Jo
AMANDA FLIPS THROUGH her notebook and scrunches her brows. "I can't believe I forgot my third point. Sorry, can we start over?"
Cass groans as she places a hand on her head and Austin goes back to his phone. Mel isn't present today and Khalid is half-asleep. "Sure. I think we could use a five minute break."
"You're an angel," Cass says and stands up, causing a dent in the circle we've made together and walks over to a table at the edge of the classroom, before climbing over and lying down on it.
"Wild party last night?" I ask Amanda as I get to my seat and she nods.
"One of the football boys threw a party. It was insane and they wouldn't stop drinking. I have a better alcohol tolerance than these two idiots," she tells me, pointing at Khalid and Cass. She turns to me now and raises a brow.
"Where are you going, looking all glammed up?"
I'm taken by surprise immediately. Cass groans from where she's sleeping on the table, "I wanted to ask the same thing."
"I'm notâ" I fumble with my book. "I just thought I'd look good today."
Amanda smiles and rolls her eyes. "You always look good, Jo. It's okay if you don't want to talk about it."
I shake my head and blush. That makes me feel even worse. I didn't think I looked too different when I was dressing up this morning. I'm wearing the dress Eloise took me to get at the thrift store the other day and I lazily styled my hair. Plus, I applied minimal makeup. If Cass and Amanda are thinking this way, then I probably don't look as ordinary as I thought I did. Oh god, what if Daniel sees me as desperate?
The door bursts open and Khalid jolts from his immobile state. He groans loudly at the same time Cass does while Flynn walks inside.
He's not wearing an ordinary black Tee today. It's a Rage Nation black Tee. The Rage Nation. Their newest merch. I can't take my eyes off it. I've always wanted to get one but they're rare in this part of the country and freaking expensive.
"Sorry," he whispers and closes the door gently behind him before his eyes meet mine. They drop to my dress and my legs and back to my face. He doesn't look too happy.
"Hey Flynn," Amanda greets, tracing words with a pen on her book. "We're just getting started."
"Actually, we could cancel today," I say and Austin looks at me in the eye for the first time today. I ignore the pointed look that Flynn gives me and I continue. "Yeah, I mean, half of you are hungover and not functioning effectively so, why not?"
"You're the best," Amanda says and yawns loudly, like she's been trying not to.
"Agreed," Khalid groans and gets to his feet. He stretches his arms above his head and grabs his bag before going out with Austin following right behind him. I get to my feet and gather the strewn papers from the floor and the table before assorting the important from the unimportant.
Amanda gets to her feet too but after she stretches her arms, she walks over to Cass and taps her gently. They both wave me goodbye before exiting and closing the door behind them.
Flynn and I are on the only ones left in the classroom. And I can feel him staring at me.
I shove some papers into my bag and when I turn around, he's manspreading on the chair facing me and his arms are folded together, tattoos on display on his right. The silence is awkward and deafening and I clear my throat, dragging his gaze away from my dress and up to my face.
"I'll be going then," I awkwardly say and then I grab my bag and head towards the door. I twist the door knob once but it doesn't move. It's hard and unresponsive. Twice and then when it's the third time, I start to sweat.
"Fuck."
Flynn gets to his feet and walks over to me. "What's wrong?"
I sigh. "The knob's stuck. Happens every once in a while."
I step aside and he gets closer to the door and tries to twist the knob and when it doesn't respond, I place a call to Amanda. He tries harder the second time and then repeatedly. He gets the same result. He turns to me and frowns. "How do we leave?"
I wave my phone at him. "Someone would have to open it from behind. Amanda should still be around so I called her, but she's not answering the phone. I just sent her a text."
He nods and then he slowly walks back to his seat. I fiddle with my phone for a little bit because we don't say anything to each other after that and then I decide to arrange the room. It's Mel's turn to clean up today but that's going to be impossible now.
"Nice shirt," I say and grab a chair before stacking it onto another. "Where'd you get it?"
I hear him get to his feet as I keep on stacking the chairs together. "I ordered it."
"Must have cost a ton."
He's silent for a minute and then he responds. "It did."
"You're a fan then." I say stupidly because he'd obviously be a fan to order their shirt.
"I am."
