Chapter Three

Claire felt lucky that in all her classes, she managed to secure a seat beside the window. It was also a good thing that even though seating arrangements were never official, everybody just had the initiative to always sit in the same spot they sat on during the first day of school.

She looked out the window and inhaled, breathing in the smell of the late summer breeze accompanied by the faint aroma of baked bread and coffee from the café across the street. From this distance, one would think that being able to smell the pastries they serve would be unlikely but because she was a regular customer, her nose could pick up the familiar scent from miles away.

Claire wanted to freeze time and just take a break like this, but no, she could never. Even though she was living in a small town, she was living a fast-paced life.

“Anyway”, Mrs. Myers’s voice broke her out of her reverie, forcing her to peel her gaze off the calm scenery outside and actually pay attention. “Besides that, I have nothing else to announce. Have a great weekend”

Claire had no idea what their homeroom teacher was announcing to the class while she was spacing out, but she had little care. It was Friday— her first tutorial session with Ethan.

“Hey, Claire”

She felt a gentle poke on the side of her head. Craning her neck, she met Jess’s usual goofy smile. “Hey”

“I’ll get going”, Jess told her. “Goodluck today!”

“Thanks”, she smiled gratefully. “See you Monday”

After gathering her stuff and placing them carefully into her backpack, she headed out the door. She had no idea where to meet Ethan since they never really got to talk for the past week. They didn’t have a single class together, despite being both seniors. But she figured that they would have to study in the library so if Ethan had the initiative, he would probably head there as well.

“Oh!” Claire exclaimed when she turned to a corner and almost bumped into someone. She took a step back and was about to apologize when she looked up and saw his smiling face. “Oh, it’s you”

“You don’t have to sound so disappointed, Claire”, Ethan chuckled. “I was about to go to your classroom. Mrs. Myers told me where to find you”

“Well I’m here now”, she replied, shrugging. “Let’s go to the library?”

“Huh, I thought we were going to study in a classroom. I’d rather do that”

“Why, though? Wouldn’t it be better to study in a library?” she unconsciously tilted her head a little in confusion.

“But I wouldn’t get to be alone with you, so what’s the point?”

Claire automatically blushed at that. She looked at the floor to save herself from the embarrassment of having Ethan notice her red cheeks.

“You’re impossible”

Chuckling, Ethan placed a hand on her head and turned her around. “Kidding. There are students in the library, I checked. I just don’t want to expose myself being tutored by a fellow senior”

“Makes sense”, she retorted, brushing off his hand before fixing her hair and walking back the direction she came from. “You wouldn’t want people to know just how dumb you are”

“True”, Ethan agreed and a second later, his laugh was echoing through the empty halls.

When the duo arrived in the classroom, they settled in the front seats just so Claire could use the board when she felt the need to do so. She then took out her books and pencil case.

“So, what lessons were you struggling with this week?”

---

Ethan groaned in exhaustion and stretched out his limbs, knocking off a chair in the process. “Man, I hate studying”

“You’re better than I expected”, Claire said, gathering up the books and pencils they used. “You understand everything pretty quick”

He sat up straight and made an aww face at her, pouting his lips and showing off his seemingly well-practiced puppy eyes. Claire couldn’t deny how good-looking he was. She figured the boy knew this as well, judging on how much he seemed to love himself.

“Stop that”, she rolled her eyes before standing up to leave. “I’ll get going. See you next Friday”

She only walked a few steps past him when she felt a warm hand around her wrist. Her eyes went wide in shock upon the sensation.

“Wait”, she heard him say.

Claire gasped softly when she felt him pull her gently but with enough force to make her turn around to face him. He grabbed his pen from the desk and turned her wrist so that the inside of her arm was exposed. He then started scribbling something on her. Usually, Claire wouldn’t want anybody writing on her skin with ink but at the moment, she was too flustered to react on time.

“Hey!” she protested a few seconds later, finally pulling out her arm.

“Call me”, Ethan winked.

She frowned before looking down to look at her arm. Turns out, he was giving her his phone number.

“Oh my god”, she breathed out, feeling another wave of annoyance bubble up inside her. “You could’ve just asked for my phone and typed it there!”

“Yeah”, Ethan shrugged and stood up. He was towering over her again and she didn’t like how that emphasized the leverage he had over her. His attitude just annoyed her and she knew he enjoyed it. “But where’s the fun in that?”

“Giving your number doesn’t always have to be fun!” she exclaimed. “I hate ink on my skin”

He laughed and picked up his leather sling bag before slinging it on one shoulder. “Let’s go, it’s dark out. I’ll take you home”

“You don’t have to”

“True, but I want to, though”

“But I don’t want you to”

“True, but I want to, though”

“But why?”

Ethan didn’t answer her and instead pulled out a scratch paper from his bag. He scribbled something on the piece of paper for a few seconds before folding it once and slipping it into the front pocket of her backpack.

“What are you—“

Before she could even finish her sentence, he grabbed her wrist again, and with the hem of his shirt, he started gently rubbing off the ink from her skin.

“I didn’t know you hated ink on your skin”

“Doesn’t everybody?”

“I guess you have a point”, he chuckled. “But most girls find that move attractive most of the time”

“Ew”

They stayed quiet for a while. She didn’t know how long. Claire just stood still as he focused on getting all the stains off, which proved to be hard to do with a dry shirt.

Once Ethan was done, he placed a hand on her head and guided her towards the door. “Come on, I’ll take you home, whether you like it or not”