I turned to him and our eyes met, a look of understanding passing between us. “Thanks,” I whispered, not knowing what else to say. Several moments passed in silence, the air between us becoming charged, electric, with each passing second. I wanted to tear my eyes from his to break the intensity of the moment, afraid he was seeing straight through me with that unwavering stare.
After a small eternity, Sebastian nodded, swallowing roughly before reaching across the center console. As his hand extended into my space, I forced myself not to flinch back from his touch. Our eyes still locked, I felt his fingers thread softly through the thick strands of hair at the base of my neck. His fingers skimmed the sensitive skin there, gently tugging my long hair up from where it was trapped beneath his bulky sweater. When his arm lifted, the damp waves tumbled free and fell midway down my back.
With unhurried fingers, he skimmed through the strands from the crown of my head down to the tips of each curl, his eyes following the movement of his hand as if mesmerized. I inhaled sharply when his fingers dropped down to brush the small of my back, but didn’t pull away from his touch, entranced by the strange intimacy of a moment between strangers.
An involuntary exhale of air slipped between my lips, breaking the silence. Sebastian abruptly dropped his hand, his eyes seemed to clear of the haze, and he cleared his throat as he turned back to face the road. Pulling off the shoulder, we drove in silence for another five minutes before he spoke again. I didn’t know what he was thinking – I wasn’t even sure whatIwas thinking. All I knew was that my skin still tingled where his fingers had grazed, and I could still feel the weight of his eyes tracing over my features, as though their path had burned into my skin and marked me deep beneath the surface.
I tried to slow my racing heart as I watched the trees fly by outside the passenger window. Soft classical music – an intriguing choice for a high school boy – whispered through his speakers and lulled us back into safer waters.
“So are you going to tell me where I’m driving anytime soon or do I have to guess?” He laughed, trying to lighten the inexplicably heavy mood. “Not that I mind, really. Just wondering whether you had a destination, or were out walking in the rain for fun.”
“Oh!” I exclaimed, slapping my forehead with an open palm. I could feel my cheeks heating as an embarrassed blush overtook my face. “I’m sorry, I’m an idiot. Can you please drop me off at Jackson Medical Center?”
He looked over at me curiously but didn’t question my odd choice of destination. With a nod, he merged onto Main Street – which, in the one-horse town that was Jackson, housed every restaurant and shop on a single strip – and we wound through the streets toward the local hospital.
“What song is this?” I whispered, not wanting to break the silence but desperate to know the name of the hauntingly beautiful melody coming from his speakers.
“It’s by a composer named Tomaso Vitali — it’s theVitali Chaconne,” he said, looking over at me with raised eyebrows. “You like classical music?”
“Not particularly,” I murmured, straining to listen as the violin crescendoed in an achingly sweet climax of strings. I’d never heard anything like it before. “But this is… I don’t have words for what this is,” I whispered, utterly overtaken by the music.
“I know what you mean. I feel the same way.” Sebastian cleared his throat roughly. “Some people don’t get music. How it can take you away from a place or a moment you don’t want to be anymore, and transport you somewhere else entirely. Somewhere better.” He blushed, as if embarrassed by his own admission or worried that he’d revealed something too personal.
“Do you play?” I asked.
“Every day,” he admitted, laughing softly.
“What instrument?”
“Piano,” he said, smiling to himself. “My mother would’ve preferred violin, but she thought I wouldn’t have the discipline for it.”
Somehow I doubted that. Sebastian didn’t strike me as the undisciplined type, but I wasn’t about to question him.
“I’d love to learn, someday,” I mused softly, knowing that it wasn’t a possibility. Music lessons were expensive and, even if I won the lottery and could somehow purchase a piano, the giant instrument would take up the entirety of my tiny bedroom. I grinned as the ridiculous image of me sleeping on top of a grand piano each night popped into my head – my pillow and blanket sliding against the glossy black wood as I tried to get comfortable.
“I could teach you,” Sebastian offered casually, as though that was an actual possibility. I could only imagine what his popular posse would think of him hanging out with Lux Kincaid. I held in my snort and managed to nod.
“Mhm, maybe,” I muttered noncommittally, looking out the window.
Was I actually having a normal conversation with the senator’s son? I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around that fact. I didn’t look back at him until we were pulling to a stop in front of the hospital entrance.
“So… I guess this is it.” Sebastian shifted the car into park and turned to face at me.
“Guess so,” I said, gripping the door handle like a lifeline. I didn’t know what to say to this beautiful boy, who talked about music and made me smile when nothing in my life seemed worth being happy about. “Thanks for nearly running me over. It was real fun.”
“Anytime. It was my pleasure.” He laughed.
“Goodbye, Sebastian,” I said, getting out of the car.
“See you in class, Lux.”
Sure, he’d see me. But we both knew we’d never talk like this again. We were from different worlds, and the reality was that the white-trash girl in the ripped up jeans simply didn’t mix well with mansions and Mercedes. It was a shame, I thought, walking through the doors. For a moment, there, I could’ve sworn we’d connected on a basic human level. Sitting in his car in the rain, everything else had fallen away and we’d seemed like the only two in the world.
I knew better than to think it could last. Tomorrow in class, he’d ignore my presence and it would be as if it had never happened. All would be right in the world. I ignored the pang of loneliness in my chest, forcing a smile on my face as I thought ahead to Jamie.
I resolutely did not look back as the automatic glass doors slid shut behind me and, thus, had no way of knowing that Sebastian’s watchful eyes followed my retreating form until I rounded acorner and faded from his view.