Chapter Nine
Raven
“Life definitely has a sense of humor,” Addie says when my friends and I meet at my locker after school. “Having to partner up with the guy you swore to avoid? It’s almost like…”
I raise a brow at her. “Almost like what?”
“Nothing,” she quickly says, but I know her well. She thinks that my having to spend time alone with Kylen might be a sign or something. She’s still holding onto the hope that he and I are written in the stars.
“Or maybe we’re just stuck together because no one else wanted to partner up with either of us,” I say dryly.
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” she says.
“Me, either,” Sophie says.
“I know he hurt you,” Carly says. “But maybe this is a step forward in mending your relationship with him. And when I mean relationship, I don’t mean a romantic relationship.
I mean like a friendship. I know you don’t want to be his friend, but there’s always a chance you guys can put the past behind you.
” She shrugs. “I’m just trying to be positive here. ”
I open my locker and dump the stuff I don’t need inside. “I just want to get the project over with and never talk to him again. Even though Mr. Lewis gave us a month to complete it, I’m hoping Kylen and I could finish it in a week.”
“Maybe it won’t be so bad,” Carly suggests. “I held a grudge against Ryder for years because I thought he was a jerk. But I saw the amazing person that he was. I learned to forgive him. And look at us now? We’re in love.”
Shutting my locker, I release a sigh. “I’m glad things worked out for you guys, but Kylen and I are not you and Ryder. Why are you guys still trying to push us together? You told me that you support my decision to cut him out of my life.”
“We do,” Addie quickly says. “But now that you are being forced to work with him, things might change. Look, all we’re saying is to be positive and make the best of the situation. Who knows what might happen?”
“Of course I won’t be rude to him. Well, at least not on purpose. But I won’t lie and say I’ll ever be completely comfortable around him. My walls shoot up the minute he walks into the same room as me.”
“That’s understandable,” Sophie says as she rubs my arm. “You should feel however you want to feel. Just remember that sometimes life doesn’t work out the way you expect. We wouldn’t want you to miss out on something that could be great just because you’ve closed off your heart.”
I zip up my backpack and throw it over my shoulder. “Thanks for the advice, guys. But life won’t throw me any surprises. I know exactly how this will end. I’ll see you guys later. We’re still on for our movie marathon tonight, right? I chose the perfect fantasy.”
“Of course!” Carly says. “Ryder’s so excited to share one of his favorite movies with us. Fair warning, I think there are a lot of exploding cars.”
“I’m cool with that,” I say. “Variety is good.”
I wave goodbye before leaving the building and making my way to the library. It’s freezing outside and there is still leftover snow all over the ground. I’m used to cold weather because I’m from Boston, but today is pure bitter cold.
I race to the library and burst inside, rubbing my hands together to warm them up.
It’s pretty empty in here, since most kids only step foot in here for assignments.
Even Sophie, our resident bookworm, gave up on this place because they never order newly released books. She prefers to go to the bookstore.
A guy standing by one of the shelves catches my attention. He wears a puffy black coat over the school uniform. I know who he is just by seeing his back, even though I’ve never seen the coat before. It’s Kylen.
I’m surprised he’s already here. I guess I assumed he would try to avoid coming here until the last minute.
Okay, maybe I was hoping he would come late so I would have time to do the research on my own before worrying about his close proximity.
My brain doesn’t seem to work right whenever he stands too close to me.
Heck, when he’s in the same room as me. I always feel that chill, as though my body is sending me a warning.
Well, there’s no point in avoiding the inevitable.
His head lifts from the book he’s reading when he hears me approach. I swear I can see a small smile on his lips, but it’s gone so fast I wonder if I imagined it. “Hey,” he says, his voice sounding a little nervous. And wary. Like he’s not sure how to act around me.
Ditto, dude.
“Hey,” I say. “Are you doing research on Shakespeare?” I want to kick myself. Duh he’s doing research on Shakespeare! Last I checked, we’re not doing an assignment on the first guy who landed on the moon.
“Yep. I got some books there.” He nods to the pile on a nearby table. “Can you imagine how much info they have on Shakespeare here? Who would have thought the guy was so famous?”
