Chapter 32
Another rose greets me today at my locker. The guys aren’t happy about it, but I add it to my backpack and walk to class with Alex. I wave to Jaxon before taking my seat, now that I know who he is.
Morning classes go by quickly, and I’m soon eating lunch inside with the guys and Reesa, as there’s rain in the forecast. “Study session tonight for AP History?” Seb asks me as I’m munching on leftover salad from dinner.
“Nick and I have our group project meeting after school, and I have to make a call,” I tell him.
“We can come over after that, Sunshine. You can show us your tests from Virginia on the material,” he smiles at me.
Ah, not a bad idea. We should exchange quizzes and exams for that class. “Sure,” I shrug. “Do the rest of you want to come over too?” Alex and Bay nod in agreement, with no response from Nick.
I grab another rose from my locker when I get my gym bag. Nick is scowling at it again. “Hi Nick. Why are you scowling again?”
“I don’t like it, Shortie.”
“It’s just flowers, Nick. Nothing nefarious.” He frowns, but doesn’t say anything else as we walk to the gym.
I do a regular run since I don’t have practice today, saying hi to Jaxon as I join him on the track. “Hey Summer. Did I see you carrying roses in your backpack?”
“Yeah. Someone is leaving them taped to my locker.” He’s an observant one.
“You have a secret admirer?” He asks. I tell him it’s possible and I don’t mind the idea, as long as it isn’t Ben. He offers to tell Holly to keep an eye out, since her locker is close to mine. I thank him before he increases his pace.
I run the full period without stopping today, which is an improvement for me. After stretching, I grab my bags to walk to the library. Ben is waiting on the bleachers when I leave the locker room. “Hi Summer,” he waves.
“Ben,” I nod and keep walking.
“Who are the flowers from?” He says, stepping in front of me.
“I don’t know. They were on my locker,” I tell him, watching for a reaction to see if he put them there.
“Do I have more competition for you now?” Ben scowls.
Guess they’re not from him, thank goodness. “Ben, I’m getting tired of telling you I’m not interested.”
“Girls always say that,” he shrugs. “You never mean it. You like playing hard to get. Good thing I like to chase,” he leers, looking me up and down.
I shudder internally and step around him, hurrying to the doors. Nick is outside on the steps waiting for me. “Hey Nick. Ready for the group project?”
“Ecstatic,” he responds, heading towards the library.
“You made a funny.” I chuckle as he scowls again. When we get to the library, I see our group and Holly sitting at the table, so I take a seat beside her. “Hey Holly. I didn’t know you were in my group.” I smile at her.
“I wasn’t in class the day Miss Miller picked the groups, so I requested yours after class today,” she tells me as I grab a pen and notebook from my bag.
“Can we get started? I have places to be,” Cara says, looking bored. Oh yeah, I nearly forgot she was in my group. Should be interesting.
Holly introduces Oliver and Charity to me, then we dive in. Our group will scrutinize Levin’s life and consider whether his choices would differ in today’s society. We divide the book into equal sections to read and agree to meet in a month. Fortunately, Cara doesn’t cause any drama.
Nick drives me back to my house afterwards, coming inside with me. “I need to shower and soak Nick.” He nods and heads for the couch and tv.
I take a quick shower, then call Jake as I’m soaking in the tub. Talking to him about Ben and the roses helps me process my feelings. I grab the recovery cream to join Nick on the couch. “So it looks like the roses aren’t from Ben,” I tell him.
Nick looks over and raises an eyebrow at me. “I talked to him after gym. He wasn’t happy about having more competition for me,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“Still weird, Shortie,” he rumbles.
“You’ve never had a secret admirer before? It’s kind of fun now that I know it’s not Ben.” I scoop out a dollop of cream to massage my thighs.
He shakes his head no. “It’s cowardly.”
“Hmm, never thought of it like that. Some would consider it romantic, you know.” I add some cream to my calves next.
“If you like someone, you tell them. You don’t hide.”
I nod to him in acknowledgment. This is the longest conversation we’ve had. Nick must feel strongly about this. I hear the front door open, followed by Bay, Alex, Seb and E.
“Sunshine,” Seb sings, coming over to pick me up for a hug. “How was gym and the group project?”
I try to hug him back without using my hands so I don’t get cream on his shirt. “Good. Holly is in my group for AP English.”
“Who’s Holly?” E asks.
“Holly and Jaxon are my new track friends,” I tell the guys.
“I grew up with them. They’re nice people,” Bay comments.
“Oh, Troy and Z are on their way with pizza,” Seb tells us. “E and I were using the gym at work after school.”
“That solves dinner then,” I reply, as Zander and Troy arrive.
We eat pizza, then spread out across the dining table with our schoolwork.
I print out my history tests from Virginia for Seb and E, and they give me theirs.
Alex and Bay do their own homework. Looking around, I find Nick with Zander and Troy, watching sports on tv.
I like it when we’re all together like this and can’t help but smile to myself.
Everyone heads home after we’re done studying.