You can do notes instead of words.
For now.
—Ev
Stupid, stupid girl. Me. I am the stupid girl because that note makes my heart-wings flutter, and if I could cage them, I would. Why is he chasing after me so hard? We have been attending the same school since middle school, and now all of a sudden he is interested in me? What changed?
Nothing. Nothing has changed. He must have some bet going with his friends or he is thinking I could be a good rebound after Natasha. But if that were the case, why me? There are plenty of girls more suited to him. If he were with me, everyone would wonder. They would judge him.
I tuck that note away with the other. I don’t look back at him. I won’t. I can ignore notes. Easy.
What’s not easy to ignore is him sliding into the chair next to me. In the front. He doesn’t sit in the front. What the hell…
“What are you doing, Leo?” His smooth voice is laced with flirtatious poison.
I whip my head toward him, my curls flying into my face.Smooth, Leo.I ungracefully brush them back. I’m sure making my curly mane ten times worse.
“What am I doing? What areyoudoing?” My voice is a hushed whisper. It's as if I can hide the fact that we are talking. But everyone's eyes are already drawn to this sudden seating change.
“Well, I saw you tuck my note away…again. At least you didn’t almost throw this one away.”
Shit. He saw that.
“…and I figured you probably have decided to try to ignore me. Clearly my kind offer to start with notes isn’t going to work, so I am forced to take drastic measures.”
Jesus. I cannot have him sit next to me in class. Everyone will talk. That is not happening.
“Fine! You crazy person! I will reply to your note. Just go away.”
He chuckles. “Nah, I think I like it up here. I might just stay.”
I drop my head into my hands then peer at him from the corner of my eye. He is watching me with clear amusement on his devastating face.
“You are cruel. I will literally do anything to get you to leave.”
“Anything?” He raises his dark eyebrow at me, and his dimple comes out with that stupid cute smirk.
Shit.
“I didn’t mean that,” I say in a rush, my head staying buried in my hands.What am I doing?I am a decently smart-ish person, I have a 4.0 GPA, but he comes into my space and I go haywire. All my wires are crossed, and I’m malfunctioning.
“Nope. You said anything. I’ll leave and, because I’m such a gentleman, I’ll take a rain check on that anything…” He grabs my chin and pulls my face from my hands, turning it so I am looking at him. “And remove your hands from that beautiful face. You should never hide, especially from me.”
I can’t breathe. What the heck is going on right now? Did he just call me beautiful?
He goes back to his seat. His buddies surround him like moths to a flame. That’s exactly what he is, a flame that will ignite the fire ofmy ruin. I just know it. As sure as I know my heart is beating, I know he will ruin me. Question is, can I survive it?
Mr. Roby claps his hands, pulling my attention back to him with his brown suede pants, plaid button-up, and deep-red suspenders.
“Alright, folks. Today you will be choosing your lab partner. The partner you choose will be with you the rest of the year, so choose wisely. If you break up with them or drama happens, I don’t care. You’re stuck with them.”
Students begin moving seats and shuffling around. My gut tells me who my new lab partner will be. But I am hoping that since this is a long-term commitment, he won’t want to be stuck with me all year.
But in typical Leo fashion, my gut is right and my hopes are crushed.
“Hey, lab partner.” He plants his perfect butt right in the chair next to me again.
My forehead finds the desk, and a low aggravated groan leaves me. “I hate you.”
