Chapter Thirty-Five
Damian
My lips kick up into a smile when I enter English class on Monday morning and find Sophie sitting at her desk with a book, surrounded by her friends. Like my feet are on fire, I dash over to her. “Hey!”
Her head snaps up from the book, the largest smile I’ve ever seen appearing on her face.
This smile is different from the ones she gave me in the past. Her eyes shine and she looks at me like I’m the most important person in the world.
I bet I’m looking at her like she’s the most important person in the world.
“Hi, Damian!” she gushes. “Did you sleep well?”
“No. I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
Her face lights up even more. “Really? I couldn’t stop thinking about you, too!”
Why does that make me feel like I’m on top of the world? Maybe because I love the fact that she likes me as much as I like her.
“You guys are so cute,” Addie says.
“The cutest,” Carly adds.
Sophie and I glance at each other and smile, her cheeks turning red. Did I mention she’s really cute when she blushes?
My eyes drop to the book lying open on her desk. “You’re still reading your romances? I thought you admitted that they’re nothing compared to real life.”
“Of course! Real life might be better than books, but some things can only happen in books and not real life.”
She’s about to say something else, but the English teacher, Miss Pham, walks in and everyone scrambles to find their seats. I wish I could sit next to Sophie, but my desk is at the other end of the classroom. Might as well be across the Atlantic Ocean.
The teacher announces that she’s assigning us a project to do.
We’re to split up into partners and write an alternate ending to the book we’re currently reading.
I try not to groan. English class is definitely not my strongest point and my creativity stops at art.
There’s no way I can come up with an ending to a book.
Since we’re supposed to have it done by the end of class, I won’t be able to do it with Sophie at our tutoring session.
When I glance at her, I see her friends frantically whispering to her as they glance at me.
Hmm, yeah, they’re definitely talking about me.
I know that’s what girls do—I wouldn’t be surprised if Sophie told her friends every little detail about what happened yesterday—but I have a feeling they’re conspiring something.
It seems like Sophie says, “Are you sure?” to Raven, and Raven nods vehemently. Sophie thanks her and waves me over.
I give her a confused face.
“Be my partner, Damian!” she calls.
So that’s what all the whispering was about. Her friends were convincing her to team up with me, but she didn’t want to ditch them. Since they’re four, one of them would be left without a partner.
I feel bad about taking her away from her friends. I’ve been doing most of the paired assignments alone and I don’t mind doing this one alone, too.
Thinking I didn’t hear her message, Sophie gets up from her desk and makes her way to me. “Hey. Want to be partners?”
“Don’t you always team up with one of your friends? I wouldn’t want to take you away from them.”
“They insisted we partner up,” she says with a laugh.
“Why?”
“Because they’re super happy you and I are together and they want us to spend like every second with each other. Besides, I teamed up with them for every other assignment.”
“That’s kind of them. If they’re really okay with it, I’d love to partner up with you.”
“Good.” She takes my hand and pulls me up. “Because I swear Addie would have barbecued me if I didn’t team up with you.”
She leads me to the empty desk across from her and we push our desks together.
“Why would Addie barbecue you if we didn’t team up?” I ask as Sophie takes out her book.
“Well, she suspected from the start that you and I liked each other and she claimed we would get together.”
“She did? Wow.”
“She just wanted me to find a good guy and be happy. I guess she knows me more than I think.”
I turn to her friends and find the three of them huddled together, their eyes on Sophie and me and humongous smiles on their faces. They quickly turn away, focusing on their assignment.
“Ugh, don’t mind them,” Sophie says. “They’re just happy for me. Especially because I insisted I didn’t need real-life romance.”
“They’re good friends,” I tell her. “You’re lucky to have them.”
“Thanks.”
As we work on the assignment, I purposely move over so my shoulder brushes hers.
Sophie glances at me and smiles, gently pushing her shoulder into mine.
I peek at the teacher to make sure she’s preoccupied.
The last thing I want is for Sophie to get in trouble.
When I see that Miss Pham is busy scribbling on assignments from another class, I move my foot over and gently rub it against Sophie’s.
She gasps with a giggle. “Are you playing footsie with me?”
“What? No. My foot isn’t even near yours.”
She narrows her eyes. “Liar.”
I lift my shoulders. “I’m serious.”
She pulls her eyes from me and we continue working on the assignment. I stretch my foot again and rub it against hers.
“See!” she hisses. “You are playing footsie with me.”
Not being able to hold a straight face anymore, I burst out laughing. That causes every single head in the room to shoot in our direction.
“Miss Reed and Mr. Harrington?” the teacher calls.
Sophie straightens up. “Yes, Miss Pham?”
“Are you two working on the project?”
“Of course. We’re having a lot of fun discussing the book. Damian didn’t realize there are certain passages in the book that are meant to be humorous. He just assumed the whole thing was serious. It’s cool to share another point of view with him, don’t you think?”
I stare at her, feeling my eyes grow so large they nearly roll off my face.
The teacher shifts in her seat. “Yes, it is. Please continue working on your assignment quietly.”
“I can’t believe you,” I whisper to her. “You’re really made of tough stuff. And you can think quickly on your feet.”
“Not really. I just know how to play Miss Pham.”
I shake my head with a smile. “You’re a little manipulative teacher’s pet,” I whisper.
“I’m not!” she insists.
I wink. “I told you I like the rebel side of you.”
“I’m not a rebel,” she hisses.
“You are when you’re trying to protect me.”
“If you behaved, I wouldn’t have to protect you,” she retorts.
“I can’t help it if my foot wants to be close to your foot.”
That causes her to cover her mouth as she laughs. She quickly glances at the teacher to see if she has her eyes on us, but thankfully, she’s engrossed in her work.
“Are we going to finish this assignment or do I need to pick another partner?” Sophie says.
I straighten up and shake my head. “No, ma’am.”
As much as I love having fun with Sophie, I don’t want to distract her from her schoolwork. For the rest of the class, I behave and help her finish the assignment. I’m surprised by how much I actually contribute to it. Spending all those tutoring hours with Sophie has definitely made me smarter.
Lame as this might sound, she’s changed my life in more ways than one. And I can’t wait to see how else she enriches it.