Chapter 8

I stared at the key in my hand. The damn key. If I had known how much trouble this stupid key would cause me, I would never have given it to Megan. Even though people were shouting at each other around me, it all felt like static, like nothing could be heard over the deafening ringing in my ear. I stared straight ahead, unable to leave my own head, as much as others were trying to bring me out of it.

Was this always going to happen? Was it my fault? Still staring straight forward, I thought back, trying to think of everything that happened this week, the last week before Christmas break. The week where everything went to hell.

Monday.

Probably one of the most difficult days for any of us. Even getting up in the mornings was difficult, and that went double for me. I was definitely starting to get overwhelmed trying to balance Student Council, classes, homework, working out, karate, sometimes yearbook team, and making time for both my girlfriend, friends, and I guess friends with benefits.

And boy, was Sabrina ever not letting me forget that I needed to make time for her, if her texts were any indication.

hey, do u have the key yet???

“The key” was basically our code word at this point. She wasn’t asking about the key, she was asking about something else. I chewed my lip and began typing my response.

Nope, we’ll just have to use the hall again.

“The hall” was also clearly another such word. A placeholder. To be honest, the hall was actually kind of exciting in its own right, but I would have plenty of time to think about that later.

I looked up from my phone, reminding myself that Mr. Kovacs didn’t love people using cell phones in his class. I was already told that if he saw me using it again, he’d take it away. I didn’t really care – I could live without my phone for twenty minutes, and plus, I was kinda untouchable in this school. I was the Student Council VP.

I looked to my left and sighed. Megan and Zelda were sitting next to each other, whispering and giggling. They were getting along so damn well now. It was great, and I was happy for both of them, but I ... come on. I was Zelda’s friend. I was the one she was talking to during history class. Was I that replaceable? I can accept that nothing sexual or even romantic was happening, but ... I still wanted to be her friend.

I looked back at Mr. Kovacs’ desk. He was nose-deep in his book. Students were whispering all around the room. It seemed like as good a time as any to butt in.

“Hey, Megan,” I began. Megan didn’t notice, so I sighed and repeated, “Hey, Megan.”

Megan turned to face me, a genuine smile fading from her face. “Hey Adam,” she replied.

“Do you know ... what question three means? We don’t even have aqueducts.” It was lame, but I didn’t just want to intrude in the conversation to take the key away.

“Um...” She turned back to her desk and took out her book from her bag. It was in her bag, unopened. Jeez. “Questionnnn ... threeeeee...” she murmured. “Oh. Um ... yeah. I think it’s asking about modern versions of aqueducts. So, you know, pipes and stuff.”

Zelda nodded. “That’s what I wrote down, too,” she chimed in, offering me a smile. It almost hurt more that when I interrupted, Zelda was happy to speak to me. Where was that enthusiasm when I wasn’t already talking to her?

I nodded sagely, writing some notes down. “Ohh, totally. That makes a lot of sense, actually.” I turned back to them. “Seems like studying is going well.”

“Yeah!” Zelda immediately agreed. “Honestly, you two have helped me out so much.”

I shrugged. “Hey, I didn’t do anything. This was all Megan.”

“Hey, no!” Zelda protested. “Adam, you were the one that welcomed me into this class. I’m grateful to both of you. You’re both special to me.”

Yeah, were we? I sure wasn’t feeling special, Zelda.

Megan smiled, looking back and forth between us. “It’s so cool, she agreed.

“What is?” I asked.

“Just ... this,” she replied, gesturing to us.

I snapped my fingers. “Oh, by the way, are you good to give back the keys soon?” I asked, as if I just remembered. “Nicole’s been asking me about that.”

Megan looked at me weirdly. “She said I had a week.”

“Yeah, but she’s still asking me, in case you two were planning on giving it back early.”

“Oh.” She turned to Zelda, their eyes communicating. She turned back. “I think we’re both planning on studying right up until the break,” she confirmed to me. “Every day.”

I feigned coolness, shrugging. “Cool, I’ll tell her,” I replied. “Sorry she’s hounding you. After that, will you two find a new place, or will we see you at lunch again?”

Megan cheekily smiled at me. “Yeah, see? It’s a bummer when one of us isn’t there at lunch, isn’t it, Adam?” she asked with a chuckle. Zelda joined in, smiling.

I raised my hands in a comedic way. “Alright, ya got me,” I conceded.

