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A folded piece of notebook paper landed on the edge of her desk.
She unfolded it to find Gabriel’s handwriting.
You don’t have to. I just needed her to
shut up.
Layne swallowed. He was so hard to read sometimes. Like with his phone number. Did this note mean he wanted her to help, or did it mean he wanted her to give him an out?
When she’d hugged him in the woods, his entire body had been tight, like he wasn’t sure how to react. She hadn’t imagined the emotion, the pain in his voice.
And then he’d pushed her away.
No. Wait. She’d pulled away.
This was so confusing and her life was already full up on confusing.
Another note appeared on the corner of her desk. She unfolded it slowly.
I’m sorry about this morning. There’s a
lot going on. I shouldn’t have been such a jerk.
He’d apologized to her twice now. She didn’t get the impres-sion Gabriel Merrick apologized for very much.
Layne carefully pulled a piece of paper free.
I’ll help you, she wrote. She folded it up.
And then she stared at it for the whole period, deliberating. If she was reading this wrong, it was just another opportunity for him to reject her. He could roll his eyes and ignore her.
He could hurt her. Again.
Thank god she’d started the questions for the next unit, because she didn’t hear a word the teacher said.
When the bell rang, she shoved her books into her bag quickly.
And before she could change her mind, she dropped the note on his desk.
Then, without waiting to see his reaction, she walked out of class.
CHAPTER 21
Layne flipped through an old yearbook in the library, trying to tune out Kara’s whining.
“I just don’t understand why you’re wasting so much time on one stupid project. Aren’t you hungry? ”
“I brought my lunch.” A lie. But her stomach was in knots from the drama with Gabriel, and food seemed like a bad idea.
“If you’re so hungry, go hang out in the cafeteria.”
“And leave you by yourself? God, Layne, do you know how that would look?”
Layne rolled her eyes, hoping yet not hoping that Kara wouldn’t see it. “Thanks for your concern.”
“Layne! We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
The bright voice had Layne jerking her head up.
