I’m so close, I can hear her breathing, slow and steady. She always wears lipstick, but this one makes her lips look even plumper than usual.
Don said not to go there, remember?
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she rasps, shifting down with a jolt.
“Just getting you used to the concept of sharing space.”
“Well, you’re staring.”
“And that’s a problem because…?”
“Because I don’t like it.”
I laugh. “Well, you’ll need to get over that—and fast. Your passengers will be real live humans… and you know what that means.”
“That I can’t just stuff them in my trunk?”
“That they’ll be looking at you, Amy. With their eyes. And you know what?” I gasp. “Some of them might actually try and talk to you!”
Her eyelids flutter shut for a second, like she’s latching on to some distant thought.
“I can handle that.”
“This one time, I had some chick who spent eleven whole minutes just staring at me in silence.”
“She sounds insane.”
“Not insane. Just obsessed with my body.”
“With your dead body?” She flicks on the turn signal.
I laugh, and for the briefest of seconds, I catch her smiling. She’s cute when she’s relaxed, I realize.
“So, where are we heading?” she asks as we wait for the lights to change.
“Since you’re new in town, you probably don’t know the lay of the land, which isn’t ideal for a Campus Driver,” I start. “I mean, you should be good to get wherever you need to be as fast as possible. Time is money, after all—waste ten minutes on every trip, and that’s an extra two trips you can’t pick up during your shift.”
“See, I know a guy who knows a guy who knows an amazing thing called Google Maps,” she snickers.
“Oh, you sweet summer child…” I shake my head. “One day, I’ll show you exactly why that’s a terrible idea.”
“You could be waiting a while.”
We stare each other down, until the car behind us honks and my trainee jumps in her seat, her features hardening again.
“Go north. Head for Cardinal Village.”
“Okay.” She puts the address into Google Maps anyway, and I scoff.
I watch her drive, her shoulders stiff as she gnaws on the inside of her cheek.
“You can shift into third, you know.”
“Okay.”
“Try overtaking that guy.”
“Okay.”
