Up in the Air

Chapter 21

Dedicated to sickah for suggesting Raviv Ullman as Louis.

Raviv may not exactly be Hispanic as I'd originally pictured Louis. But I had one of those "That's him! That's him!" moment when I saw his picture. Check out Louis (Raviv Ullman) and Here's to Us by Halestorm - it's kind of this chapter's themesong - to your right.

I hope this chapter more than makes up for the long wait. Also, I have a few interesting propositions for you in the post-chapter A/N. 

Chapter 21

I pretended to vomit in the front seat as I watched Louis give Jenny a kiss on the cheek. They were on the Smiles' door steps and both of their backs were turned to me so they never got to see my fantastic faux vomiting technique. Still, it was something Allie and I did whenever those two went into PDA mode – which, truth be told, was quite a lot. It started around the time Louis and Jenny began dating and it's become a tradition ever since then. Allie's even incorporated some pseudochoking in her own fake vomit routine.

Louis smiled at me cheerfully when he stepped into the driver's seat of my truck a few seconds later. "You did that whole fake vomit thing again?" he asked with a knowing smile.

"Don't I always, Louis. Don't I always," I happily chirped, crossing my arms in front of me in pure smugness.

He released a loud snort as he started the truck and pulled out of the Smiles' driveway. "Just wait until you and that British dude start making out in public. I'll make sure you see me fake vomit everytime."

I opened my mouth to tell Louis off but he cut me off. "Yeah, yeah, I know you and that British dude won't be doing that."

"I'm not saying you two don't make out," he smiled after I began to stare at him with wide-eyed confusion. "For all I know, all those study dates you've been having at the library were just you two heavily making out until closing time."

None of my usual smart retorts came to me. Instead, I choked on my own spit.

He let out another laugh and wiggled his eyebrows at me playfully. "All I'm saying is that you two don't seem like the type of couple to do the tongue tango in public," he shrugged. "You and the British dude just have too much class."

I playfully smacked him in the face for all of the digs he'd gotten on my behalf in the past five minutes. "The British dude has a name – Daniel," I reminded him. "Plus, the words British and dude just don't go together."

Louis flashed me a wide grin but didn't say anything. We sat in quiet silence until the stop light turned yellow. That was the point that a faint trace of worry came over Louis' dark brown eyes. "You know I can just drop you off at home," he offered

If we took a right at this intersection, a quick two minute drive would lead to my house. If we kept going straight, we'd be heading into town and, indirectly, the diner where Louis worked where I'd already planned to spend the next few hours.

"Louis," I sighed. "You have asked me this fifty times since this morning. I am perfectly fine with hanging out at the diner until your shift is over."

"But it's still four," he nodded at the clock on the dashboard as the truck lurched forward. "And my shift doesn't end until nine."

I shook my head playfully. "Not a problem. I have all my school things with me," I gave the messenger bag by my foot a comfortable tap. "Plus I have my computer with me. So if ever I do finish my schoolwork early -"