Untouchable - Chapter 14 #2
I walked into Mr. Hill’s class, trying to ignore the note burning a hole in my pocket.
Matt wasn’t there yet. He always strolled into class at the last minute looking devastatingly handsome.
I tore a blank page out of my notebook, wrote “NO” in big bold letters, and slapped it onto his desk before anyone else entered the classroom.
A few minutes later Matt and Rob walked in and I stared at my blank notebook like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
“What the hell is that on your desk, Matt?” Rob asked as he sat down. “Still haven’t learned that no means no?” He laughed at his own joke.
Instead of laughing it felt like I couldn’t breathe.
I heard Matt lift the paper up off his desk. “It’s nothing.”
I continued to stare at my notebook, waiting for the sound of him crumpling the paper in his fist. When it didn’t come, I looked up. He’d folded the note and was stuffing it into his blazer pocket. The same place I’d put both notes he’d given to me. Why didn’t he throw it out?
“We’ll be working in our teams today,” Mr. Hill said. “I want the topics finalized and handed in by the end of class.”
Charlotte raised her hand.
“Yes, Miss King?” Mr. Hill asked.
“Will these projects be completed in class? Like…we won’t be working on them at all outside of class, right?”
Mr. Hill shook his head. “These projects are to be treated like homework. The majority of the work will be done on your own time.” He turned his attention back to the class. “Which means the sooner you hash out the topics, the sooner I can go back to teaching. Break up in your groups.”
“But…” started Charlotte.
“Now, Miss King.”
Charlotte sighed and headed over to her group.
“I wonder what’s eating her,” Rob said and turned around. “Probably no one, that’s the problem.” He held up his hand for a high-five, but Matt ignored him. “Geez, you’re no fun today. What about you, Sanders?” Rob said. “You won’t leave me hanging, will you?” He put his hand up in front of me.
“I didn’t get your joke,” I said.
Rob lowered his hand and leaned forward. “You know…I meant no one was eating her out.”
“Oh.” I laughed even though I had no idea what he was talking about. “Right.”
A smile spread across Rob’s face. “You’re adorably na?ve, Sanders. It means when you stick your tongue in…”
“Shut the fuck up,” Matt said.
Rob gave him a sideways glance. “What? I was explaining the dual benefits of oral…”
“I said shut up.”
“And someone’s not getting any head.” He nodded toward Matt.
I laughed. And then I immediately blushed. Because now I understood Rob’s joke. And the fact that he’d mentioned Matt’s penis didn’t help my flushing cheeks either. I cleared my throat. “So we’re running on the fitness topic?” I asked. My voice came out weird and high-pitched.
“We said we’d do whatever you want,” Rob said.
I didn’t like all the pressure being on me. “It’s a quarter of our grade. I don’t want you blaming me if we fail.”
Rob laughed like that was the most entertaining thought in the world. “We never fail, Sanders.”
Again, I felt like I was out of the loop on a joke. “Okay…but what do you want to do that’s fitness related? Fitness itself isn’t a topic.”
“We could make a website,” Matt said. “With different workouts.”
“Oh, like what workouts to get you on the football team,” Rob said and gestured to Matt. “And the soccer team,” he gestured to himself. “And the…” he moved his hand in my direction. “Whatever you’ve got going on seems good. The…shy scholarship student hot body workout. Boom. Project done.”
I was pretty sure my face couldn’t get any redder.
Robert Hunter had just called me hot. Kind of.
No, he definitely did. Or maybe he was making fun of me.
He was always joking around. But he hadn’t laughed.
I stared down at my notebook, hoping to hide my face.
“Okay, well, we have to film workouts then. And design a website to upload them to. And we have to have a way to monetize it so that we’re actually creating a business. ”
“We can charge a monthly fee to access the videos,” Matt said. “Mr. Hill will love that it’s a recurring revenue stream. It’s the business model dream.”
“That’s good.” I jotted it down. There was no need to write down the football, soccer, and hot body workouts. That would be seared into my mind for eternity. “But do either of you know any coding? I definitely don’t know how to make a website.”
“My brother can help us,” Rob said. “He’s a computer genius. Pretty sure he can just do most of it for us.”
“But…we’re supposed to do it ourselves.”
“Success is all about delegating, Sanders,” Rob said.
“But…”
“How about we all get together at Rob’s one night this week and we can ask James for help?” Matt asked.
“I thought we agreed that we could just split up the work,” I said.
“You heard Mr. Hill. He expects us to work together outside the classroom. So, what night works best for you?”
Mr. Hill had said that. Crap . I started scribbling on the side of my notebook, hoping Matt couldn’t see how much he affected me. “Any night but Thursday.”
“Why, what are you doing Thursday?”
I placed my pen down and stared right at him. “I have dinner plans.”
Matt lowered his eyebrows slightly. “With who?”
I was very aware of the fact that he seemed desperate to know who I was hanging out with, not that it was any of his business. At all. “Felix.” I could have added the fact that Kennedy and my uncle would be there too. But for some reason I found myself biting my tongue.
“So a date?” Matt asked. “You have a date with Felix?”
“Yeah…I guess you could call it that.” Or a three amigas classic date night if you were asking Kennedy.
His eyebrows lowered even more. “Cancel. We have to work on this.”
“We can do it another night,” Rob said. “What about…”
“Cancel your plans with Felix.” Matt was staring at me so intently it was hard to find words.
So I just shook my head.
“Please, Brooklyn.”
I swallowed hard. “Can’t we just do it another night?
” It was hard to say no outright to him when I couldn’t just write it down and slap it on his desk without him looking.
How was I supposed to say no to that perfect face?
To those eyes that were begging me for…what exactly? What the hell did he want from me?
“No, Thursday is the only night I’m free," Matt said.
“But you just asked me what night was best for me…”
“I forgot that I’m booked the rest of the week. It has to be Thursday. Which means you have to cancel your date.” The way he said date made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
“Dude, what the hell do you have to do the rest of the nights this week?” Rob asked. “I thought we were just hanging out tonight anyway. Can you come over tonight, Sanders?”
The thought of going to Rob’s house tonight made my stomach churn. But I was technically free. I found myself nodding.
“No,” Matt said. "It has to be Thursday night. I forgot that I have football practice late every other night this week to prep for the game this weekend. She has to cancel her plans.”
“You’re being unreasonable,” I said.
“ I’m being unreasonable? I can’t change my practice schedule. But you can cancel your plans with Felix.” He bit out the name Felix as he glared at me.
What was his problem? I felt like I was shrinking under his gaze. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to disagree with him when he was staring at me like he was going to bite my head off.
The bell rang, saving me. I breathed a sigh of relief.
“We’ll just do it next week then,” Rob said as he stood up. “Later, Sanders.”
“Auditorium,” Matt whispered as he pulled his backpack over his shoulder. “Five minutes.” He walked away without waiting for a response.
“No,” I said to the empty classroom. I was beginning to think that Matt had never heard that word before.