“I think...” Zelda cut in, waiting for confirmation from Megan. “We’re planning on shifting studying to after school. That way we can all still hang out at lunch.”

My smile turned genuine. That was fine by me, and I didn’t care if Zelda did it with all the boys – I definitely missed flirting with her. No matter what she did with others, it felt like what we had was special. I guess this was what Nicole was getting at.

Shortly after, the bell rang. After a quick goodbye, Megan went to her locker, though Zelda told her to set up without her. I didn’t think much of it until I saw Zelda looking at me intently as I got up from my desk.

“I’m sorry if it feels like I’ve been ignoring you, Adam,” she told me sincerely.

“Ignoring me? What?” I asked, pretending to know nothing.

Zelda couldn’t hold back laughter. “Wow, you’re the worst liar on the planet,” she guffawed.

“You have lunch with Megan, have you seen her lie?” I asked, rolling my eyes. I got up from my desk, sighing. “I guess ... I mean, whatever.”

“Not ‘whatever,’” Zelda insisted. “I really enjoy getting to spend lunch time with Megan, but I can understand if we’re leaving you out of the ... what’s the word in English?”

I stared at her for a few seconds. “I don’t even know,” I admitted. “But I get what you’re saying. Uh ... thanks.”

“No, no need to thank me!” Zelda insisted. “I’m sorry. Can I give you a hug?”

I cracked a smile, and readily accepted. Our bodies met in a meaningful embrace. She smelled like some kind of exotic flower, and her words carried such weight. I was glad she clearly wanted to be my friend, and I was really hoping she wanted to be more.

I tapped on the stairs’ handrail nervously. I had been coming to the hall a fair amount during Spanish class, but the more often I had asked to go to the bathroom during Spanish class and just gone to the hall instead, the more likely it was I was going to get caught.

Clearly, that thought hadn’t occurred to Sabrina, because she practically skipped down the hallway, not a single worry on her face. “Hey,” she greeted me.

“Hey,” I replied, my worry clearly showing.

“What’s wrong?” she asked innocently, walking up beside me.

I looked around in both directions. No one ever came to the back stairwell, but even still, it was a publicly accessible place. Sabrina and I were referring to it as The Hall; the place we met up during Spanish class since we wouldn’t get the key for a while. As far as Ms. Luciano knew, we had both gone to the bathroom, five minutes apart.

“We’re going to get caught,” I told her. “Ms. Luciano’s going to find out.”

Sabrina smiled at me. “It’s not like she leaves the classroom during her own class,” she pointed out. “All she can do is suspect.” Confidently, she moved in for a kiss, which I gladly returned.

Sabrina was getting more confident and bold with time. It was sweet, and also, it was pretty sexy. I loved when a girl showed initiative and made the first move. It was probably why I fell so hard for Nicole. Plus, if I knew a girl wanted me, it made me more confident to take things a little further.

And I was happy to do just that. As soon as her lips were on mine, I slipped my hands down her hips and grabbed her by the ass, pulling her forward. She moaned in anticipation, kissing me with need and fervor, moving her body against mine.

She loved feeling me grow hard against her. Her kisses and moans, needy and desperate, made me want to take her right then and there in the hallway. We hadn’t gotten that far, though she had suggested once or twice...

She broke the kiss. “How about today?” she asked. “You don’t even have to return the favor. Just let me...” She giggled, looking around. “Suck your cock.”

I couldn’t help but smile. She loved being this naughty girl, offering to blow a guy in the school hallways. A big part of me really wanted to let her do it, but I shook my head. “You know the rules,” I told her.

She pouted. “The rules you made,” she sulked. “If we’re just going to kiss and not do anything else unil after the New Year, I’m going to go crazy!”

“You could always find another guy,” I told her with a wink.

She winked back. “I don’t want any other guy but you.”

I chuckled. God, what a red flag. I’d need to address that someday. “I tried asking for the keys again today, but they said they’re going to use it for the whole week.”

She groaned, though that could have been because my lips latched onto her neck and I started grinding against her. “Don’t you ... outrank her?” she panted. “You should just ... ungh ... tell her that ... fuck ... that you need the keys. Don’t even ... fuck ... don’t even ask her.”

My cock begged to be set free. My jeans were in serious danger of ripping, and I resolved that if it really did break through my pants, it deserved to fuck her. “I’ll try,” I promised, kissing and sucking on her neck, no doubt leaving several marks, all while I ground up against her. She was grinding back. Our rhythms were becoming one. It was like we were having sex, but with less feeling and several annoying layers of cloth in the way.

