Leak | A THIRTY SEVEN

A/N: I'd like to make a special mention of gratitude to a remarkable book review partner of mine, KaijuYardz for all of her AMAZING critiques and comments, it's just sooo good and concrete. If you're interested, please check out her heart-touching book, Break and Remake Me!

And also a huge thank to the dedicated readers, lethxl and chillleuhmok. I find it so wonderfully uncanny you guys both had the same lovable grouchy squid as profile pics that I couldn't resist mentioning you two together. Thanks for all your support!

I watched Will's eyebrows pinch together, honey brown eyes filled with bewilderment as he gawked at the screen. "Oh. My. God."

My lips curled in satisfaction to his reaction. "I told you."

"How, how had I never known such a thing existed...?" He stammered, voice barely above a whisper. "If there was some girl this obsessed about Garren that they'd make a page dedicated to him, I should've known."

We were perched by the upper floor of the clubhouse, sat on a window ledge as wide as a bus shelter bench. Our conversation had led to me mentioning the fan club website for Garren and Will took immediate action.

Grabbing a laptop and hooking it up to the Wi-Fi, he didn't waste a second to see if I was pulling his leg. His gobsmacked face did not disappoint, I was tempted to snap a photo.

He was even only on the homepage, eyes fixated on the dashboard portrait of our sociopathic club captain.

"It's very disturbing how many pictures are on here." said Will. "I mean, Garren takes maybe forty selfies a day but this is still weird. Like, cultic level weird."

"Amina goes on it too." I piped.

"Wow, shocker." quipped Will. "Oh god, there's a comment section too? Don't want to even imagine what sort of depraved, objectifying things these horny weirdoes have been posting."

"You wanna read some?"

"Um, yes." Will had already clicked to open the most recent posts.

That was how we went about to busy ourselves for the first ten minutes of break and came across some of the most easily uncomfortable complimenting we'd ever seen. There were terms, phrases in which I'd never picked up to learn then a variety even Will had never heard of

.

"This is so unfair. Here are these creepy nobodies who ignorantly put out their erotic fantasies online. While I'm too scared to think of half of these near Garren in case he'll read me." Will pouted with arms crossed.

"That's rough." I patted his shoulder sympathetically and he flopped his head on my shoulder dramatically.

"So hey…" The pouty blonde started. “Is it true you're banging Alger Hess?"

Every inch of me shuddered in repulse. Not even Will's wonderful shampoo could ward it off. Feeling my body stiffen, he lifted his head to pass me a nervous look. "Is he the um, boy you mentioned before that you admire?"

"Hell no." I said sharply.

For a moment, I had almost fooled myself to believe it was just some nightmare. That I hadn't had my lips violated in the hallways where numerous witnesses were present. It was even more of a show stopper since I stood out in a crowd now.

I hated how he'd caught me when my defenses were down again. What was with the timing? When I finally snapped out of the trance to try to push the parasite off me, he trapped my face between his firm grip that I had to bite my way free. He didn't look deterred standing with a bloody lip.

He was even smiling when he ran his tongue to wipe it. The sick freak.

The worst bit was when I turned back to the courtyard. Liam's jaw had fallen to the floor, his bulging eyes looking ready to drop any second too. Ashton's expression seemed struck, but there was this bitter mix of disappointment that made my stomach flop.

Then Shaun was nowhere to be seen.

Like he'd never stood there in the first place but I knew it hadn't been a mirage, unfortunately.

I wasn't expecting him to march up to Hess and pound the scum, irrespective of how I'd secretly indulge in the battering but how could he just walk away? I mean, what the hell?

By then, Hess had already gotten away, escaping my wrath and my feelings were torn into two. One which was outraged by Shaun and the other direly ransacking my head for a legitimate reason for why he didn't do anything.

So far, I'd come up with nothing. I didn't have geography today so I couldn't hunt him down and I'd sent several texts, none of which received any replies.

There was no denying it— I was being ignored. And it was all that sleazy bastard's fault. I didn't care if that was just pushing the blame to soothe the frustration. It was all his fault.

"You're really not hooking up with Hess?" Will queried.

"Don't make me repeat myself, Will."

"Okay but Ben said the two of you were snogging in the middle of—"

"I was not snogging him! He just popped out of nowhere and shoved his lips onto me." I griped, recalling the horror.

"Oh... was he good?"

I narrowed my eyes at the boy.