I'm nervous but I don't know why I'm nervous. We spoke on the phone last night but neither of us have mentioned it. He hasn't teased me about it and I don't want to bring it up. It's not like we talked about anything serious so I don't know why I'm nervous about being alone in the same room with him.
I turn around and I almost bump into him. He's standing right in front of me and holding three stacked chairs in one hand. He's standing too close. I can't think.
He raises a brow at me. "What?"
"What's what?"
He looks down at my dress again and looks back up. I take one step back and he takes one forward.
"I don't know Pryce. It seems to me like you're trying to seduce the school's paper president."
I place my hands on my waist and ignore my burning cheeks. "I'm not doing anything."
"You are," he says, his tone low and dark.
I fold my arms together. "Is that so bad?"
He grabs the chairs from my hands and place them upon his. "I suppose not," he shrugs. "I guess this is what nerds do when they meet for coffee." He turns around and walks to the back of the class to drop the chairs.
I roll my eyes at him. "Funny."
"Is it though? I wouldn't know these things because, you know, I'm not a nerd."
"At least I'm not failing English so that's something to be proud of."
Flynn chuckles as he turns around. I eye his shirt with want. "Touché."
I tear my eyes away from his shirt when my phone chimes with a notification. I almost sigh in relief when I see that it's a text from Amanda.
Amanda: sorry, I had my phone on silent. I just left school but I'm not too far away. I'll be there in fifteen. Are you in a hurry?
I look up at Flynn and narrow my eyes at him before going back to my phone. Do I want to spend another fifteen minutes in an enclosed space with him while lusting after his shirt? Absolutely not.
Jo: Kind of. Plus I'm not alone.
Amanda: Flynn's there with you? She attaches a smirking emoji to it.
I send her a rolling eye emoji and type furiously.
Jo: Unfortunately
Amanda: Never mind. I'll be there in thirty.
Jo: AMANDA ROSEMARY CHABRA!
Amanda: I'll be there in ten
I grin and end the chat before looking back at Flynn who's not too far away from me now. He meets my stare and frowns at my expression.
"What's so funny?"
"Your face." I turn around, suddenly feeling tired of standing and then I think of grabbing a chair from the stack but it's at the end of the class and I'm too lazy to walk over. So I move towards the table and carefully sit on it, before tucking the excesses of my gown underneath my thighs so I don't flash him and cause him to enter a coma. The gown has ridden higher up my thighs but there's nothing I can do about it anymore so I take my hands away from it and fold my arms across my chest.
When I look back at Flynn, he looks oddly distant. He's staring at something in his bag with a forlorn expression and I frown, curious as to what it is. The silence is nerve-wracking to be honest and I don't think I can remain sane without uttering a word for the next ten minutes.
"What's in the bag, Cauley?"
He lifts his gaze from his bag and zeroes in on mine. Green eyes exquisite and jaw set. He starts walking towards me and I swallow. "What's that clause about curiosity and a cat?"
"I can't remember," I lie as he breaks the rule and walks into the arm's length space. He's looking at me and waiting for me to tell him to back off but I don't. I keep my arms folded and school my expression into one of indifference even though I'm burning on the inside. And not out of anger.
"Ah, I remember," he snaps his fingers. "Curiosity kills the cat."
I narrow my eyes at him. "Do I look like a cat?"
He takes the opportunity to slowly look at me from head to toe before looking back up. "I guess not. You do possess some feline features though."
I scoff. "Like what?"
He places his hands at either sides of where I'm seated on the table and cages me in. I can hear my heartbeat in my ears. "Sly," he drags his scalding gaze from my collarbone to my mouth. "Treacherous."
"I'm neither of those things," I argue and frown because it's becoming a little bit harder to breathe. Still, I don't tell him to move away.
"Oh, I know," that stupid dimpled grin is back. God. "I still think it's lightly mischievous of you to call me at an ungodly hour of the night."
I want to melt. "I'd take it back if I could."
He smiles boyishly. "Oh would you?"
"I would. I'd press a rewind button if there was and I'd take it back."
"Why would you take it back?"
"Let's play twenty questions!" I blurt without thinking and internally smack myself on the head.
He doesn't look surprised at all. Instead he nods and decides to play along. "Fine. Question 1, why would you take it back?"