“I need you ... inside me...” she panted. “Fuck. Fuck me. When you get that key back, we’re having sex. I want you inside me. As soon as possible.”

I moan-laughed. “If you insist,” I told her, moving my hand up to cup her small breast through her shirt. After a little maneuvering, I got my hand inside her shirt and was caressing and squeezing her breast, using one of my fingers to play with her nipple.

Sabrina was gasping and lightly moaning. “Just once. Please. I want you in my mouth. I want my mouth to be filled with you. I need to suck a dick, Adam. I want you to cum in my mouth.”

I kept playing with her breast in response, wishing I wasn’t so nervous. I really wanted it too. It was just too risky. I knew we’d just be going back to class hot and bothered, but we couldn’t risk it.

And the reason why we couldn’t risk it came about a minute later. Luckily, it was during a point where we weren’t making too much noise, but we heard distinctive footsteps come from the floor below.

With lightning speed, I pulled my hand out of her shirt, the both of us looking into each others’ eyes in panic. Thinking as fast as I could, I whispered, “Turn around, head in your hands. Pretend you’re crying.”

She complied immediately and I started rubbing her back. We could have run instead, but if it was a teacher, they would have heard sudden running footsteps. Eventually, I saw the head of Mr. Graves, my old math teacher, looking at us as he ascended up the stairs.

“Do you have a reason to be here?” he swiftly and sternly asked. Hazelwood did away with physical hall passes, but missing class for any reason was still a pretty serious thing.

I bit my lip. “She ran out of class, some kind of...” I lowered my voice to a whisper. “ ... Anxiety thing.” I shrugged, my voice returning to normal. “I’m just here to help her out.”

“Hmm,” Graves simply replied. “Which class should you be in now?”

“Spanish, Luciano,” I diligently replied. “We’ll only be a few minutes. She just doesn’t want to return ... like this.”

“I see,” he replied, the sternness never leaving his face. “Well...” He gestured with his head to the upper floor, where the classrooms were. “When you can.”

I nodded, giving him that promise, which seemed to satisfy him. With nothing more than a sigh, he continued up the stairs.

As soon as he was gone, Sabrina’s head re-emerged from her hands, but I immediately pushed her head back down. “No,” I whisper-ordered, leaning in. “Do it for a few more seconds. You never know.”

She complied again, waiting a full fifteen seconds before coming back up. She rubbed the back of her head. “That hurt,” she complained.

“Sorry, sorry.”

A smile spread across her face. “I’d rather you grab my hair another way,” she said suggestively.

I scoff-laughed. “Definitely not today,” I told her. “We were so lucky we weren’t making noise when that happened. We should get back to class.”

Sabrina didn’t disagree. We said little more, knowing full well we were going to be texting a lot tonight, and that we were going to see each other in this stairwell tomorrow.

Today was my turn to get to the classroom last, so I waited three minutes after Sabrina left, then started making the trip back myself. When I got back, Ms. Luciano seemed to barely notice, although someone who did notice was Jason.

I wasn’t too worried, since he seemed to take it well that I was in an open relationship, but his expression seemed meaningful when his eyes gestured towards Sabrina, then back to me, then gave an over-the-top gesture as if to say, “What’s going on?”

All I could think to do was shrug playfully.

Nicole strutted back and forth across Room 203 like she was queen of the world. “And that goes double for next year,” she informed us. “We didn’t secure that music budget for nothing. And you know how it is with budgets – use it or lose it. We have a banger of a jazz section – these dumb middle schools are practically begging for us to tour them!”

Daniela’s hand shot into the air. Nicole pointed to her, telling her, “Dani, go.”

“So, uh, not to be rude, but do middle schoolers even like jazz? Maybe we should send over some people that know music that they’d actually like,” Daniela pointed out.

Nicole continued pacing back and forth around the room. “Mm, definitely something to consider,” she replied thoughtfully, not missing a beat, as if the question came from Nicole herself. “But! We need to remember that, first of all, we’re not doing this to promote jazz. We’re doing this to show off that the students of Hazelwood can make some damn good music. Plus, go ahead and tell me how we can make Wrecking Ball or, I dunno, Roar, using a woodwind and brass section.”