"What? I'm curious if the guy lives up to the stories." Will justified. "But, why would Hess even do a thing like that? I get he plays around but he normally doesn't bother if the girl isn't interested. Seems out of character."

I scoffed. It sounded exactly in his attention-seeking-insensitive-selfish character to me.

"Whatever. I'd rather forget it ever happened."

He snorted. "Good luck with that, since the whole school is talking about it." I shot a glare but there was nothing to say back, because he was right. "Hang on, then if Hess isn't who you fancy won't the real one hear about this and get the wrong idea?"

I groaned, burying my head in my hands. Oh, that would've been less depressing than what the actual predicament was.

"Speaking of which, I still haven't gotten the scoop on that." Will prompted with a lifted brow.

"His name's Shaun. Shaun Goy-Smith. He's in my geography class and plays for the school's rugby team."

"Our school has a rugby team?"

"It's underfunded. He also likes reading old books like me and knows a lot about art. And he has these really pretty green eyes and..." I didn't have it in me to add we were already dating.

Somehow, I felt embarrassed. Which was crazy because I wasn't the one who did nothing after seeing some guy make a move on his girlfriend. Seriously, a slap in the face would feel like nothing in comparison.

I felt a hand tenderly rub circles on my back. "Don't worry, Steves. Just explain it to him and I'm sure it'll be fine."

"You swear?" Distress slipping through my voice.

"Mmhmm." He nodded.

I went along with the confidence to fill the gaping hole in my chest for where it should've been as Will pulled me closer for comfort.

I was planning to ask him the brand name of his shampoo, when we heard footsteps and Garren Adler in the flesh stood before us. Will snapped the laptop shut so fast, I jolted. The blonde was flustered like he'd been gawking at porn which then again, in Will's case, was an equivalent.

"There you guys are. Charlie just called. Says he's done."

I perked up. "He's gotten the address?"

Garren nodded. "I was thinking we could go meet him at lunch. Will, you don't need to come."

"Hallelujah." He let out a breath.

"So…" Garren slid in beside me. "What's this I'm hearing about you and Hess dry humping in the halls?"

**

I sat forward in the seat, tapping my fingers on my knees in anxious wait. In mere minutes, I'd be uncovering the identity of this elusive X who even Ms. Shepherd considered a "threat." I wasn't really sure what I'd do or say to them, but they would serve as a perfect object to direct all my boiling rage.

Half of the problems I had was their fault anyway.

"Here."

I peered to Garren seated across, holding up a grey box to me. I cautiously accepted and knew he was observing me as I pulled open the lid to find a black cased smartphone inside. "A phone..." I could only utter, my brows knitting.

"Newest model. I was going to hand it to you at the meeting with Will and Ben but the delivery arrived a little earlier. It’s not in stores yet, so black was the only available colour."

"But I already have a phone. The one you gave me."

"Yes, last month's model. This," he pointed at the shiny new device, "is the latest one. It's newer." He said it slowly.

"Garren, I get it but I'm fine with the first one you gave me."

"It's outdated."

"So? I like it and I've hardly used it for two weeks. Don't tell me you guys just throw out your phones every time the companies make a new one."

"Yes." He answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I shook my head. "Forgot who I was talking to..." I scoped the new phone's sleek, untouched base. Admittedly, it seemed nice.

"So, how did you do it?"

"Mmm? Do what?"

"Me sleeping with Ivanov. How did you know?"

"I told you, figure it out yourself."

"I gave you my answers when you asked what the offer was. That's not fair."

"Oh wow, you've got no clue do you?" By the scowl he flashed, I had guessed right. I cracked up in laughter, even if he was shooting me daggers. "Well that's odd. How can a certified genius such as yourself be having difficulty with a little something a girl like me with rotten brain cells put together in under two minutes?"

Garren's eyes narrowed. "It was just a fluke, wasn't it? Yeah, that's what it was. All this," he made a gesture to me, "Isn't any real achievement. It was all a lucky guess and that's why you don't want to tell, because there's nothing to tell. Ha! Nice try, Powell."

He faced the window with chin tipped and posture ever so snobbish.

I was close to laughing again but refrained. I only hoped he simmered by the time we reached Harvey Julliard. It was in which, there was a vibration at my chest. I retrieved my phone and stared down at the message.

Shaun- we can meet up after class

It took a few seconds longer to process each word and I let out a breath.

"Okay, you wanna know how I knew?"

Garren kept his gaze on the glass. "It was just a lucky guess."

"Do you want me to tell you or not, Adler?"

