My feelings, emotions, hormones, blood pressure, heartrate, all of them are running rampant.
Shoving the door to the girl’s room harder than necessary, it bangs against the wall behind it as I enter. I splash water on my overheated face and stare at my reflection. What is he doing to me?
I don’t have much time to ponder that, as Scout comes storming into the room just seconds after me. The look on her face says it all, but she vocalises anyway, “What the hell was that all about?”
Turning to her I shrug, attempting to play it off, “I don’t know, weird, huh?”
Scout raises a disbelieving pierced brow at me, “Right, so you have no idea why Carter kicked me out of my seat and sent me on my way? Is that what you’re saying? Because the flush of your cheeks and the fresh hickey on your neck suggests otherwise.”
My eyes bug out, “He didn’t!” I spin around to the mirror to inspect my neck, but there’s nothing there. Slowly turning back to face Scout I say, “You’re a bitch.”
She grins, “And you’re a shitty liar.”
I huff and lean back on the basin behind me, “Fine. The other day he told me he was into me and said I had the weekend to think about it. Then, I was supposed to find him to discuss a proposal he made. But I didn’t. In fact, I took off the opposite way when I saw him this morning. That, back there,” I point in the direction of the class we were just in, “Was him following through with his threat to find me if I didn’t find him.”
Scout’s face is almost comical, her expression is torn between mortified and amused. I glare at her and cross my arms, then she settles on amused and busts out laughing. “I don’t see how this is funny,” I grind out.
“Oh, I do,” she says, when she’s finished laughing at me. “It’s hilarious. Mr. Perfect wants Ms. Awkward. It’s comedy gold. I mean, seriously, how is that going to work? Are you even capable of carrying on a conversation with a hot guy without divulging something horrifically embarrassing, or rambling about weird facts that only you care about?”
I shrug, “Guess we’ll find out. He isn’t really giving me a choice. And so far, there hasn’t been all that much talking.”
There goes that pierced brow again, “So what has there been?”
“Kissing. Really amazing kissing,” I sigh.
Scout’s eyes glaze over, “I’ve heard he has some serious skills in that department.”
I nod, “It’s true, he really does.”
When Scout’s finished grilling me about Carter, I make my way to a study group, which just so happens to be with Cole. This is all his fault. If he didn’t assign Carter to me I’d still be blissfully invisible and happily awkward, but no, just weeks shy of graduation and he has to throw me a possibly life changing curve ball. Douchecanoe.
I enter the classroom the study group is held in, glaring at Cole on my way past, and all he does is smile. He smiles so big that those damn dimples pop and my glare starts to slip. It’s really not fair that he has those. That’s cheating.
Everyone else is busy working on their own things, when Cole approaches me at my desk in the back corner of the room, “How’s it going with Carter?” he asks in a chipper tone, as he parks his fine arse on the corner of my desk.
I try to glare up at him, I really do, but those damn dimples are on display and its making it really hard to stay mad at him, “I still don’t like you right now, so I’d appreciate it if you would kindly shove off.”
He chuckles, “Nope, sorry, no can do. I just have to know how my favourite photographer is doing with her assignment.”
Dropping my head to my desk, I let out a frustrated breath, “He wants to,” I swallow down the words, sealing my lips closed.
“Hmm, what was that?” Cole says, an annoying grin tilting his mouth up on the side.
I look away and mutter, “Date me and stuff.” I don’t say the words that were actually on the tip of my tongue, fuck me, he wants to fuck me.
Cole is silent, and I roll my head to the side so I can look up at him with one eye, he’s covering his mouth with his hand but the dimples on his cheeks and glee shining in his eyes give away the fact that he’s holding in his laughter, bastard.
Finally, he notices that I’m eyeing him and he clears his throat, “You don’t say,” he grins fully now.
And I sit up immediately, “You knew!” I accuse.
He shrugs, “Maybe.”
“You set me up!” I whisper yell, flicking my eyes around the space surrounding us to make sure the whole room isn’t listening to our conversation. “Why would you do that to me? You just said I’m your favourite, why would you set me up like that?”
Standing from my desk he grabs the back of an empty chair against the back wall, dragging it over next to me, then sits down. He laces his fingers together on the corner of my desk, “You are one of my favourite people, Chance. Did you know Carter is also one of my favourite people?”
I frown in confusion, “I didn’t know you even knew him.”
“Well I do, it doesn’t matter how, but I do. And I’ve gotten to know him better than most over the last year or so. He’s a really decent guy,” he says then looks me in the eye, “And he’s been watching you from afar for a while. When I hit him up about it he shrugged it off and acted like I was seeing things. So, I assigned you to him to see what would happen.”
“Are you kidding me right now? That’s crazy. You’re a crazy person.”
Cole chuckles softly, “Maybe. But I was right, wasn’t I?”
I cross my arms over my chest, “So what, you’re getting into match making now? Running the paper doesn’t tickle your pickle anymore so you thought you’d dip your toes in Cupid’s pool?”
He frowns, “I don’t think Cupid has a pool. He uses arrows, doesn’t he? Anyway, that’s beside the point. Carter could use someone like you in his life. I just put you two on the same path for a moment in time, and if things happen to click between you,” he shrugs, “Then I win,” he beams.
“I really don’t like you right now,” I mutter, then ask, “Wait, you win? Win what?”
He shrugs again, “Never mind that, my work here is done. Oh, and I don’t need any shots of him. I just did what I needed to in order to get you guys in the same room.”
My jaw drops, “You are freaking kidding me, right? Dick move, Cole. Total dick move.”
Grinning he stands, “Maybe, but you’ll thank me, one day,” he shoots me a wink, then makes his way toward the front of the room to annoy some other unsuspecting student.
Another chunk of time passes with absolutely nothing accomplished. And this time I don’t even have the excuse of having to use all my focus to stop myself from attacking Carter. It’s still him that consumes my thoughts though. I wonder how he and Cole know each other? Why would Cole pull a stunt like that?
Questions swirl around inside my head for the remainder of the afternoon, and by the time students start filing out of the room, my brain is mush and it has nothing to do with the amount of studying I just crammed into a two-hour block.
Dragging myself outside, I take in a deep pull of fresh air, closing my eyes an enjoying the sun on my face. It revitalises me, giving me the much-needed energy required to cross the grounds to the photo lab. I want to develop the film from Sunday night. I like to use both film and digital when I shoot. There’s just something about developing my own photos that soothes me.
A big pair of hands wrap around my shoulders from behind and I jump, “Jesus, Carter, you have to stop doing that.”
But when I spin around it’s not Carter standing behind me, but Kassidy.
“Carter?” he asks with a smirk on his big stupid face.
“Shut up! Don’t even say it. Whatever it is, just keep it inside your big stupid mouth,” I warn him.
Kass shrugs, “I wasn’t going to say anything, I swear.” Then he starts making kissy faces and miming a make out scene that’s not suitable for public places.
I whack him upside the head, “Stop that.” Before he can add words to his actions I begin speed walking away from him.
“Hey!” Kass jogs to catch up with me, “Where are you going? I wasn’t done.”
Glancing at him from the corner of my eye, I make sure he isn’t still acting out the car scene from Titanic before I retort, “I know, but my survival instincts kicked in and it was fight or flight. Flight obviously won out.”
Kass glares at me, “Well that’s just rude.”
I smile widely, “Keep up the kissy faces and I’ll show you just how rude I can be,” I threaten, but I fail to maintain a straight face and seconds later we’re both laughing.
“That was a good line though,” Kass says with a quick jab of his elbow to my ribs.
Grinning, I tell him, “I know right, it just came to me. I’m a natural smartarse.”