Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Royal
“Okay, heads down, everyone,” I call out, then nod at the seven students standing in the front.
I watch as they silently scramble around the classroom, each of them touching a single student’s shoulder before scurrying back to the front. We play “Heads Up, Seven Up” every Monday morning, and it’s a great way to start the week and get the weekend wiggles out. Plus, it’s a mostly silent game, which means I won’t have Callie breathing fire down my neck first thing.
Once all seven students are back in line at the front, they look at each other, nod, and say “heads up, seven up” in unison. The seven students with upraised thumbs take turns guessing who touched them. The ones who guess correctly switch places with the person who touched them, and we play again.
After the fourth round, I call it, and there are only a few audible grumbles from students who didn’t get to play. I write their names on a sticky note and leave it for myself for next week, when I’ll choose them first to start the game.
The morning flies by, and before I know it, the bell rings for lunchtime. Callie and I are on lunch duty today, so I grab the food I packed this morning and follow the kids toward the cafeteria. Callie is already there, standing against the left wall and smiling down at her phone. My steps stutter and slow as I watch her, that smile lighting up her face in a way I don’t recognize.
She’s never smiled at me like that before.
Shaking my head, I resume my earlier pace as I push aside the thought. It doesn’t matter that she hasn’t smiled at me like that. She’s my coworker, and while I’d initially hoped we’d get along, I’ve actually found bickering with her to be…entertaining.
“Can I assume that whatever you’re smiling at is not suitable for work?” I ask as I slide in next to her.
She quickly hits the button to darken her phone’s screen, blocking out whatever she was staring at before I can even try to sneak a peek. I grin at her as she blushes, one brow arched as I wonder if she really was looking at something she shouldn’t have been. I quickly disregard the idea. No way was Miss-High-and-Mighty-Goody-Two-Shoes doing anything untoward.
She was probably texting someone. Like a boyfriend, or something.
And that thought puts a damper on my good mood, leaving me feeling confused. Why is that? I shouldn’t have any kind of feelings on that particular matter. Shaking the feeling off, I lean in so I can speak quietly enough that none of the nearby kids will hear me.
“Come on. Don’t hold out on me. Let’s see what you were watching.”
“I wasn’t watching anything,” she grits out. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
She looks over at me with that last bit, fire sparking in her eyes so hot, I’m surprised I haven’t melted on the spot. God, she’s pretty.
I blink rapidly and turn away under the guise of surveying the cafeteria for any misbehaving students. I see Callie do the same in my peripheral vision. Neither of us speaks again, and when the other two teachers come to relieve us so we can sit and eat our own lunches, we head for opposite ends of the cafeteria by some tacit agreement.
I’m sure Callie’s reasoning is far different than mine. She probably just wants to be as far away from me as possible because she can’t stand me. I need to be away from her because being close to her is suddenly giving me crazy thoughts about how pretty she is and how––God forbid––jealous I’d be if she were actually seeing someone.
I don’t know what’s wrong with me.
I can’t think of Calliope Barnes like that. She’s…not my enemy, per se. A rival, maybe?
I mean, we’re supposed to be a team, but it’s never felt like that between us. I know it’s mostly my own fault. I mean, I do intentionally irritate her on a daily basis. It’s like I revel in her over-the-top reactions.
Because, fuck, she does look pretty when she’s mad.
Is that why I do it? I never thought of it like that before, but maybe it is. Maybe I’m like those boys in my class who think picking on the girl they like is the best way to get her attention.
I scrub a hand down my face and shake my head. No. That can’t be right. I do not like Callie. At all.
Okay, maybe I like her a little bit. But just because she’s so entertaining when she’s irate. That’s it. Nothing more.
Seriously.