’m so very sorry about your bike. It was an accident.” Brody looked apologetic. Mina kept walking. “The least you could let me give you a ride to school. It’s raining.”
It was raining, hard.
Mina blinked the rain out of her eyes and shivered. Whether it was from the cold or the idea of sitting less than a foot from Brody Carmichael, she wasn’t sure. But when her teeth started to chatter Brody darted out into the rain and ran to the passenger’s door to open it for her. “Get in, before you get sick.”
Mina bobbed her head in answer and slid in, her wet jeans sticking miserably to the leather. Her hair was now soaking wet and large drops of water were dripping onto the seats of his car.
“I’m sorry.” Mina’s teeth chattered out when Brody ducked back into the car.
His large hand went to the console and turned on the heat. He twisted in his seat and reached behind him to pull a clean shirt out of his gym bag. “Here, use this.” He took the shirt and gently tried to wipe the water from her face.
Mina jumped from the touch and he held out the shirt in a peace offering. “Sorry,” she said again.
Brody smiled out of the corner of his mouth. “You sure do apologize a lot, when it’s not even your fault.”
“I’m getting your seat all wet.” She tried to use the shirt to wipe off the pools of water on the leather but he reached out and touched her hand, stopping her efforts.
“It’s just a car. It’ll dry.” He looked at Mina and her heart fluttered. He meant it, he wasn’t lying or trying to appease her. He didn’t care about the car at all.
Mina let the heat of the car soak into her bones, no wait; those were Brody’s heated seats. She was so nervous; she didn’t know what to say or where to look. Should she talk to him, look at him, ask him about his family? She couldn’t decide, so Mina did none of these things, staring quietly out the passenger window instead.
Brody cleared his throat. “You know, you’re one hard person to find.”
Mina turned to look at him. “What do you mean? You were looking for me?”
Brody cast her a quick glance before focusing on driving again. “Well, I tried to call you to apologize, but you were unlisted, and then no one I knew had your cell number.”
“I don’t have a cell phone.” Mina felt her cheeks turn pink; she must be the only girl in high school without a phone. “I’m also not friends with anyone you would know.”
Brody shrugged. “I didn’t know. So then I was going to come to your house, but again…”
“Unlisted,” Mina finished for him, glad for once that her mother paid a small fee to keep it that way. She didn’t know what she would have done had Brody showed up on her doorstep, in the middle of yesterday’s tearful confession.
“Brody, it’s okay. What happened yesterday was an accident. I left it in the middle of the driveway. It wasn’t as if you ran me over.” Mina played with the edge of her sleeve. She was doing it again, taking the blame.
“Then why did you run from me?” Brody asked, looking at her. “You didn’t give me a chance to apologize or explain.”
Mina hadn’t anticipated this question and now desperately wished she was back outside, walking in the rain. She shrugged her shoulders pathetically in answer. “I don’t know.” A few minutes of silence filled the car and then Mina turned on Brody. “What were you doing on this side of town this morning? I know for a fact that you live on the other side of town.”
Brody chuckled and smiled at Mina. “Looking for you.”
“For me? Why?” Mina was numb with disbelief.
“I felt bad about what happened and wanted to find you. So I had one of our employees do some digging, and found out you lived in the international district. So I decided to head over here to find you. I mean, I did destroy your only mode of transportation. The least I could do is drive you to school.”
“And lock me in the car, so I have to listen to your apology, right?” Mina pursed her lips in anger. She couldn’t believe him. He had someone do a background check on them? “You had no right!” she said.
“I had every right.” Brody pulled the car into the school parking lot. He put the car in park and turned toward her, the windshield wipers still moving back and forth, in rhythm with the rain. “I knew that if I didn’t find you outside of school, I might never get to apologize.”
Mina scoffed. “Oh, I understand. I mean, after all, you’re Brody Carmichael and you have a certain social standing to uphold. I’m just Mina Grimm, a nobody.” Mina realized she’d let her real name slip, but he didn’t seem to notice. He opened his mouth to argue but Mina cut him off. “It’s okay. You’ve apologized, see? Apology accepted. You’ve done your civic duty and now you’re off the hook. Don’t worry; we aren’t going to sue or anything.” Mina grabbed for the door handle and exited the car, fuming at his nerve.
Doing everything she could to keep from running into school, Mina marched as quickly as possible toward the girl’s bathroom and locked herself in a lone bathroom stall. She couldn’t believe she just had a fight with Brody. Tears burned in her eyes from embarrassment and anger. How could he? She fumed. Why would he go to all of the trouble to search her out, to apologize; when he could have just done it at school? It’s because she was right, he was embarrassed by her. To bad that she, boring old Mina, had saved his life, and not some more exciting girl. If only he knew.
Mina wiped away her tears and walked to the sink to compose herself. The rain had added a slight wave to her brown hair, which was not unattractive. It fell past her shoulders and was mostly dry thanks to the awesome heaters in Brody’s car. She suddenly felt queasy as she remembered what she’d said to him in anger. She hoped that it would all blow over and he will forget her.
The first warning bell rang and three girls rushed into the bathroom, to apply a final layer of makeup before class.