“Doing Wrecking Ball would be so stupid. Miley Cyrus is actually going crazy,” Sydney said to herself.

“Yes, Ms. Ross, we understand the idea of a woman actually being independent is scary to you,” Nicole dryly inserted.

“Hey!”

“Anyway, we’ve got a few things the kids are into. Or, at least, what our music teachers think the kids are into.”

“The Family Guy theme?” Daniela guessed.

“The Simpsons theme too,” Nicole replied. “But I don’t disagree. I think the choir was considering doing Royals next year, maybe we can bump it up to th- finally!”

All eyes followed Nicole’s to the entrance of the room where Sabrina stood, very nervously. She made eye contact with me then turned pink, immediately looking down to the floor.

“Everyone, since this is our last meeting of the year, I wanted to make sure we got a team picture together before Christmas,” Nicole continued.

“We’re doing pictures today?” Rick protested. “Ugh. I look like a mess.”

“Then we’re capturing your true essence,” Nicole quipped back. “Where d’you want us, Sab?”

“Um...” Sabrina was back to her usual timid self. “I dunno ... wherever you want to be, I guess.”

Nicole stared at her for a few seconds before rolling her eyes. “Yeah, okay. Um...” She turned back and looked at the wall behind her. “If we move this desk, this could probably be a good spot. Sabrina, you brought the good camera, right?”

“Uh, yeah...”

“Good. Lemme see it. I’ll need to adjust the aperture.”

Nicole didn’t wait a second longer before walking up to Sabrina and snatching the camera. Sabrina turned pink, her eyes fluttering to me before looking awkwardly at the wall.

“You will be...” Nicole trailed off, focused on the camera. “ ... in charge of maneuvering everyone. Making sure they’re in the right place.” She handed the camera back to Sabrina and gave her a challenging smile. “Strong voice. Be bold. Be mean if you have to.” She walked back to the center of the room. “Where do you want us, photographer?”

Sabrina seemingly accepted her fate. “Okay, we need to move that desk,” she began, pointing to the same desk Nicole singled out.

“Great idea,” Nicole said flatly. “Couldn’t have thought of a better one myself.” She grabbed one end of the desk and used her superhuman strength to actually lift it an inch or so off the ground, carrying it to the side all by herself. She really could do anything.

“And the rest of you ... go to where the desk was. Two rows. Tallest people in the back.” Sabrina’s voice wasn’t exactly that of a drill sergeant, but nevertheless we moved, likely fearing Nicole’s retribution if we didn’t. She ordered a few of us to move around, though the most hilarious part came when she had to move me.

“Um...” She turned pink yet again. “Th-the VP ... what’s – what’s your name again?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle, and heard Nicole mumble “oh boy” to my left. Sabrina wasn’t exactly Megan, so maybe some of the Council couldn’t tell she was lying, but at least half the Council knew we fooled around by now, if not more. “Adam.”

“A-Adam, I need you to come in closer,” Sabrina said shakily. She was so confident one-on-one with me ... it was so interesting to see the old side of her.

“Yeah, come in closer, Adam,” Nicole said to my left with a smirk on her face. Without anyone being able to see, her hand came around to my butt and yanked me in, her hand remaining on my ass. “Unless you’re scared of me.”

I smiled back at her, and winked. Sabrina coughed uncomfortably.

Tuesday.

It wasn’t my best day. Nothing particularly bad happened to me that morning, but it was just one of those days where I woke up and felt more anxious. I was a lot better with my anxiety this year, but I still had off days, and clearly, so did Carson.

All throughout lunch, he was moving back and forth, fidgeting with his hands instead of eating his food. Eventually, he sighed. “Where the fuck is Megan?”

“Tutoring Zelda,” I replied, feeling his pain. “As always.”

“Yeah, well, that doesn’t need to be an everyday kinda thing,” he spat annoyedly. “How are they not running out of things to study? She’s teaching more than ... what’s his name?”

“Kovacs.”

“Yeah, she’s teaching more than Kovacs at this point.”

“After one session she probably taught more than Kovacs did,” I admitted. “Yesterday, I talked to them – they said they’d be having lunch with us again after this week.”

Carson gave a laugh of derision. “So, next year,” he concluded. “What a fuckin’ stupid thing to waste your time on. Studying for history. Zelda’s a smart girl, she can catch up real quick.”

