“Let’s see if this works,” Bryan grumbled after school the next day as he tensely fiddled with the miniature trebuchet we were building for our physics class. “Just going to wedge this piece in here—”There was a snap of wood, and Bryan cursed.“Maybe I should handle the fragile woodworking for now,” I suggested, sitting across from him on my bedroom floor. “You’re wound a little tight today.”He let out what sounded like a growl, slid the project toward me, stood up, and stalked over to the other side of the room. He ran a hand through his dark brown hair.“Very tight,” I murmured. “You okay?” “I’m fine,” he snapped.Bryan had been acting weird and tense all day. Ever since he slipped into my bedroom before school and had his eyes on me like he was looking for injuries. “Clearly,” I said sarcastically. “Eat some candy. That usually calms you down.”Bryan went to my desk and took a handful from the economy-size bag of Skittles he had left there. He had brought over the candy to keep
“So, do you like swimming?” Crew prodded. “I bet you’d look good in a Brazilian bikini.”I looked up at Crew. “I’m not a big swimmer,” I said. That was true. I hadn’t gone swimming since that day. “I hate getting out of the pool and being all cold.” He smiled. “Even better.”I rolled my eyes.“Because then I would get to warm you up,” he said innocently.“No. I’d do it myself.”“That’s no fun.”“For who? Anyone I care about?”“Touché.”“Oh. You speak French?” I asked him something in French, not expecting him to understand, but he responded in French. Good French. Probably, definitely, better than mine. I only got to use it in French class, after all. He had probably lived in a place where they spoke French in one of his father’s military postings. Or maybe he had a private French tutor with his family money. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that it had the intended effect. The subject was changed.We bantered back and forth until we finished our food. Then Crew slid out
The server walked up to our booth and served a mountain of food. Crew immediately dug in.“Anything else you need?” the server asked in a sugary-sweet voice as she batted her eyelashes at Crew.“Eat,” Crew urged me, ignoring her.“No, we’re good here,” I told the server. “Thank you.” She stared at Crew for another moment, then finally walked away. I picked up my utensils. “Okay, this waffle you ordered is delicious,” I said after one bite.“I knew you’d like it.”The way he was making love to his food, I doubted he cared whether I liked it or not.“So, what do you do for fun?” Crew asked after a few bites of syrupy goodness.“I spend my time doing homework,” I said between bites. “Gotta keep those grades up if I want to go to college. Pretty boring.” It was half-true. Researching was similar to homework, and most people would find it boring.“All work and no play makes a girl dull, and you are no dull girl. What else do you do?” “First of all, I disagree with your statement. Work
"I see you've trained your guard dog," Crew said when we met, his eyes on Bryan walking down the street. He turned his attention to me."He's my friend and a good guy, Crew, which are two things I can't say about you.""Did you forget that we had a study date?" he asked, ignoring my comment."Until you called my name, yes." I had no motivation to spare his feelings."Hmmm. I may have to better impress upon you the honor of being asked to study with me. I'm pretty important," he said."I think I perfectly comprehend the torture—I mean, honor—of hanging out with you." "This is why I like you. You're a challenge." His eyes had a predatory gleam."Boy, do I hate being right all the time," I mumbled to myself.A group of girls walking from the church to the school passed us. "Don't do it! He's a jerk! Just walk away!" one of the girls called out to me."One of your conquests?" I asked. "She seems unsatisfied."Crew chuckled, then reached for my hand. I backed away and gave him a look."J
Crew quickly caught up to me in the hallway. “Whoa there, kitten. How about retracting those claws?”“Do you ever talk like a normal person?” “I wouldn’t know.”“Ugh, for the love of—” I groaned. “Come on now,” he said. “I’m just having fun.”“Right. Well, I’m not,” I countered, pushing through the crowd. “Then let me make it up to you.”“You know, as you pointed out earlier, I’m off crutches now, so you don’t have to walk me to my next class.” I gave him a pointed look. We were coming up on my classroom.“Sera.” He stepped in front of me, pulling his signature move, blocking my way, and putting his arms out to control my movement. He leaned in, took a step, and pushed me backward with his body until my back was against the floor-to-ceiling window of my classroom. “I am not trying to upset you, and I appreciate the hard-to-get thing.” He leaned in closer so his face was an inch away from mine, and just like the first day of school, I no longer had control of my mind. My thought