He leaned back in the seat, an impassive visage now fixed in place as he folded his arms. However, the spark of intrigue in his eyes betrayed the nonchalant pretense. "Go on then."

"It was a guess—"

"Ha! Knew it."

"And," I pressed, "Because of your change in mention disposition."

His brows creased. "My what?"

"With people you disregard or girls haven't slept with, you to tend to refer to them by demeaning names. Like, Ms. Feminism compromise for Amina. But on the phone this morning, you didn't refer to Ivanov as a Parr princess or a half done tart even once. I think it's some sort of subconscious click in growing familiar from intimacy.

There's also the fact you said you went to the university and I found that unnecessary. Going out of your way for a little exploitation— I mean, negotiation. You could've done it through the phone, easy. Then lastly, Ivanov is a beautiful, intelligent woman who takes care to her appearance. So why wouldn't you?"

I was met with a conspicuous silence from the receiver who'd been making ridiculously childish attempts to have me fess up. Now only to stare, wordlessly.

"Well?" I folded my arms. "Are you satisfied? Or what, was that not in depth enough for your...?"

My queries fell back down my throat when a hand dropped to the crown of my head, lightly patting it in a manner that had me entranced, nearly missing when Garren uttered, "Five stars."

"What's five stars?"

"You." He smiled and I'd never known he could make such a soft expression.

"Oh... out of what?"

"Five, Stevie. If you have to ask."

"Of course I have to ask. You just randomly start blurting things out." I mumbled before I'm no longer able to hold the massive grin back. "So, I was good?"

He nodded. "It must be thanks to my presence that sped the recovery of your fried cells, now that I think about it. The only logical explanation."

"Right, of course." I'd had ten seconds of appraisal before he'd reverted the attention to him. It was a start.

"A change in mention disposition." He quoted quietly with his knuckles pushed to his chin. "I had no idea I did something like that."

"Well like I said, it's a subconscious thing so you wouldn't notice it."

"But you did."

He fixed his eyes back on me. Half of his face was hidden by his hand but his gaze said it all; a dozen calculations were being filed through his mind. The silence nearly swallowing me whole.

"Um," I cleared my throat, "yes. Yes I did."

"I knew you'd be perfect."

I blinked, those piercing eyes staring intently at me but it was the words holding me in arrest. “As an Ace, you mean,” I added.

Garren flashed a smile but it didn’t reach his eyes like the previous one. “Yeah.”

Then he lifted the hand from his face towards me and I could only suffice to watch it wrap around mine, goosebumps shooting from every side when he laced his fingers in between mine. Lately, he'd get touchy like this and so could Will or Ben at times but Garren’s was always so unpredictable, I would find myself speechless.

His hands were cold, but I liked it. I thought of asking why the temperature remained like this even with summer approaching, when my phone vibrated again.

Shaun- I'll be waiting at the tennis court

I huffed and untangled our hands to reply.

"Is it that Goy-Smith bloke Will mentioned to me?"

I made no mistake in Garren's tone. It was a question he already knew the answer to and I wasn't going to bother asking how he'd guessed from my mere glance. He was a kid buzzing with energy for any chance to show off his observation skills too.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Will also said you were worried the guy will have the wrong opinion because of Hess' stunt—"

"Oh, you don't need to talk to Hess for me. That's fine, thank you. I really appreciate that you're asking for my permission too but I feel better handling him myself."

"That's not what I was going to say."

"Oh, sorry." I broke into a shy smile with his only growing wider. "So what were you going to say?"

"I was going to say I thought it'd be best to tell you to leave it."

My smile strained. "You... what?"

"It's not a pursuit that'll go anywhere far. So I don't think you should waste putting effort into clearing up a misunderstanding."

"Excuse me, but I think we'll be the ones deciding how far it will go."

He gave me a side eyed look of pity. "Stevie, I know hormones can make you be idealistic— I've been there but trust me. I've seen enough from just checking his background and class photo. Comes from a standard artistic family heritage, lives a casual lifestyle. Definitely nice, a little meek despite his physique but a regular lad."

My brows furrowed. "And?"

Garren had on this patronising look that was saying, 'Do I need to go on?' "You'd be bored so quickly. Probably won't last more than a month. Three weeks if sex isn't included."

"Garren do no assimilate my relationships with your own. I like Shaun for more than psychical attraction."

"Oh sure." He murmured.

I didn't feel like talking anymore if he was going to put his stubborn speculations. I focused on staring outside, wishing we'd get to that bloody chicken coop already.