I sigh noisily and look him in the eye and lie, since I have no reason to give. "So I'd call Daniel instead."
He scoffs like he can't believe me. "Unbelievable."
"My turn. What's in the bag?"
"Books, a jacket, and every other usual thing you can find in a boy's bag."
I roll my eyes. "That's not what I mean. What were you staring at?"
He smirks. "I believe the rule states one question at a time."
"Since when did you start following the rules?"
He smiles but doesn't respond. "What do you see in Daniel?"
I clear my throat and sit upright when I feel I'm slouching. "He's nice, charming and smart."
"Nice," he says with a disgruntled expression.
"You? What's so special about Semia?"
He shrugs. "She's hot."
"That's it?"
"Pretty much, yeah," he says and I sigh. Boys only think with their dicks. No one can convince me otherwise. "Plus," he adds, "we like the same things and have similar wounds."
I'm curious. "Such as?"
"My turn," he says quickly. "You never really told me why you disliked me at the beginning."
I laugh and wipe fake tears away from my face. "Bold of you to assume I like you now."
He rolls his eyes. "You get the point, Pryce."
"You know what you did."
He shakes his head, brows furrowing. "Not exactly."
I take a deep breath and close my eyes. Does he really not remember? Off-course he wouldn't. When I open my eyes, he's staring at my face. "Well?"
"Eleventh grade, Mr Soren paired us both for a STEM project. Does that ring a bell?"
He shakes his head to the side and then he rolls his eyes. "Right, I bailed. Big deal."
"No," I grit, still mad that he thinks of it as insignificant. "It wasn't just that. It was supposed to make sixty percent of our grade and you blew it. You never really helped me with the project Flynn but I did everything anyway. And then what? I gave your part to present because obviously, that was the least you could do to help and you promised you'd do it. I'd try to ignore it if you'd bailed because of something important, but after I'd completely humiliated myself due to your absence and I'd been given a stupid grade because it was compulsory my partner was with me, I came out of the class and found you stumbling out of the storage room with some chick."
I don't stop talking. I'm pissed. "Turns out, while I was humiliating myself in class, you were busy making out with some girl even when you knew we had a project together. And what did you say to me, 'Would you stop being a baby about it? It's just a stupid grade, Pryce. Get over it.' And you laughed and then the girl laughed and it felt like everyone was laughing at me even if it was just the three of us."
"Joâ" he starts but I glare at him.
"I'm not finished. That wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was the fact that I was applying for a scholarship here. Lakeville offers scholarships that covers the entire senior year to the five brightest students with straight As. I'd been applying for that and then I had a D in Science, thanks to you and your lust-induced tryst," I inhale and exhale and then I clear my throat. "That's it. I'm finished."
I've never seen a more sincere apologetic look on Flynn's face before. Regret and anger wash over his entire features and he clenches his jaw in annoyance. For a minute or two, he doesn't say a word. And then, he says, "Look, I'm sorry, okay?"
"Of course, you are," I roll my eyes and attempt to slide off the table but he grips my waist and sits me back down. He sighs, unaware that my breath has been caught in my throat.
"I really am. I was a dick and I have no excuse for that. I didn't think it was that serious, Jo," he apologizes, looking me in the eye, raw emotion swirling in his. "I'm sorry."
I fold my arms like an insolent grump and avert my gaze from his, so I won't melt into a pathetic puddle.
"Whatever you want, just say it. As long as you forgive me and we bury this."
I scoff. "Are you trying to bribe me?"
"Yes."
"Fine," I say indignantly but my veins are thrumming with anticipation that I might get what I've been eyeing on him since he walked in. "Your shirt. I want your shirt."
He hides his smile by poking his cheek with his tongue. "You want my shirt?"
"Not because it's yours," I quickly say, just to clear any form of misinterpretation. "It's just because I've always wanted a Rage Nation shirt."
"You get this shirt and you forgive me?"
I shrug and lick my lips. "Yeah, I guess."
"Fine," he says, his tone becoming darker than usual. He steps in between my legs and successfully closes the distance between us. I lean back a little, heart in my throat and shuddering in my spine.
He looks down at his shirt and then he looks back up to my face. There's heat in his eyes and it's hot enough to leave a burn.
"Take it," he says. "It's yours."