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“You’re looking at me funny,” he says as we begin our ascent up the stairs that lead into the main building where our English class is.
“I am?” I know I am. I jerk my gaze away from his profile and stare straight ahead, murmuring a thank you when he holds the door open for me. “Sorry.”
“You got a thing for me, Albright?” He’s teasing. I can see it in his eyes. The tone of his voice.
“Not really,” I say, trying to sound serious, but I can’t help the smile that stretches across my face.
He’s reaching for me, his hand about to snag mine when we hear someone make a gagging noise. Glancing up, I see that it’s Cadence.
Of course, it’s her.
She’s standing in front of a row of lockers, watching us with Mya by her side, who shoots us a sympathetic look before she walks away, abandoning her. Cadence never lets up, keeping her gaze on us. I glance over at Arch to find him glaring at her in return.
“Get a life,” he calls out.
She gives him the finger, mouthing ‘fuck you’ before she flounces off.
A ragged exhale leaves Arch as he glances over at me, the apology gleaming in his gaze. “Sorry about that. She sucks.”
“Yeah, she does.” This time I’m the one who’s reaching for his hand and I take it, interlocking our fingers together. “Sometimes I wonder what you’re doing, spending so much time with me.”
The look on his face, the intensity I see in his gaze, takes my breath away. “If you can’t figure it out by now, then I don’t know what else to tell you. I think it’s kind of obvious, what I’m doing, but maybe I’m wrong.”
Without warning, he leans in and kisses me. Right there in the main hallway, where everyone who’s passing us by can see. Lancaster Prep doesn’t have an overly-strict PDA policy among the students, but they don’t love it when couples blatantly make out in the halls.
And we’re pretty much making out.
“You’re my favorite person,” he whispers against my lips at one point, just before he moves in for another too-quick kiss. “No one gets me like you do, Daze.”
I walk on air for the rest of the morning, my giddiness Arch-induced. Enjoying how he tugs on my hair in English, his fingers brushing across the back of my neck. We flirt throughout second period in the office, Vivian barely tolerating us, Matthews nowhere in sight. In all of the classes we have together, we share secret smiles and quick glances. By the time lunch rolls around, I’m in a constant state of anticipation. Of the next time I get to feel his eyes on me, his hands. If I’m lucky enough, his mouth.
This probably…isn’t good. I’m too far gone over him. I can’t concentrate. I’m not listening to what the teachers are saying and this is the semester where I have to stay on top of everything. If I get even a little bit behind, it could get difficult for me. Difficult enough that I won’t be able to come back from it.
He’s a complete and utter distraction, and the old me would tell him that maybe we need to stop seeing each other so much. Actually, the old me would’ve never paid much attention to Arch in the first place. I avoided him—everyone—at all costs. I didn’t allow myself to get close to someone for exactly these reasons.
Not just the distraction part, but I know, deep in my heart, that this can’t last forever. Nothing ever can. School will end and we’ll graduate and I’ll go away to college and Arch will do whatever it is he’s supposed to do. We won’t be together anymore. He’ll leave me.
Eventually everyone leaves.
And that’s a fact.
THIRTY-NINE
DAISY
After school is finished,Arch and I go to the library where we do our homework. There are a lot of students in the library, lots of conversations happening, and while Arch is easily distracted—and untouchable thanks to the librarian loving him so much—he keeps wandering off to talk to his friends.
Me? I have to concentrate. Once we get through this semester, I can relax. By then my grades won’t matter as much. I’ll have all of my college applications sent in and some of that pressure will be relieved.
Still want to come out on top though. If I have to lose to anyone, I wouldn’t mind it being Arch.
“Want to go back to my room?” His voice is casual as we exit the library, but I can hear the subtle meaning behind his question.
Go back to his room and mess around is what the plan is.
“Yes,” I tell him firmly, because that sounds perfect to me. A little reward for getting my work done. Even Arch settled down eventually and completed a few assignments.
His grin makes my heart trip over itself. “That’s the answer I was looking for, Daze.”
