Chapter 2
“Are you ready for school?” my mom yells from downstairs.
“Yeah!” I yell.
It’s the first day back at school. Falling asleep last night took me forever.
It sucks having to wake up early for school when you get so used to sleeping in every morning for nearly three months.
My mom finally took me clothes shopping, and I’ve already tried everything on and have my first day of school outfit chosen.
Once I get downstairs, I take a seat next to Brynlee and serve us Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal for our breakfast. My mom hates it when Bryn and I eat like this.
She says kids shouldn’t have sugar first thing in the morning.
However, she handles running our house all by herself and lacks the time to prepare breakfast for us daily.
There are better options my mom buys besides cereal, but of course we’re going to choose the sweeter option.
“You need to hurry and eat your breakfast, or you’re going to be late,” my mom says.
“Paige is picking me up for school,” I say, chewing my cereal.
My mom pours her coffee into a to-go mug. “What! You don’t want me to take you on your first day?”
“Come on, Mom. I’m not a kid anymore.”
Mom rolls her eyes with a huff. “Fine,” she says.
“Can I have some coffee?” I ask.
“No. You’re too young.”
“Grandma used to give me coffee when I was younger.”
Her frown deepens. "Yeah, because I didn’t know.”
My pre-recorded ringtone, “Low” by Flo Rida, goes off. “Hey, are you outside?” I ask through the phone.
“Okay, I’ll be out in a minute,” I rush out of my seat, quickly finish my milk, and carry my bowl to the sink. “I’m only two years away from being able to make my own decisions, so what’s the big difference between now and then?”
“Because right now I'm making this decision; you’re not an adult yet, end of story.”
“Whatever. I’ll see you later,” I say with an eye roll of my own.
“Have a good day,” my mom says as she reaches in for a hug. She still insists on giving me hugs as if I’m a kid.
Side by side, Paige and I both walk into the first day of junior year.
The best thing about this year is that we have a ton of classes together.
We ditched class a lot the previous year to hang out together, so our counselors said they would give us more classes together to see if that would make us stop.
Our parents were even more furious that they gave us that option.
They called us spoiled brats because we ended up getting what we wanted.
Not sure if it’s what we want, though, because we both just hate school. That’s half the reason we skipped.
“Where is our first period?”
“It’s upstairs.”
As we’re walking through the halls, we stop to greet people we know and haven’t seen since the last school year ended.
The first few days of school are fun. You get to catch up with people you haven’t seen for months.
You listen to their stories of what they did over the summer. It’s busy, chaotic, and exciting.
After that, it drags.
“Hey, is that the guy from the mall?” I ask, pointing in front of us.
“Where?”
“On top of the stairs.” I slow down my pace, remembering my stupid wave at the mall.
“It’s him. Let’s go say hi.”
I slow down even more. He hasn’t seen me yet. Hopefully I can turn around before he does. As I’m about to, Paige grabs my arm. “What are you doing?”
I sigh.
“Come on, B. I know you’re really shy, but I have a good feeling about you and him.”
I hesitate, feeling shy and a bit embarrassed that my friend has to encourage me to talk to a guy.
“Walk past him, and right after you pass, turn your head and smile.”
I pull my lower lip between my teeth, even more embarrassed than I was a second ago, because now my cheeks are probably as red as a tomato.
The heat in my body increases with each step up the stairs. When I pass him, I can’t help but smile. Despite not making eye contact, I’m sure he notices.
“Look back at him,” Paige whispers.
I glance over my shoulder and watch as he swoops his hair over with his hands and gives me a slight smile with a head tilt.
I quicken my pace to get out of sight.
“Where are you going?”
Turning the corner, I stop abruptly and lean up against a wall. “I can’t breathe.”
“Blakely, come on. You act like you’ve never dated before.”
“Yeah, but he’s way hotter than anyone I’ve ever been with.”
Paige laughs softly, shaking her head. “Well, it’s time to change that.”
I roll my eyes at Paige as we continue to walk to class. I can’t shake the feeling that this time, maybe she is right, and things are going to be different.
They serve us pizza on the first day of school.
Come to think of it, they served us pizza on the first day of school last year, too.
All our friends are sitting around the table, eating lunch.
Everyone is catching up and having a good time.
I’m trying to pay attention, but I keep getting sidetracked by any guy with skater hair who walks by, thinking it’s him.
Luckily, no one has noticed how quiet I am. They ask me questions here and there. I respond quickly, then I’m right back to looking for that guy. He’s probably older, has a car, and goes out for lunch instead of eating this garbage.
The bell for our next class rings, and everyone in the lunchroom groans. Paige and I have home ec now. It seems kind of dumb now that I think of it, because we just had lunch and now we have to cook and eat again.
We say our goodbyes as everyone scatters to their classes.
“Hey.”
I’m startled by the sound of the voice, and I subconsciously grip my chest as I turn to see who it is. Oh, shit. It’s him. Was he waiting for me this whole time?
“Hi,” I somehow manage to get out.
“You’re the girl from the mall, right?”
I nod.
“I’ll meet you in class,” Paige says and gives me a wink.
Can she be any more embarrassing? It’s not like he didn’t see her wink. “Okay,” I say, giving her a serious glare. She shrugs and turns away.
“I’m Kai.”
I can’t help but notice his bright-blue eyes and a few freckles that run across his cheeks and nose. “I’m Blakely. But you can call me Blake, B, or Blakely. Whichever you want.” Shut the hell up, Blakely.
He does this quiet laugh-snicker thing that makes me blush even more than I already am. “So, how was your lunch?” he asks, clearly trying to strike up conversation.
“It was okay. Nothing too special. Just warmed up pizza.” I look around and notice the halls are getting empty. There are only a few slow stragglers left aside from us. “Did you eat lunch here?”
“Nah. I went out with some friends.”
“You kids need to get to class,” Mrs. Chatley says.
She’s a school tracker and walks around the halls, making sure students are in their classrooms. If it weren’t for her, I would have had to go to summer school.
After all the ditching, I fell behind. She let me go into her office after school to make up my schoolwork.
“Yes, we know,” I mumble.
“Then go,” she says as she swats at the air, giving us the universal get moving sign. “You can’t skip class again this year, Blakely. I promised your mom I would keep an eye on you.”
“We’re going, ma’am,” Kai says.
Both of us turn away from her and start walking.
“What’s your next class?”
“Home ec. What’s yours?”
“I’m done for the day.”
My jaw drops. He must be a senior. Some seniors get ahead of their credits and can do half days. I’m not sure how they do it. He must be one of them. “So, you’re a senior?”
“Yeah.”
He probably has a car, too. I always wanted a boyfriend with a car.
It’s always so cute when guys pick their girlfriends up for school each morning.
I’d love that. Riding to school together, seeing each other in the hallways between classes, spending time after school together…
I can only imagine being dropped off late at night and curling up in bed with the scent of him wrapped around me.
“I guess I’ll see you around.”
Confused, my brows drop into a crease.
“This is home ec,” he says.
When I shift my eyes to the right, it sure is. I giggle, not realizing we’re already to my class.
“Thanks for walking me to class,” I say bashfully.
“Anytime. I’ll see you around.”
With a smile, I wave as I walk into class, and everyone stares at me for walking in late.