Hot Driver - S01 E21

Story 1 week ago

Hot Driver - S01 E21

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 21

{Brooke Residence – Morning}

Celeste hummed softly while flipping pancakes, Luis setting the table beside her, the two of them falling into an easy morning rhythm.

“I’ve decided,” Celeste said, echoing the words she’d been turning over for days now. “I’m going to open the restaurant. I found a small space downtown yesterday. It’s perfect.”

“That’s amazing, Mama,” Luis said, grinning.

Her phone rang against the counter. Luis passed it to her, and she nearly let it go to voicemail, assuming it was another call from the Morales household she didn’t have the energy to answer.

But the number looked familiar.
She picked up cautiously.

“Hello?”

“Mama, it’s me.”

Her whole face brightened instantly. “Duane! Sweetheart, how are you?”

They talked easily, laughter passing back and forth, and when he mentioned coming by that weekend, she felt a small flutter of excitement settle in her chest.

I’ll tell him about the money then, she decided. About the restaurant. Everything. Face to face, where I can actually see his reaction.

“See you soon, baby,” she said, hanging up with a wide, genuine smile.

{Prestige High School – Cafeteria – Noon}

The cafeteria buzzed with its usual chaos, trays clattering, voices overlapping in a constant, cheerful hum.

Hazel sat with Penelope and Mitchell at their regular table, the three of them deep in easy conversation about an upcoming assignment none of them had actually started yet.

“We have three days,” Penelope said, panic edging into her voice. “Three days and I haven’t written a single word.”

“You’ll survive,” Hazel said. “You always do.”

Mitchell laughed, nudging Hazel’s tray slightly. “Some of us actually started early. Unlike certain people.”

“I like living dangerously,” Hazel said with a shrug.

Across the room, Emilia sat with her only friend(Sadie) who just resumed this week, phone angled just so, filming another segment for her ever-shrinking audience, her eyes occasionally flicking toward their table with poorly concealed resentment.

“She’s staring again,” Penelope murmured.

“Let her stare,” Hazel said, not bothering to look over. “It’s the most attention her content’s gotten all week.”

Mitchell snorted into his drink, nearly choking, and the three of them dissolved into laughter loud enough to draw a few curious glances from nearby tables.
—

{Ivy Fashion Empire – Noon}

Duane sat at his usual spot in the lobby, phone in hand, when Beauty approached, two cups balanced carefully in her hands.
“For you,” she said, offering one to him with a bright smile. “Chocolate. I remembered you mentioned liking it during the movie last night.”
Duane accepted it, genuinely surprised. “How’d you remember that?”

“I pay attention,” Beauty said, cheeks warming slightly. “Also, it was kind of a thank-you. For yesterday. I really enjoyed it.”

“I did too,” Duane admitted, taking a sip. “This is good, actually.”

Beauty beamed, lingering a moment longer than strictly necessary before finally heading back toward her desk, practically floating the whole way.