**

The Harvey Julliard ICT suite was undeniably remarkable and sleek, in terms of decor and top notch software hooked up to outlets or extensions. It was a high tech beehive; workers wired in to their desktops and those deep in discussion. There was also a light air in the premises with the few who were idly chatting, sipping coffee and snacking on appetizers.

Amongst that minority was Charles Bradford, appearing to brief a group of younger boys from the swivel chair he was leant back on with a large coffee mug in hand. The school logo painted on the front. One of the juniors tapped his shoulder to bring his attention to us.

Immediately, he propped up and shooed the little ones away.

"Garren." He sneered. "Oh, and the newbie's here too. Lovely to see you again."

I lifted my lip muscles upwards but that was as far as my pleasantries would go with him.

"I've got to say, this 'project' you had me working on made me break a sweat." stated Charles. "I mean, it was like a proxy labyrinth. Then the SQL defenses—"

Garren raised a hand to cut him off. "Before you choke on your spit with the tech gibberish, give us what we came for."

"Need to work on that patience, this one." sighed Charles, fishing his phone out from his pocket. "When you're through with your business with the chap, mind sending him my way? If his face is as impressive as his coding, I might have an alternative for Willy."

"It could be a girl too." I pointed out.

At that, Charles shot me a bemused look and let out an obnoxious laugh. Even adding wiping a fake tear which had my teeth grinding. "Oh, I'm warming up to this one. Quite the comedian."

"I don't see how that was a joke."

Garren's tone that was void of any sense of humour had the other boy stopping in a heartbeat. I found myself peering too, caught off guard.

"It's a perfectly legitimate possibility that either gender could be the culprit. So, what's the joke? Stevie, were you joking?" I shook my head. "Yeah, didn't think so."

If there was anyone who could say little to nothing to demean another human being, Garren Adler accomplished the task with merely a stoic glance and crossed arms.

Playing the prey, Charles tightened his jaw. "Alright, whatever." He muttered under his breath and after some scrolling, he extended his phone to Garren. "The IP is a desktop."

When stark confusion flashed on the dark haired boy's features, I peeked over his shoulder to view the screen and saw the multiple overlapping lines and titles of google maps. "Um, I don't get it. This is St. Sinclair."

"Uh-huh." nodded Charles.

"You're saying the address traced back to a computer in the academy?" probed Garren.

"There's a heap ton of servers so my best bet is it's one used in the library." said Charles. "It'd be like looking for a needle in a haystack for which log in sent the emails, even with my expertise."

I frowned. "So we still don't know who's behind them."

"At least it's narrowed down now." interjected Garren.

"To staff and students which is roughly about three hundred people. Yeah, this'll be a cake walk." I rolled my eyes.

"I'm going out of my way to help here, would it kill you be a little grateful?"

"Grateful so your ego can grow, is what you mean."

"Excuse me?" Garren initiated that authoritative tone but I wasn't bowing down to it.

"You heard me. Don't pretend this was any sort of inconvenience to you. Whether we find X or not, doesn't change anything for you."

There was a flicker of maybe offense or disgruntle in his expression before he scoffed. "At least I'm not some helpless brat whining over a little road bump."

"I'm not whining."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"Excuse me," intervened an unwanted voice, "but this is the ICT, not couples' therapy. The drama club is in the west sector, three doors on the left." Ignoring our heated glares, Charles retrieved his phone. "I believe we're done here?"

"Yes." I beat Garren to answering.

Garren's glower lingered on me before eventually presenting a far from warm smile to the snob. "Thank you, Charlie."

"My pleasure. Oh, and be sure to have the newbie's throat checked at the doctors. I think you may have misplaced your dick in there."

I saw Garren's eyes grow dark as they narrowed to lethal slits. Snickers dispersing from nearby eavesdroppers and before blood could be shed, I stepped into the space separating the autocratic pair. Even through the inches, I felt the tense rage radiating off Garren’s body behind me. More so than the high temperature of Charles' coffee I picked up. "Hope we haven't overstayed our welcome."

Charles flashed a triumphant smirk, like there was nothing to fear with my human shield but Garren could easily shove me out of the way if he wished. "I'll overlook it in return for your manners." He proudly offered a hand to accept the cup from me.

Only for my grip to tragically loosen on the handle, the scalding hot beverage doomed by the course of gravity. By an even bigger tragedy, the larger portion of the spillage avoided the floor in favour of Charles' crotch.

Gosh, what were the chances?

