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“Yeah, let’s go downthatroad,” I said, surprised by how light my voice was. “Last time we hung out, you ditched me.”
“That was—”
“And then the time before that, you were focused on videogames.” Once I finally got the lock to click, I gave him a meaningful stare. “Don’t go pointing fingers.”
Plus, I wanted to add,you were the one talking about compatibility.
A piece of paper fell out of my locker, sucked out by the breeze of the door opening. I couldn’t move quickly enough. Alex swiped it off the floor before I even had a chance to bend. “Is someone leaving you love notes?” he asked as he unfolded the paper.
I tried to snatch it away from him, but he leaned out of reach. “Of course it’s not a love note,” I said, heart in my throat. “Give it.”
“‘Meet me by the west side’s staircase?’” Alex read, frowning. “Who’sC?”
ThankGodthat Connor hadn’t written his whole name. He must’ve anticipated this exact moment happening. “The, uh, kid I’m tutoring.”
“The freshman?”
“Yeah, the freshman.”
He let me pluck the paper from his fingertips then, and I quickly scanned Connor’s handwriting. The west side stairs—why on earth would he want to meet on school property? Sure, we’d had our conversation Monday on the stairs, but that was during lunch when no one was around. Now it was the end of the day, and students would be milling about collecting all their stuff for at least ten more minutes.
“Maybe Friday night, you can come with me to the game,” Alex said. “We could go to the movies afterward. The drive-in over in Hatchfield is open late on weekends.”
For a long moment, I almost was sure I’d heard him wrong. “You know I hate football games.”
“Yeah, but you love me, don’t you?”
“I wouldn’t even get to sit with you,” I reminded him. “We’ve talked about this, Alex. You have to sit with the band.”
Alex picked up my hand, and this time with an infinite amount of gentleness. He gave them a squeeze before lacing our fingers together. “I’ll come sit with you when I have my breaks. And I promise, at the movies, my full attention will be on you the entire night. I’ll let you get two snacks. There’ll be no ditching you, no ignoring you—just Alex and Maisie time.”
I stared up into his eyes, bouncing between them, searching for any ounce of insincerity. But there was none. The brown hue was warm and familiar, and the promise on his lips should’ve made me happy, but I hesitated instead.Alex and Maisie time. Where was this coming from?
What was it Connor had said? Play hard to get? I didn’t get the psychology behind it, but something in me dragged its feet. “I’ll think about it,” I decided on at last, feeling awful for not immediately accepting, but I needed to give Connor’s advice a chance. I pulled out my Algebra II textbook. “I’ll text you when I’ve made up my mind.”
“I’ll do my best to convince you before Friday.” He smiled broadly, proud that even though it wasn’t a win, he hadn’t gotten an outright no. “Come on, I’ll walk you to the staircase.”
“That’s okay,” I hurried to say, glancing around. The west staircase was around the corner, and I was too afraid Connor would be waiting there. There’d be no possible excuses then. “I’m a big girl. I can wait by myself.”
To my complete and utter surprise, Alex leaned down and pressed his mouth to mine. It was a chaste kiss, one that had me jerking back in surprise. A pair of passing freshmen let out a peel of giggles. “Alex and Maisie time,” he repeated, completely unfazed by the audience, words sounding like a promise. “Think about it, okay?”
I was too stunned to call after him, curling my fingers into a fist to keep from pressing them to my lips.
Even though the freshmen had walked past, they weren’t quite out of earshot. “Wasn’t that the math book girl?”
“Yeah, marry a math book. She’s a lot prettier than I thought she’d be.”
“Who was her boyfriend? She trying to make her math book jealous?”
That caused an eruption of giggles, one that almost made me straighten from the wall. I’d show them how muchmymath bookweighed.
Swallowing my violent thoughts, I trudged toward the west side staircase.
It’d been about ten minutes since the bell rang, which meant the hallway had cleared out for the most part. Connor, though, wasn’t by the stairs when I approached. No one was. Maybe he was waiting until the coast was fully clear? How long was he going to make me wait for him this time?
Not even two seconds passed before a hand wrapped around my wrist and tugged me backward. I only had time to register that I’d been pulled into a small room I’d never noticed before until the door shut, sealing me inside.
My heart lurched with the sudden movement, but any anxiety was quickly quelled. It was funny how instinctively I knew who it was—there was no light in the room to see, but the scent was easy to place. The sandalwood wasn’t as sharp as normal, since he wasn’t fresh from a shower, but still warm and heady, completely invading my senses.
