REVISED:The Boy With A Touch Of Cancer (BxB)

8. Trading Notes

After Mom pulled into a parking space she turned to me, a warning look in her eyes. "If you start feeling bad, just text me and I'll pick you up, okay?"

I nodded. "Will do."

I flung my door open and got out of the car with Drew. "See ya later, Mom."

As Drew and I started heading into school, Mom rolled her window down and yelled, "I love you guys so much! Have a great day!"

Drew turned around, not even missing a step, and called, "Yeah, you too!" Then he turned back around, and starting walking faster.

"That was fucking embarrassing," Drew muttered as we entered Oakwood.

"I know. She probably did it on purpose," I retorted.

He snorted. "Yeah, maybe. I'll see you later."

"See ya," I said as he headed upstairs to the Sophomore and Freshman portion of the school.

I headed to my own locker, keeping my head down, and hoped no one would notice me.

Unfortunately, my hopes were crushed as I heard a raspy voice I recognized--though I couldn't tell who it belonged to--say, "Hi Ethan. I'm so glad your back."

I glanced up to see Tina standing there with Abby. Apparently, Tina was the one talking to me, but it didn't sound like her normal voice for some reason. She sounded raspier than usual.

"Uh, thanks. I haven't been feeling too great the last few days," I replied awkwardly before turning to my locker.

"Ugh, I know. We've been practicing our cheer's the last few days, and my voice is pretty much gone," Tina rasped barely above a whisper.

Well, at least I know why she can't talk now.

"Tina, you know what the doctor said. If you don't stop talking while you still have your voice, then you won't be able to talk at all," Abby scolded.

"What doctor?" I questioned.

"Oh, Tina's parents took her to the doctor after she lost her voice...and they basically told her to shut up for a week." Abby sent a warning look at Tina, a teasing smile on her lips.

Tina nodded, then turned to her phone. She quickly typed something then Abby's phone chirped, alerting her to a text.

Abby glanced at the phone then waved at Tina. "Yeah, I'll see you at lunch too."

Tina waved at me, then she left.

"So, instead of talking non-stop to each other, you just text non-stop?"

"Pretty much." Abby smiled, then she paused for a beat, a serious expression taking over her features. "I'm glad you're finally back at school. You know that right?"

"Yeah, I guess you and Will's little intervention on Wednesday pulled me out of my funk," I replied only half-serious, embarrassed at how serious she was.

"Yeah, I guess I can take responsibility for you being at school today." She playfully elbowed me and smiled smugly.

I rolled my eyes at her just as the bell went off.

"I'll see you later. Oh, and just a heads up: Mr. Smith has been absent all week, and his substitute is a total bitch," Abby said.

"Yeah, I'll see you at lunch too, and thanks for the heads up." I waved and sent her a grateful smile.

She waved at me before sauntering off, her thin hips swishing as she hurried off to class.

I wanted to make it through this day without everyone acknowledging that I was back...and I especially didn't want to see Leo (but we all know I'll see Leo...especially since we're in the same first-period class).

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I managed to get to class earlier than I thought I would, so I glanced around the room, scanning all the bored faces. Though I couldn't quite tell what I was looking for. Hell, I knew exactly who I was looking for, and I was hoping that he wouldn't be here.

After scanning the room, I laid my head down on my desk, lost in thought.

I knew Leo would be here, but that didn't stop me from hoping he wouldn't be here. I was nowhere near ready to face him again. Everything would be so awkward with him after Sunday. I don't have a clue what I would say to him. Like, 'Hey Leo. I can't stop thinking about you. I think your insanely hot and I don't have a clue why.' I could never say that to him, even though I secretly want to. I wanted to keep being friends with Leo, though I didn't want him to know I wanted to be more than friends with him.

"Alright, class. Let's get to work," I heard a high pitched, female voice command.

I glanced up to see a woman in her 40s. Her silver-streaked hair was pulled back in a tight bun, and she was wearing a simple gray pantsuit. Must be the new substitute.

She headed over to her desk and set her purse down. "Everyone, turn to page 103 and start reading, please."

I flipped my book open and after a few minutes, I was already struggling to concentrate on my textbook. A note landed on the page I was struggling to read, and I just stared at it, confused as to who put it on my desk.

After I stared at it for probably a solid minute, I grabbed the note and slowly unfolded the paper.

𝓘'𝓶 𝓰𝓵𝓪𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾'𝓻𝓮 𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴. 𝓐𝓫𝓫𝔂 𝓼𝓪𝓲𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓽𝔂 𝓼𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓵𝓪𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓮𝔀 𝓭𝓪𝔂𝓼, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓘 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓸𝓴𝓪𝔂. :)

The handwriting was neat and tidy, and it definitely didn't belong to anyone I knew, as they all wrote pretty sloppily, like me.

I glanced up from the tiny piece of paper in my hands, my eyes immediately landing on the boy sitting next to me. Of course, it was the one person in this entire room I wasn't ready to talk to.

Leo's hazy blue eyes were fixed on me, a curious look in them. He glanced pointedly at the paper in my hands, then back up with his eyebrows raised, silently asking for an answer to what he wrote.

I looked back down at the paper, and I felt a smile tugging at my lips as I wrote down, ʸᵉᵃʰ, ᴵ'ᵐ ᵒᵏᵃʸ. ᴵ ʷᵃˢⁿ'ᵗ ˢⁱᶜᵏ ᵖᵉʳ ˢᵉ, ᴵ ʲᵘˢᵗ ᶠᵉˡᵗ ᶜʳᵃᵖᵖʸ.

I folded up the paper, then I leaned over and dropped it on his desk.
As I leaned over a musky smell filled my nose, causing my heart to do somersaults. Damn, he smells so good. I silently scolded myself for thinking that as I shouldn't think he smells good. He's your friend, and nothing else. You're not going down that road again.

Leo glanced at what I wrote, then scribbled something down before passing it back to me.

𝓦𝓮𝓵𝓵, 𝓘'𝓶 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓰𝓵𝓪𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾'𝓻𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻. :p

I didn't know how to respond to that, so I just stuffed the paper in a random page in my book and tried to forget about it. Though, I couldn't forget about it because my fluttering heart kept reminding me of it, then the words Leo wrote down would echo through my head.

After what felt like hours--though it was probably only a few minutes--I stole a glance at Leo. His arm was folded over the desk with his head in his hand, and he was staring at his English book, intently scanning the words that I should be reading right now.

I hated the way his gray henley shirt hugged his shoulders and showed off his sinewy biceps.
I also noticed--and hated that I noticed--the way his dark almond brown hair fell in gentle feathery waves across his head.

He glanced up from his book, and I immediately looked away, my cheeks burning like a blaze was set beneath my skin.

I stared down at my book, hoping he didn't realize that I was gawking at him like an idiot. Just focus on your book, and when the bell rings, you can leave.