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I feel someone grab my upper arm. Meghan gives me a hard shake. When my attention turns toward my best friend, her eyes are bulging and her jaw is gaping like a comic book character.
“Who is that?!” she mouths at me.
“Dunno,” I mouth back, my shoulder popping up in a shrug.
My best friend scrunches up her nose. “He’s cute, right?”
“Okay, class. Time to hand in your assignments,” Mrs. Winter croaks from the front of the classroom.
Shit. My assignment. Three more questions to answer. I’m trying to make honor role. I have to. Good grades. The best grades. I need the best grades. That’s my goal. After everything that happened last year, I need to focus. School is my priority.
Meghan jabs me in the ribs with the eraser of her pencil. “Right?” she asks expectantly.
“Right,” I say, my stomach fluttering.
Mrs. Winter’s voice comes again, stealing my attention. “By the way, we have a new student. Be sure to make”—she stares down at the attendance sheet on her desk—“Davis Westbrook feel welcome.”
My eyes flick up to the head of thick, dark waves seated in front of me.Davis…I repeat his name in my head.
He needs a haircut. I giggle quietly at the thought.
Not quietly enough. The boy turns over his shoulder and those silvery eyes meet mine. They twinkle when he smiles.
I’m doing my best to play it cool, but my sixteen-year-old heart is thumping furiously against my ribs.
Our English teacher rises from her desk.
“All right, everyone. Pass those assignments up to the front of the class.”
I quickly scribble out an answer to the last question. The annoying jock behind me yanks on my ponytail. With an eyeroll, I grab the stack of worksheets he hands me. “Cut it out, Jaime.”
Davis reaches over his shoulder to accept the papers from my hand. He flashes me another quick smile—making my stomach flail about like a fish on dry land—before passing the papers along to the person in front of him.
Meghan whacks my shoulder, this time with her wooden ruler. She screams silently and I have to read her lips. “Hetotallyjust checked you out. Did you see that?! Did you freaking see that?!” She bounces around in her chair.
Laughing, I turn away and refuse to look in her direction again. She’s freaking me out.
My pulse seems to be thumping inside each of my nerve endings, and there’s this bubbly feeling in my chest as I stare at the guy in front of me.Davis…His too thick, too long hair.
Is it possible to fall in love with the back of someone’s head? I think I just did.
* * *
Shaking out of the memory,I return my attention to this smelly public restroom stall. I shrug out of the cozy beige fleece-lined sweatshirt I’m wearing and fold it reverently. The sweatshirt I bought him. I can’t believe he still has it. And still wears it no less.
I’m surprised he still owns anything that I gifted him. I was so sure he’d gotten rid of every trace of me a long time ago. I mean, I sure would have. Especially after what I did.
What does it mean that he kept the sweatshirt? Am I making something out of nothing? Except, I know that Davis isn’t the type to take an action without meaning.
Dang it, Alana. Get yourself together.
I try to take a deep, cleansing breath but instead, I end up choking on the pee fumes of the dingy bathroom. Yuck.
I can do this. I’m an adult. An adult, dammit. And I can act like an adult about all this if Davis can. We just have to get through this little road trip, and then we can go back to cordially keeping our distance from each other around town.
Easy as pie.
I finish getting dressed, stuff my wet clothes into my oversized purse. I conceal my dark circles with a heavy layer of makeup and apply a swipe of lipgloss. Then I walk out of the bathroom, into the busy little diner. The burgers and greasy fries smell good. I can’t lie. I guess Icoulduse a bite to eat.