“To be honest, Carson,” I gingerly started. “I think they’re just enjoying being friends and talking in a more quiet environment. I mean, on my most anxious days, the caf is kind of overwhelming for me t-”

“Yeah, fuck that, nobody cares,” Carson grumpily cut in. “They were happy to hang out with us before, and now that she got, what was it, one bad grade, she’s throwing her and Megan’s whole lunchtime away? No. Just no.”

Jason and Athena just sat, quietly eating their food. Eventually, Athena thought to cut into the silence. “You miss her, don’t you?”

Carson shrugged. “She’s a part of the team. She’s been a part of this since, like, grade nine. You don’t just throw that shit away for studying.” He jutted a finger out towards me. “Or Student Council bullshit.”

“Carson,” Jason inserted, “Maybe this kind of thing is important to her. I mean, you don’t know her. Maybe-”

“Wait, I don’t know my own friend?!” Carson interrupted. “You’d better have been talking about fuckin’ Zelda, because I know more about Megan now than you ever will, dude.”

Jason sat in baffled silence. His eyes flickered to me, and I shrugged. “I wouldn’t,” I simply told him. “Just let it be.”

“Just let it fuckin’ be,” Carson agreed.

Normally, when a friend and I crossed paths in the hallway, we’d just politely wave to each other and move on. After lunch, when Zelda and I were walking in opposite directions, that was exactly what happened, but this particular time, I hesitated.

Zelda’s smile was friendly and she even gave me a “Hey Adam” as she walked by. I waved back, then stopped in my tracks and turned around, watching her leave. I stared at her for a few seconds, then, against my better judgment, walked back up to her.

“Yo, Zelda,” I said casually, keeping pace with her.

She smiled at me. “How was lunch?”

“Uh...” I mulled it over. “Carson’s not ... taking it well.”

For some reason, that was enough to make Zelda stop abruptly. “Not ... taking what well?” she asked in a very serious tone.

Seemed like an over-dramatic response, but whatever. “Like, the fact you two are gone at lunch,” I explained. “He misses Megan, and he likes you too. As a friend.”

“Oh,” she replied simply, going back to walking. “Well, what can we do? You need to study in school, right?”

“Carson doesn’t think so. He doesn’t even pay attention in class.” We shared a laugh. “I think I’m just glad that you two will be back. He’s not the only one who misses you.”

“Adammm!” Zelda replied, putting an arm around me and giving me a side-hug. “You are so sweet! I’ve missed you too.”

Her touch felt so good on me. Feeling her hand on my shoulder and her absolute lack of shame having an arm around me as we walked in the public hallways filled me with confidence. “I mean, I definitely get it,” I admitted. “There’s nothing like getting to spend time with a friend when it’s, like, not in a group, right?”

“You know, I feel the exact same way,” she agreed, going up to her locker and taking her hand off my shoulder. “To me, that’s really the best way to talk to someone.”

“Yeah. Uh...” I started fidgeting around. “I mean, her, if you ever wanted, you know ... I would totally like to hang out with you too sometime. You know, we could go take a hike together or even just hang out at one of our houses ... if you wanted ... we could even see a movie or something.”

Zelda turned away from her locker, smirking at me. “I don’t know about a movie,” she told me. “If we’re watching a movie, then we can’t actually talk to each other, can we? That sounds like what you’d do on a date more than anything.”

I said nothing. I couldn’t even think so. I decided to go for broke, my silence speaking volumes. I looked at her, away from her, anywhere I could, while the message sank in.

“Wait. You’re with Nicole right now, aren’t you?”

I shrugged. “It’s an open relationship.”

She paused. “So ... you can go on dates with anyone you want?”

“I think so,” I laughed. “I mean, yes. I can.”

She opened her mouth a few times, but nothing came out. Eventually, she stopped and moved her mouth to the side. “I ... don’t know, Adam. This feels too close to cheating for me to be-”

“It wouldn’t be cheating,” I insisted. “I can text Nicole again and-”

“I trust you,” she soothed me. “I, uh ... ha.” She looked like she wanted to say something, but was holding back for some reason. “Why don’t we ... think about that? Maybe in the meantime, we can hang out, just us two. But it’s not dating or anything. Is that okay?”

“Uh, sure!” That was fine by me. Odds were, even getting to hang out with her one-on-one was a sign of good things to come. “I think I’m free on the weekend. I just can’t drive, though I think I know someone who does.”

