A Surreptitious Relationship

:A Surreptitious Relationship: Chapter Forty-Three

      “Okay! Operation plan for safely delivering Aaron to the police department today after school is now in conduct!” Casey chirped as she nearly burst Chris’s door off the hinges in her entrance into his classroom.

      He looked up at her from his desk, the corners of his lips turning down. “I have to finish correcting these tests. Have a seat and keep it down.”

      She blinked at him. “Eh? You’re doing something teacher-ish for once?”

     “What do you mean for once?”

     “I never see you doing anything teacher-ish except for in class!”

      “That’s because he’s always with Holly,” Jeremy pointed out from his seat next to me in the front row of desks. “He shirks his responsibilities.”

      Chris scowled at him. “I do not! Whatever I don’t finish because I go to hang out with Holly gets finished when I get home.”

      His eyes lit up in amusement. “Even when you bring Holly home with you?”

      “Well, no, but…”

     “You shirk,” he and Casey decided together.

      Chris sighed, shaking his head at them. “Whatever.”

      “You should be ashamed of yourself,” Jeremy continued, sounding scolding. “You shouldn’t put off work for hanging out with Holly.”

      I dropped my gaze to my desk, where my homework for Spanish lay. Well, more like the Spanish homework and the math homework and the history homework from the past couple nights that I hadn’t done. Luckily I’d received extra time on all of it because I said I’d had to visit a relative in the hospital and couldn’t find time to do it. It was partial truth at least. I was visiting Aaron… But the main reason for me not doing it was because Chris had been there the whole time. He was too distracting to do work around. Apparently, the feeling was mutual.

“Just shut up so I can work,” Chris ordered, focusing on the pile of papers in front of him.

     “Are you sure you have to work? Could it be you don’t want to help Aaron out because you’re afraid he might steal Holly away from you?”

He glowered at her. “That has nothing to do with it. Compared to me, that boy has no chance.”

I rolled my eyes at his cockiness. He was right though. There wasn’t a single ounce of romantic feelings for that boy in me. Especially since he’d tried to trick me into believing he was starting to like Chris. Why did he have to be so confusing? Couldn’t he just decide on what gender he liked?

“I think you’re scared,” Casey challenged. “He’s pretty cute.”

     “I’m cuter though, right?” Jeremy inquired casually, pretending to exam the top of his fingernails.

       She stared at him for a moment, screwing her face up in concentration. “Umm…”

      He gave her a mock-offended look. “Hey!”

      “You’re cuter,” she concluded, “but Holly isn’t interested you. At least I don’t think she is.”

       I decided to ignore her. It was best to hold my silence in cases such as this.

“She’s interested in Aaron. And that’s why Mr. Heywood doesn’t want to help out.”

 The teacher in question let out a small, frustrated groan. “I told you that isn’t it. I have to finish these tests for next period.”