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I can’t take it anymore. I drop my phone face down with a huff, keeping my hand over it as I force myself to take a deep breath. The commotion I caused makes everyone, including Miss Hernandez, look my way.
“Everything okay, Natalie?” she asks.
“Uh-huh.” I nod, not able to say anything else.
She sighs and gets back to her lesson as I hear Dalton chuckle under his breath behind me.
He doesn’t say anything for the rest of class. As soon as the bell rings, I stand up and race to the restroom, hiding in there until third period starts.
Lunch comes around, and I say a silent curse when I remember that Ashley is dating Marcus. This neverreally was an issue until today, when it gives Dalton an excuse to come sit with us.
“What’s up, my man?” Marcus says as they slap hands.
“Mind if I join you guys?” Dalton asks, sliding into the bench seat and not waiting for a response.
I want to scream out,Yes, I mind. You can’t sit here, but I know that would only bring more attention to us, especially because I’m on the opposite end of where he just sat.
Susie nudges me with her leg, but I try to blow it off as I dig into my lunch bag to remind myself of what I brought.
Yes, we’ve hated each other for years, but we could stand being around each other in some situations. We’ve learned this silent way of ignoring the fact that the other exists, only now, there’s no way for me to ignore the seemingly grown man who’s sitting at the end of the table, causing my hunger to disappear in a matter of seconds.
It’s like he’s taunting me now.
He couldn’t have sat farther away from me, especially when the space directly in front of me was open.
So, if he is here for me, why didn’t he sit there?
“Earth to Natalie,” Susie says, taking me from my trance.
I turn my head to face her and instantly lock eyes with Dalton. Just seeing his lips lift ever so slightly to the side in a knowing grin frustrates the hell out of me.
“Yeah,” I say, forcing myself to give Susie my full attention.
She’s talking, but I hear nothing as I see Dalton outof the corner of my eye. Frustrated, I stand up and walk to the other side of the table so I’m facing her, making it impossible to see Dalton.
In my head, my movement was graceful, silent, but the way the entire table is looking at me proves it was anything but.
Okay, I might have gotten up with a huff while Susie was mid-sentence, and I might have slammed my hand down on the table as I stepped my foot in, followed by the other.
I close my eyes in embarrassment.
Why does he do this to me?
“You okay?” Ashley asks, who’s now sitting directly next to me.
“Yeah, I just didn’t want to sit, turned like that.” I give my attention back to Susie. “Sorry, you were saying?”
Again, I don’t fully take in what she’s talking about because my brain is trying to focus more on Dalton’s voice and the conversation he and Marcus are having.
“Yeah.” I nod to Susie, feeling like I need to engage with her so I’m not too obvious.
She closes her eyes and shakes her head, her eyes roaming to Dalton and then back to me.
I must have done something wrong because she stops our conversation altogether.
Seemingly to torture me more, she asks Dalton a question. “So, Dalton, you’ve never joined us for lunch before. What’s new?”
My eyes widen as I watch Susie try to hide her laugh.
