Page 34 of You Said I Was Your Favorite

I want to. God help me, I want to even though I know it’s a giant mistake and she’s the last girl I should be interested in.

“Open up your textbooks to page twenty-six,” Mrs. Nelson announces, and I hear the shuffle of books opening, pages being turned. “That includes you too, Mr. Lancaster.”

Ah, called out. I appreciate Nelson’s imaginary balls. Most of the staff have been afraid to speak to me today and I appreciate her acting like I’m just another student. When I look up, I catch her watching me, slowly shaking her head, and I flash her a rueful smile before I duck down, reaching for my backpack.

Pausing when I spot a book sitting in the open slot beneath my desk.

I reach inside and pull it closer, recognizing the cover immediately. This is Daisy’s book. The one she was reading at lunch. I bet she has this class during sixth period, and for whatever reason, she left her book behind.

Huh.

“Arch.” Mrs. Nelson’s sharp tone causes my head to snap up. “Your textbook, please?”

“Sorry,” I mutter, reaching for my backpack and pulling out the math textbook, setting it on my desk and opening it to page twenty-six like she asked.

She goes over the lesson and then asks us to work on some problems, which I do in what feels like two minutes flat, even though she lectured for at least ten minutes and I never listened to a single word she said.

All the while I’m working on the configurations, I think of Daisy’s book in the desk, calling my name.

The moment I finish the assignment, I’m reaching for the book, cracking it open at the spot where she placed a flower-themed bookmark. Frowning, I notice there a few sentences underlined. There are even hearts drawn on the page, around the dude’s—Aaron—name.

Huh. That’s weird. She doesn’t seem like the type to doodle on the inside of a book. I’d guess she’d believe that was wrong, messing up a book’s interior.

I read the sentences she underlined, noting how romantic the words are.

He looks at me as if I’m the only thing he sees and my heart swells with a foreign emotion. I think this is what it feels like to be…

Loved.

But maybe I’m mistaken.

I flip through the book, noting that it’s heavily annotated only about a third of the way in.

“Have you finished your assignment, Arch?”

I glance up to find Mrs. Nelson smiling down at me, her eyes sparkling with amusement when she notices the book in my hands. I snap it shut and grab the lined piece of paper I used to complete the problems, holding it out toward her.

She takes it from me and glances over my work, nodding slowly. “Looks like you don’t have any difficulty with this.”

“Nope.”

“I suppose I should let you get back to your reading then.”

Shit. “It’s not my book.”

“I know.” When I meet her gaze, she explains further, “It’s Daisy Albright’s. She was reading it earlier and must’ve left it behind.”

Confirmation that I didn’t really need.

“Why don’t you give it to me and I can make sure she’ll get it tomorrow.” Mrs. Nelson holds out her hand and I clutch the book tighter, not about to let it go.

“I can give it to her. I’ll see her after class.” I say the words with utter confidence. As if it’s perfectly normal that I’ll meet up with Daisy when Nelson knows—everybody knows—the two of us don’t socialize.

At all.

Nelson frowns, suspicion filling her eyes. Like she’s onto my scheme. “You will?”

Nodding, I sit up straighter, resting my forearms on top of the book. “I’ve got it handled.”

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