“Maybe another night?” he asks.
“I have to watch my little brother all afternoon,” I say, frowning. “Like, pretty much every day because my mom is so busy.”
“You should bring him too,” Connor says. “I make a jumbo sized deep dish pizza and it’s way more food than the two of us could eat.”
Okay, so maybe it’s not a date.
“That’s probably not a good idea,” I say. “My brother is only six and he can get super annoying.”
“If he’s anything like I was at that age, all you have to do is let him play my Xbox and he’ll be golden.”
I tilt my head. I can’t believe Connor is being so cool about this. He opens his essay and prints it. The printer to my left whirs to life and spits out a few pages. Connor walks over to it. “Sorry if I’m being too pushy,” he says, sliding the papers together. “I just think it would be cool to hang out with you outside of school.”
Okay… so maybe it was a date?
“I would like that too,” I say, glancing at the keyboard. “I’m just not sure I want my little brother around.”
He smiles and sits back at the computer station next to mine. “I get it. I mean, I don’t really get it since I don’t have any siblings, but I can imagine. I’m fine with kids, though, so you can always bring him over.”
“He does like Xbox,” I say, feeling myself relent. As much as I hate the idea of sharing Connor with my little brother, I don’t want to pass up an opportunity to hang out with him outside of school. “And pizza.”
“So it’s set,” he says. “You and your brother are coming over for pizza.”
My eyes widen. “No… uh.. it’s notset, set. I’m not sure when we can make it—”
Connor reaches inside his backpack and pulls out a piece of math homework and a pen. “I’ll give you my number,” he says, writing it down. “Then you can call or text me or whatever and tell me when you’re free.”
“I can’t just demand that you make pizza whenever I’m free,” I say. “Why don’t you tell me when you are making pizza and I’ll tell you if I can come over.”
Connor glances around, as if checking that we’re alone. Then he leans closer, bringing the crisp scent of his cologne with him. My heart skips a beat. From this close, I can see the little dark blue flecks in his eyes, see that tiny little smirk on his lips. How have I gone so long without noticing what a hottie he is?
“I’ll be honest,” he says, his voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t care about the pizza. I just want to hang out. But I’m always too chicken to ask you on a date, so I cover it up with pizza.”
His eyes meet mine. He looks so cute and scared after that confession. My breath catches in my throat and I can’t believe what I just heard. He likes me. He wants to ask me out.
He wants to cook pizza for me.
He’s watching me with so much anticipation that I know it’s killing him to wait on my reply. I smile and put him out of his misery. “I want you to ask me out too,” I say.
The bell rings, and lunch period is now over. We both stand up, and he shoves his stuff back in his backpack, then rips off a corner of his math work and hands it to me. “Text me your number and I’ll ask you out as soon as I get the guts to.”
With a wink that’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, he turns and rushes out of the library.
My heart is absolutely pounding. The little butterflies in my stomach are doing acrobatics. Connor likes me. Connor wants to ask me out. I can’t believe this is happening! Everything else in my life might suck right now, but this is one good thing. One very, very good thing.
I look down at the paper in my hand and my internal celebration comes to an abrupt stop. On the paper, he’s written his name and number. In black pen.
In scrawly letters and terrible penmanship.
Chills rise across my arms and zoom down my neck. I’ve seen this writing before.
From the North Pole.
Chapter Ten
Connor
Jayda doesn’t text me at school. I figure she might wait until after school, but by dinner time my phone still hasn’t lit up with a text from her. It’s bothering me more than it should. I finally got the guts to put myself out there and she had seemed interested in me too. Those few seconds in the library were amazing. So why isn’t she texting me?
