When we don't know who to turn to, sometimes we turn to the ones we least expect.
Luke Salazar is a senior at Bay High School, and he's been pushed, shoved, and shut out for most of his life. Miles Jefferson has been the ringleader of a lot of that...
All the way from the Donut Hole to school, Miles drove with one hand and held mine with the other. I kept looking down at it in awe, wondering how on Earth this happened. A week ago, I was sitting at lunch with Brooke insisting that Miles was disgusting. And now, I'm holding his hand in his Jeep on the way to school.
But in the past week, I had learned so much about who Miles actually was...and why he did some of the things he did. It also meant so much to see he felt remorse for the way he'd treated Luke.
"You're quiet. Whatcha thinking about?" Miles' voice broke through my thoughts as we turned into the school parking lot.
I looked over at him and smiled. "To be honest, I was just thinking about how a week ago you were loathsome, and now I'm holding your hand." I realized how that must've sounded, and my face got hot. "I mean—I didn't—" I stammered.
He laughed and let my hand go as he put the Jeep in park before turning toward me. "You're cute when you're flustered." I slugged his shoulder, and he grinned. "No, I know what you mean, Rachel; I'm well aware of the ass I've been for most of my life. Don't move," he ordered, and he jumped out of the Jeep and ran around to my side, opening the door for me and offering his hand.
Once again, I took it, and we walked halfway to the building before I thought about the fact that we were about to walk into school holding hands. I cleared my throat. "Umm, are you ready for this?"
He looked down at me and turned his head to one side. "Ready for what?"
I held our joined hands up between us. "This. We walk into school like this and there are going to be about a thousand pairs of eyes on us. And we don't even know what this is yet!" When he said nothing, I continued, babbling now. "I mean, come on. You're the star of the baseball team, Mr. All-American, and I'm the nerdy valedictorian and editor of the school paper. We aren't exactly the most expected..." I almost said 'couple,' but I realized we hadn't yet had that conversation, and I didn't want to have it now.
He looked at me, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement. He let my hand go and kissed my forehead, his lips sending what felt like an electric charge through me. "We'll face that another day. Besides, we already have detention today. Let's keep the next few hours as chill as possible."
"Sounds good." We walked in the side door and ran right into Luke and Brooke.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Brooke teased, looking between us. "Is this the end of a Walk of Shame?"
My eyes widened, and my nostrils flared. "Shut up!" I mouthed.
Miles snorted. "Well, if you consider the shameful breakfast we just had at the Donut Hole, then yes.
"Damnit, I love the Donut Hole. Why didn't you bring me anything?" Luke asked, pretending to be hurt.
"Next time, man," Miles said, clapping Luke on the shoulder.
Luke flinched—I don't know if anyone else noticed, but I did. I realized then how sad it was that Luke flinching from Miles truly stems from Miles flinching from his father.
But the moment was over as quickly as it came, and Luke was smiling at Miles.
"Okay, I hate to break up this bromance, but the warning bell just rang and we're a long way from the math hall," Brooke said, grabbing Luke and dragging him away, winking at us over her shoulder.
I laughed and shook my head. "Let's get to study hall...bring your AP Euro stuff so I can help you with your flashcards."
"Hey, what makes you think I need help in AP Euro?" he asked with mock irritation.
"Come on, Jefferson, you didn't know the cause of the French Revolution," I said, patting him on the shoulder.
He laughed. "You're right. This test is in two weeks and I think I'm screwed."
"Nah, never fear. I'll let you copy my flashcards. My system has gotten me at least a 4 on every AP test I've taken," I said, trying not to brag, but realizing it came out as haughty.
But I guess Miles didn't think so because he was looking at me with admiration. "And how many AP tests have you taken, Cross?"
As we walked toward the library, I started counting on my fingers. "5 so far...and I'll be taking 4 more in the next few weeks," I said, all of a sudden feeling rather stressed. "Holy shit," I murmured.
Miles threw his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him. "You got this. Don't get stressed now—I need you!"
I looked up at him and smiled. "Let's ask Ms. Dawson if we can go in one of the study rooms so we can talk."
"Okay, I'll ask her."
I watched him as he strode up to Ms. Dawson's desk and made his request, and I appreciated just how handsome he actually was. He was tall without being too tall, broad-shouldered, with striking blue eyes, sandy brown hair that always looked perfectly imperfect, bright white teeth, and his lips...damn, they were...
"Uh, Rachel?" he asked, waving his hand in front of my face.
Shit.
"Oh, uh...what?" I asked, embarrassed that he had caught me staring him down.
"She said we could go in study room 1. Better get focused, Cross. We have a lot of studying to do," he teased, turning around to go into the small room in the back of the library.
I sighed and followed him. Damnit, I am falling for him.
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