“I feel like I’m hyperventilating.”
“Well,” I start, leaning my face closer again. “If you pass out, and I have to give you mouth to mouth…at least it looks convincing.”
She gives me a death stare in return. So I lean back and hold my hands up. “Fine, fine, I’ll stop.”
She lets out a big sigh and I bump my shoulder into hers. “Come on, let's get some coffee.”
She nods fast, very fast.
“Although,” I say. “Maybe let’s order somedecaffor you, otherwise you might jump through the roof.”
She smacks my arm again, but this time with a smile on her face.
A couple minutes later, we’re walking out of the cafeteria into the hallway, both of us holding a tray that are each balancing three coffee cups. Students move around us in both directions, lockers slamming shut, voices overlapping, the usual chaos of lunch break filling the space.
“Okay,” she says, breaking the silence. “We still have to think about rules.”
I tilt my head. “Lay ’em on me.”
She points a finger at me as we pass a row of lockers, someone brushing past her shoulder on the other side. “Rule number one: no kissing,” she starts. “Forehead or cheek kisses are fine.”
“Okay,” I nod. “What else?”
She glances up like she’s actually thinking about it, then looks back at me. “Rule number two: no weird nicknames. Don’t call me ‘sunshine’ or ‘sweetheart’ or any of that cringey stuff.”
“Thank God,” I say, tipping my head back before looking at her again. “Anything else?”
“Yes,” she says, just as we reach the entrance doors leading out to the campus field. She stops in front of them, the hallway noise still buzzing behind us. For a second, she just stands there, like we’re in some ridiculous movie scene and we’re about to walk straight into a crowd of zombies or some shit. She rolls her shoulders back and exhales once. “Let’s freaking do this.”
“That’s the spirit,” I say, pushing the door open and stepping outside.
Students are scattered across the grass. Some drinking coffee, some reading, others with headphones in, talking in small groups.
I glance at Maddy beside me and wrap my free arm around her shoulders. She goes stiff under my bicep.
And then we start walking. We head toward the back of the field, taking slow, deliberate steps, trying to look like this is completely normal.
It doesn’t take more than a few meters before people start noticing. A girl walking past us slows mid-step, her eyes flicking between us before she leans into her friend and whispers something. Somewhere behind us, someone actually turns around to look again.
“I feel like a celebrity,” Maddy mutters beside me.
“I think right now,” I start, “we kind of are.”
And just like that, I feel some of the tension leave her shoulders the more we walk. Until we reach our friends.
We both freeze.
Noah’s sitting on the tabletop, his arms resting on his knees, shaking his head while Kiara’s in the middle of a story. Liam sits sideways across from her, elbow propped on the table, while Mel leans back against his chest with her feet up on the bench, a notebook resting against her legs.
They all turn at the sound of gravel crunching under our shoes. And it’s too late to drop my arm now.
Confusion spreads across their faces almost instantly. Mel and Kiara exchange a quick look. A frown forms between Liam’s eyebrows. And Noah’s gaze drops straight to my arm draped over her shoulders.
I pull my arm back quickly and Maddy lets out a quiet, awkward laugh as we both sit down next to them. We lift the cardboard trays with drinks to break the moment.
“We made a run to the cafeteria,” Maddy says. And just like that, confusion melts into excitement as everyone looks at the cups. Everyone except Noah. His expression doesn’t change. It lingers for a second too long, his eyes still on us—on me. Long enough to make me afraid for my fucking life. But then he shakes his head, and his usual expression slips back into place.
Maddy seems to have noticed Noah’s reaction as well, because she clears her throat as she pulls the drinks out the tray. She hands Kiara a cup. “Double espresso.”