His high pitched screams of agony made it difficult to get an apology through so Garren resolved to grab my hand and escort me out of the premises. Which could've easily been misconstrued as running from the scene of a crime.

**

"Are any of them still chasing us?" I whispered to Garren, staying crouched by an archway pillar.

He craned his neck to scour the grounds up ahead. "... No, doesn't look like it."

Verified, we proceeded to tiptoe along the pathway until the car was in our line of sight.

"For someone so big on manners, he speaks very fluently in cursing." I commented.

"It's a given. Not everyday you have boiling hot coffee poured onto your white chinos. Oh, and your cock too. Nice aim by the way."

"Thanks."

Being rewarded with his chuckles felt sweeter than any award I'd won growing up. "Thanks for backing me up with Charles earlier. I'm... grateful."

Garren had his head faced downwards in what I believed was an attempt to hide a smirk. "You made a grounded input. He had no right to ridicule it."

"Yeah, but I figured it was a guy too. I just made that comment because I don't like Charles." I confessed.

I received another chorus of chuckles with an additional winning grin.

"There they are!" cried a voice uphill from the threshold, leading a small scavenger group behind him.

Instantly, we dashed into the car. I hadn't even equipped myself with the seatbelt before Garren ordered a stern, "Drive!" to the chauffeur and we were carried off, leaving the angry Harvey Julliard mob in the dust.

**

Garren and I agreed on the suspicion the spy was the one sending X's emails. It was an easy solution to prevent the risk of computer experts salvaging their identity through that window of opportunity. The length of caution intrigued me as much as it irked me.

It meant I couldn't hack straight at the roots and would have to pull at weeds. Garren suggested not to let it bug me or make brash decisions that would hinder my concentration in preparing for the upcoming IAO. I only agreed to put it off for the day since my anxiousness with meeting up with Shaun hoarded my mind, giving no room to brainstorming.

I arrived first and sat on a bench for twenty minutes wondering if I was at the right court until he came jogging over. Clad in his rugby uniform and duffel bag slung across his shoulder.

"Sorry, I forgot we had drill practice after." He said.

"It's fine." I wasn't bothered by the wait compared to him deliberately making a gap between us as he sat. Nothing in his posture looked even happy to come, so why had he texted me?

I sat with my fingers curled into my palms and tried not to get irritated. What followed was a minute of numbing silence as Shaun stared down at the grass.

"I sent you like five messages earlier."

He straightened at the sudden sound of my voice, withdrawing from his zoning out. "I know. Sorry."

I bit down on my lip. I wasn't looking for a measly 'sorry', I wanted a bloody explanation. Maybe Ben hadn't been the only one blind enough to misinterpret what had happened? "Listen Shaun, I think there's been a misunderstanding. What happened in the halls this morning— "

"Something happened in the halls?"

I paused at his feign in unawareness. "Yes. I saw you. You knew what happened."

Any ounce of ignorance washed away as his face fell pale, clearly not expecting I'd know it was a lie. Why did he feel the need to lie in the first place? "Oh..." His Addams apple bobbed slowly. "Then there's no need to do this." Suddenly, he rose to his feet.

"Wait, what?"

"Sorry for bothering you. Bye."

I hastily stepped in front of his path. "Shaun hang on. What the hell? You haven't even let me say anything!"

"Say what?" He snapped.

My frown deepened, unfamiliar with hearing such a sharp tone from him. He sounded mad. Why was he mad? I was the one who should be mad for crying out loud! He walked away! "Hess kissed me. I didn't kiss him back."

"I know."

"Then why didn't you do anything?"

"What were you expecting me to do?"

"Care!" I exclaimed. "I expected you to care, Shaun. Forgive me, was that so much to ask? No. You just walked away like it didn't matter to you. Maybe I wouldn't have wanted you to bash his head in, but that would at least be something."

I let out more than I had intended, my chest heaving up and down rapidly as a result. While Shaun simply stood with eyes casted on the ground, visage shadowed.

"You said you liked me." I caught him flinch at that. "Was that just a lie?"

He sighed. "No."

"Then what was the point in it if you're just going to act like this? I don't understand."

He pursed his lips. "You know what I don't understand? Why Hess knows about our movie date."

I blinked. "That's because... I told him."

"Why would you tell him about something like that?"

"He kept asking me to go out with him so I told him so he'd drop it."

Shaun tried to keep it in calm but the fastened grip on his bag said he was anything but happy about that. "And was this before or after I told you to tell me if Hess bothers you?"

