Chapter 17
“Good job,” Ayden said, putting his arm around me. He was congratulating me on my grade on the research paper. My group had gotten a one-hundred percent—mostly thanks to Xavier and me. The lowest grade was a seventy-eight percent, received by Hero’s group.
“Thanks, you did good too.” I smiled, wrapping my arms around him. Ayden’s group had received a ninety-five percent.
Hero slumped down in his seat. “Grades are stupid, anyway. They don’t define anyone as a person.”
“Geez, why do you have to bring the mood down all the time?” Ayden asked.
“I was just stating a fact.”
Miss Kennedy held up a hand, her signal for us to stop talking and give her our full undivided attention. Ayden shushed Hero, who had already stopped talking before the signal.
“I’ve got a surprise for all o’ y’all!” she exclaimed, reaching into one of the drawers of her desk, searching for something. She grabbed ahold of something and closed the drawer.
“What is it?” a few of the students asked excitedly, leaning forward in their seats.
Miss Kennedy smiled widely—as wide as a person could smile—and revealed what she was holding. Tickets—eleven tickets. I couldn’t tell what kind of tickets they were from where I was sitting. Miss Kennedy walked closer and showed it to Imani, who was in the front of the room.
She gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “They’re… they’re cruise ship tickets!”
“Did I hear that right?” I asked Hero, who was closer to her.
“You did,” he confirmed.
Miss Kennedy raised her hand. The class—that was previously screaming in excitement—got silent. “This is a field trip to Paris, through cruise.”
My eyes lit up. Paris had been my dream vacation spot for years. Living in a rural area my entire life, I always wanted to visit an urban area. The class screamed again—louder this time. And once again, Miss Kennedy raised her hand.
“However,” she said, “y’all will have an assignment to complete during y’alls time in Paris. A four-page essay—double spaced—about y’alls experience in Paris, and relate it back to French culture.”
The class groaned, but their disappointment didn’t last long. We were all going to Paris. Home of the Eiffel Tower. The city of love.
“For this field trip, y’all must pair up in groups o’ three. One group will be a group o’ four,” Miss Kennedy explained. “Y’all don’t have to group up with the same gender, as long as y’all choose wisely because they will be the same people you’re rooming with.”
Oh, I could already imagine so many things going wrong with that rule.
But…
This was a perfect opportunity. My chance to repair Hero and Ayden’s friendship. If they spend more time together, maybe they’ll remember why they were friends in the first place.
I whipped my head to my right to look at Ayden, then whipped my head to my left to look at Hero. They immediately knew what I was up to.
Ayden frowned. “There’s no way in hell I’m sharing a room with that maniac.”
Hero rolled his eyes. “The feeling’s mutual.”
“Come on, guys!” I sighed loudly. “This is a perfect chance to bond.”
“We don’t want to bond!” they exclaimed in unison. They gave each other a quick glance, then shifted their gaze back to me.
Without a second thought, I shot up from my seat and made my way over to Miss Kennedy. “Hero, Ayden, and I are in a group.”
Miss Kennedy jotted that down and nodded. With a wide smile on my face, I went back to my seat. But the facial reactions I received from my best friends made my smile disappear.
“We didn’t agree to this,” Ayden said, annoyed.
“I just want you and Hero to get along.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen,” Hero muttered, leaning back in his seat, “so you just ruined this for me.”
Ayden averted his gaze, then turned back with a small smirk. Was he happy that Hero’s trip was ruined?
“Ro, I’m sorry,” I said. “But would it seriously have been any better to room with anyone else here?”
He glanced around the classroom, then grunted. “I guess not. The trip would’ve sucked no matter what.”
That’s definitely one way of looking at it.
* * *
“Will you help me pack tomorrow?” I asked Ayden after it was revealed that it was a five-day trip.
I didn’t need help, but I wanted to spend time with my boyfriend.
Hero overheard and immediately shut that suggestion down. “He is not coming over to my house.”
“Your mom would allow it though, right?” I asked.
“I don’t want him there.” Hero gritted his teeth.
“That’s not your decision to make.”
Hero clenched his jaw, staring deeply into my light-green eyes. “Pack with me instead.” His voice was low, his eyes alternating between mine.
I swallowed, my eyes widening.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart must’ve been going a hundred miles per second. Since when was he so interested in spending time with me?
I wasn’t complaining, except…
I had a boyfriend.
I had to keep reminding myself that. But if I had to keep reminding myself, what did that mean? Why couldn’t I push these feelings away?
Ayden scoffed. “She already asked me, dude.”
Hero didn’t stop looking at me, but he narrowed his eyes as if taking a peek into my soul. “Maybe she only asked you because she didn’t think I’d want to.” He whispered those words, as if he were speaking to me.
“Don’t do this to me,” I managed to say. “Don’t make me choose.”
But, oh, how I wanted him to. How badly I wanted him to tell me to choose him.
But that was just a delusion. Hero could never like me.
Hero softened his eyes before closing them. “Choose him. He’s your boyfriend, after all.”