I returned the crutches to the nurse’s office at the beginning of the fourth week of school. The morning I walked into Calculus without them, something happened. “Look at you,” Crew said as I sat at my desk. “Walking all by yourself. Must feel good.”“Sure,” I said indifferently. It did feel good, but I wasn’t going to give him fuel for conversation. Not that it ever stopped him.“And now you don’t have the crutches as an excuse not to hang out with me.”I winced. I had been dreading this moment. I thought Crew would lose interest by this point, but I was wrong. He seemed to love harassing me, and nothing I tried deterred him. He kept asking me out and wouldn’t accept a simple no as an answer. He finally relented when I used the crutches as the reason I couldn’t go out with him. It may have been the reason I kept the crutches longer than I needed them. “That means we’re hanging out soon,” Crew continued. He looked pensive for a moment. “Maybe today. Yeah. Today. Why delay the inevita
“You’re both new here?” Ella asked, looking back and forth between Bryan and me. Alarm bells were ringing in my head like sirens.“Yeah,” Bryan answered. “So you didn’t already know each other?” Ella asked, her light brown eyes darting between us in confusion. “It seems like you two go way back.”“Uh,” I started, hoping I didn’t sound as rattled as I felt. “No. We met yesterday when Bryan saw me inelegantly sprain my ankle. The Good Samaritan in him felt obligated to help. Of course, that requires he shadow me, so, here we are,” I offered in explanation.“You’re such a gallant giant, Bryan,” Ashley joked while Preeti nearly swooned.“Well, I couldn’t just leave her there on the floor,” he joked back.“That’s why you call him a boy scout,” Ella said. “Yeah,” I mumbled.“Now we’re on the same page,” Ella continued. “Bryan is a giant, gallant boy scout because he steps up when he sees a girl get injured. We should get him a merit badge. I’m sure there’s something for rescuing a damsel
“I guess that’s settled,” Ashley said, her green eyes going back and forth between Bryan and me. “Is it?” I asked hopefully. Maybe desperately.“Yeah. You’re a novelty. End of story.” She continued to study us, the pale, freckled skin of her forehead scrunching together. I sighed in relief, and Ashley glanced at Ella and Preeti.“I think we’ve made Sera uncomfortable enough for today,” she added when she realized her friends were having difficulty switching gears. “Let’s change the subject. Tell us about yourself, Sera.”Ella and Preeti focused on me, eager to get information.“There’s not much to know,” I said, grateful for the change in conversation. “I like to jog.”“Oh, and you’re on crutches,” Preeti said. “I’m sorry you can’t jog right now because of your injury.” “Thank you. I’ll survive.” I smiled. “What about all of you?”“Ashley does ballet,” Ella said, pointing to Ashley. “That’s where the long limbs and excellent posture come from. Unlike me, who stomps around ungracefu
“Oh my gosh,” Preeti gasped. She had been staring at Bryan but turned to me, her full lips making an “O” and her big eyes comically wide. “Are you the girl everyone’s talking about?”“Uh—” I looked back and forth between Preeti and Ella, taking in their eager expressions. “I think this has been blown out of proportion.”Ella’s head fell back, and her mouth dropped open. Then she laughed and looked at me. “I didn’t think we’d find out who the mystery girl was, much less eat lunch with her.”“There’s really nothing to this,” I said. Please let that be true, or let them get over this fast. I hoped their reactions didn’t represent the whole school. Though, it seemed like the rest of the school was doing all the messaging and spreading of the gossip. It looked like Ella had scrolled through a lot of commentary. I cursed. It was not good to be the topic of discussion for an entire school. Especially one this big. That’s how you get on the bad guys’ radar.“Oh, there’s a lot to this,” Ashley