“Oh, wow,” Zelda breathed. “This is all really sudden. I think we should maybe hold off until at least after classes end.”

“Classes ... do end on Friday,” I pointed out.

She smiled. “Always so persistent,” she said. “I just mean a little bit after. I want to have a bit of time to myself. Okay?”

Maybe I actually misjudged this. “Okay,” I admitted, feeling a little stupid. “Uh ... see you in history tomorrow?”

“See you then,” Zelda practically laughed.

“Cool. Great. I’m, uh, sorry,” I replied quickly.

“Hey, no, no being sorry,” Zelda soothed. “I’m going to enjoy getting to hang out with you, Adam. It’s just a stressful time for me right now.”

“Okay, yeah,” I admitted, my face getting hot, my body already turning to leave. “Anyway, see you tomorrow!”

All things considered, Zelda was being really nice to me. Plus, she said she wanted to hang out with me. She didn’t even say no to going on dates with me, just that she wanted to hang out with me first. So why did I feel like such an idiot...?

Whatever. I walked away, mentally noting that I needed to ask Nicole if going on dates with other people was okay.

It was the boldest Sabrina and I had ever gotten in the hallway. Full-on fucking in the hallways was a no-go, and I had no confidence in my abilities to quickly put my junk away if it was out, but we managed to find a workaround.

Sabrina grunted and moaned, shoving her chest into my face. She had the cutest little tits, her nipples standing out straight, proud, and excited. She seemed a little bit embarrassed of her “flat” chest, but I actually kind of liked it. I was so used to Nicole’s endowments that having her small, sensitive boobs in my face was actually really sexy in its own way.

Nicole’s theory of “the smaller the chest, the more sensitive” seemed to be proving true. Maybe it was because Sabrina was also trying to rub herself under her dress, but she was getting really into our motions, practically shoving my face into her chest. She was definitely appreciating my experience, and my technique. Every time my tongue rolled around her swollen nipples, they’d try to hit a slightly different area, covering every inch of her, making her lightly moan into the hallway.

“Wow ... f-fuck, Adam, this is so good,” she moaned. “I c-can’t wait until we get that key back. I want to ... I want you to ... ungh...”

She definitely was used to getting what she wanted. Even if it wasn’t a direct request, she’d bring up the key every time we met up now. Part of me couldn’t blame her; we both knew that at our first opportunity, we would be fucking in that room. We’d play it safe, we’d lock the doors, and we’d try to minimize noise and make it as stealthy as possible, but I was going to be inside Sabrina. I was going to rock her world. We were going to go into a forgotten room in the school and fuck like wild animals.

For now, we were happy to tease each other, though both of us were getting tired of teasing. I was painfully hard and throbbing in my pants. I could hear how wet Sabrina was from her rubbing herself. Shooing her hand away, I started grinding up against her and put my mouth to her ear.

“Tell me how badly you want me inside you,” I ordered, my hips practically moving on their own.

“I want you so badly, Adam,” she breathed back into my ear. “I want to feel your huge perfect cock inside me. I want to take all of it. I want you to fuck me every day and make me your little s-slut.”

We kept grinding against each other, simultaneously loving the feel of our bodies against each other and wishing we could melt our clothes away and finally be as close to each other as we wanted. As we did, though, we heard telltale footsteps, this time coming from upstairs, and broke away from each other, making it look like we were having a really serious conversation.

I wasn’t expecting to see any person in particular, but I sure wasn’t expecting to see Jason. “Oh, uh, hey,” I clumsily said. “We’re just having a conversation here.”

Jason didn’t say anything to start. He just looked at the two of us for a bit, and then just said, “Uh-huh.”

That was enough to set the anxious Sabrina off. “Actually, we should probably get back,” she practically squeaked, then started to hurriedly walk back. “See you there!”

“Uh, yeah, see you...” I mumbled, watching Sabrina leave and Jason approach.

Jason watched her leave, then turned back to face me. He gestured towards Sabrina. “Are you two...?” he trailed off.

I remained unmoved. “Are we...” I parroted, waiting for him to finish.

“Okay, look ... don’t play dumb. You two are, like, doing stuff in the hallways during class, right?” he asked.

I looked him dead in the eye and shrugged. “I mean, we’re doing whatever people think we’re doing, I guess,” I countered.

“You know, so many guys in this school would kill for the relationship you have,” he started. “The one you have with Nicole. It really does seem great, and she really does seem like a good person.”