"After." I lied.

His eyes narrowed. "You sure?"

I nodded.

"That's funny. Because when I was looking for you this morning, I ran into your friends and asked them about Hess."

I cursed a thousand suns under my breath. Oh god, never had a plan screwed up so spectacularly and quickly. Lesson learned, lying wasn't the right thing. Who knew?

"O-Okay, I lied."

"I figured." Shaun's voice was bitter. The hurt look had me drowning in guilt.

"I'm sorry but I just didn't want to worry you. I'm not interested in Hess. He's trying to mess with you through me."

"Please, just stop."

"No, you have to see that Shaun! Isn't it obvious? Why else would he just randomly go and kiss me in front of everyone—?

"I said stop, Rosita!"

My eyes widened just as much as his did and we both knew it wasn't from him raising his voice. Shaun clicked to his heels and I followed in haste. This was it. It was undeniable now this was a wall in needed of surpassing and I'd smash it into smithereens if I had to.

I nearly tackled Shaun to have him stop, coiling my arms over his torso. "Shaun wait."

"Stevie let me go." There was a waver in his voice, probably from the blunder and whatever he was still trying to hide.

"No." I refused, tightening my grip. "Please, just talk to me. Please."

I saw his squared shoulders gradually sag. A heavy, haggard sigh eluded his lips. I'm faced with those pretty green eyes filled with apprehension and sullenness. Warily, I moved one hand from shackling him and he didn't budge, letting me drop it on his forearm.

"Tell me who Rosita is." I said.

Shaun swallowed. "... A girl I grew up with. I liked her and she, we um, were dating." He still subconsciously looked guilty as if it were a sin to confess it. Granted, it lessened the blow even if I already suspected such. "Back then, I was good friends with Hess too. Both of our families were close, then Hess had to go ruin it."

"What did he do?"

"Last year, my dad was stressed out about a sculpture he had to enter in this big art show that would put him on the map. And a few weeks before the deadline, a picture of it got leaked. Mum was devastated, all his hard work just went down the drain like that. But the weird thing though, dad hadn't even let anybody see it. Me and mum just knew where it was kept. And also Hess."

"Hess leaked it?"

"It could only be him. It had to be. He tried to lie his way out of it, which is typical. And then Rosita actually took his side." The pained expression that fell on Shaun's face was gut wrenching. "We got into a fight and broke up but when I went to her house to straighten things out, I found her together with Hess. Half naked and kissing."

My fingers unintentionally dug into his arm but the boy didn't even flinch, almost as if absorbing my rage with his saddened armour. "Oh god, I'm so sorry Shaun. You didn't deserve to have that happen to you. But you need to believe that I'm not doing that you. I'm not Rosita. Just give me a chance to prove that to you." I pleaded.

Then there was a wait. Possibly one of the most agonising waits in my adolescence as a series of hesitation, pondering and insecurity flickered through those pretty eyes. Yet even then it didn't blemish their beauty.

"... Okay." It was the words I felt I had been waiting an eternity for. Even if he said no, I would've kept holding him until he at least reconsidered.

"Really—? Wait, don't say no. That just slipped out. Don't."

Shaun stifled a laugh and we both pretended not to hear the crack in it. The scar that good for nothing ex left was still in need of healing, that was certain. But I was sure to take care of it and leave my own marks in the process.

I soon realised I was still possessively holding him and he hadn't made any effort to make room between us. We were staring long enough for a snail to have dragged itself from one end of the court to the other.

The itch spiked in my hands and I was shifting my fingers along Shaun's cheekbones before I knew it. The itch sparked to a flame as I trailed it down to his jawline. I could feel his muscles tensing right before he dipped his head and I shut my eyes.

However, I didn't come to learn the taste of his lips. I looked to see vivid affliction pausing his movement.

"I-I've never really kissed someone besides Rosita." He confessed in a small voice. "And even then it wasn't a lot."

"That's okay."

"No, it's not. It's really lame."

"... Are you thinking I won't like it compared to Hess?"

By his deep frown, my suspicion was correct. "So you did like it."

"No, Shaun. That's not what I'm saying."

"But it's what you were thinking."

"No, it's what you were thinking. It was what you were harbouring in your mind."

"And what, you're a mind reader?"

"Oh my god would you just shut up and kiss me!"

Shaun jerked his head back, looking spooked to the bone and I chastened myself quietly for letting my impatience slip out. Then before I could say an apology, lips were pressed against mine.