I know he’s saying it as a joke, and maybe I would have laughed or at least smiled if he were anyone else. But I find myself just looking at him.
He clears his throat. “Anyway, you can look through the books I chose and decide which you want to check out. Some of them can’t be checked out, though. We’ll need to do the research here.”
“Joy,” I mutter as I head to the stack of books. “Thanks for this. I wondered if you would dump all the work on me.”
He whirls around. “Why would you think that?”
“Um…because…I…I don’t know,” I say lamely. But that’s a lie because I know exactly why I said it. It’s because we’re trying to avoid each other. No friends, remember?
“I never take credit for work I don’t do,” he says as he turns back to the bookshelf. “I thought you knew that.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I just…”
He turns around and searches my eyes. “You just what?”
“Nothing. Look, forget I said anything, okay? Let’s just work on the assignment.”
It looks like he wants to respond, but he nods and turns back to the shelf.
I sit down at the table and look through the books.
Many of them are about Shakespeare’s life and his work, but Kylen and I want to find something deeper, something different that most people don’t know about.
How his legacy really contributed to our world today.
I’m not settling for anything less than an A, especially after what I have to go through by being Kylen’s partner.
After a few minutes, I make progress on what I’m looking for and jot everything down. I also make copies of the pages I want to explore further.
Kylen joins me a short while later with a few more books, and we go over them silently, barely exchanging more than a few words.
I’ve never been the kind of person who feels like I need to say something when I’m sitting next to a person, but the silence and awkwardness are so stifling.
I feel like it’s choking me. But I don’t want to say anything, not that I would know what to say anyway.
Hey, Kylen, why did you run away from me after I told you that I was in love with you?
Were you just playing with my heart the whole summer?
Maybe someone tougher than me would actually demand those answers from him.
But despite how blunt I can be at times, I’m not that confident in myself.
Besides, it’s not worth it to rehash the past and possibly get into a huge fight.
I want to ace all of my classes so I can get into a good college.
I have no idea what I want to study or what career I want, but I want to have as many options as possible.
“What do you think?” Kylen asks.
I blink and look at him. “Did you say something?”
“Yeah. I said that we’ll need to choose a play. I’m bringing it up because I’m finding some info about some of his plays and I want to know what I should focus on.”
“Oh. Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. What play do you want to do?”
“Most people would choose his most famous ones, right? Should we focus on a less popular one?”
“But the point of the assignment is to choose something that is still relevant today. Everyone knows Shakespeare’s famous plays, but they don’t know his less famous ones.”
“True.”
“Like, there are so many movies and shows on Hamlet. But I’ve never really been a fan of that play.”
“Yeah, same. Besides, I bet every other team would perform ‘To Be or not to be? That is the question.’”
He said it in his terrible British accent, and I can’t help myself but smile. I think Kylen notices it, because his eyes light up with surprise and he, too, smiles lightly.
I pull my eyes away and stare down at the book I’m reading.
“There’s always Romeo and Juliet. That play definitely has had a major influence on the world.
There are still so many artists, writers, and creators incorporating that storyline into their stories and worlds.
I doubt there is anyone on the planet who doesn’t even know who Romeo and Juliet are. ”
He’s quiet for a few seconds as he shifts in his seat. “So you’re saying you want to perform Romeo and Juliet?”
“It’s probably the most cliché play to perform, but…” My voice trails off. Do I even hear what I’m suggesting? I want to perform a freakin’ romance with Kylen? I must be out of my mind.
“It is cliché,” he agrees. “But maybe it’s cliché for a reason.”
We’re both quiet.
I sit here imagining what it would be like for us to perform a scene from the play.
Obviously we would have to choose a romantic one, or what’s the point?
I’m seriously losing my brain if I think it would be a good idea to perform a romantic scene with the guy who broke my heart. Do I like to torture myself?
“Well, we don’t have to make a decision now,” I say. “Let’s just gather as much information as we can.”
He nods. “Yeah. Good idea.”
We once again sit in silence as we continue to do the work, not saying much to each other. I wonder if he also feels stifled by the thick, awkward air surrounding us.