⊹₊ ˚‧︵‿₊୨ February 2nd, 2005 The Drive ୧₊‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹
Rudy took a moment to hold back his reaction to her reveal, making his judgements internally. “I didn’t realise you were such a harsh critic,” Lizzy told him lightly, with her brows raised. Though she suppressed her smile as he folded his arms, awaiting the final thoughts. Eventually, Rudy gave away his thoughts, telling her it was a bold choice that could start a revolution. She smiled immediately, feeling a buzz from getting his approval even at something as small as this. Then she fought to drop the smile, shrugging. “Wellll I had a great teacher,” Lizzy told him, in an overly trying-to-stay-humble manner.
Lizzy’s eyes flicked from her cup to the ground, and she watched as his feet stepped closer to hers. Her eyes subtly widened, and while Rudy had stayed focused on the colour scheme of her ice, Lizzy had fixated on his proximity right now. It was probably an accident, but enough for her to stay hung up on it for the moments he was in her close vicinity. And if that hadn’t been enough to set off an internal spiral, Rudy then took what was in her hand, brushing his fingers grazing hers without any warning. Lizzy opened her mouth, and had to make a conscious effort not to blurt questions on what he was doing, if he was doing that on purpose, if so, why would he be doing that.
Thankfully, Rudy beat her to saying anything, continuing to compliment her work as they reached the counter. Lizzy laughed, underlying nerves creeping up as she became conscious of the clerk watching them, as if she needed a witness to her failing to function properly around Rudy. “I mean, pfft, come on, purple and green will always be a good look,” She insisted, her hands gesturing towards it as she struggled to find something else to do with them. “But yeah, sure, you know, I’ll probably start working on that revolution some point soon,” Lizzy continued, before meeting the gaze of the clerk as Rudy was looking away, with a look that said I don’t know either. As Rudy looked back, dollar bills landed on the counter, “You don’t—” Lizzy started, but he was already turning towards the door. “Thank you,” She said as she caught up with him.
As they stepped outside, Lizzy raised her eyebrows at Rudy’s interpretation from her slushy; her making charming choices. “Okay, I think that might be a bit of a–” Lizzy started, before he continued to insist on his point. Then she tilted her head, barely hiding her disbelief at him claiming to have merely been at the right place at the right time. Did he not know that Lizzy knew the exact place and the exact time for her to ‘bump’ into him? “And how do you know it wasn’t just another one of my great choices?” She asked, surprising herself with the forwardness, while still downplaying the deliberateness of her actions.
After all his talking on it and the careful crafting behind it, Rudy finally declared the moment of trying the slushies. “Okay, well, it better have been worth it,” Lizzy told him, as if it wouldn’t all be worth it even if it tasted like sh!t. She held up the cup as he looked at her with anticipation. “Okay, I’m doing it,” Lizzy said, overplaying the moment as if she was about to jump off a cliff. She finally put the straw to her lips, taking the first sip of her concoction. The cold hit her tongue immediately, closely followed by the sugary sourness of the lime and grape. “Oh my God,” Lizzy exclaimed, her hand reaching for her head that had taken a hit from the jolt of ice. “That’s a lot,” She told him, her reaction hard to read for a prolonged moment.
Eventually, Lizzy broke out into a laugh, more revealing of her thoughts. “You were right, it’s amazing,” She admitted with a wide smile. “Maybe you’re not too bad at making choices yourself,” Lizzy told him, her head nodding in his direction playfully, before she went in for another sip. Her hand went back up to her head again as she said, “And yes, it was all totally worth it. Minus the pain part, thanks for that warning,” Lizzy commented lightly.
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