Despite what Jasper thought, I’ve never touched hard drugs. The extent of my drug use is the occasional beer at parties, and two drags of a joint when I was fourteen.
“Imogen mentioned that she’s decided to host it at her dad’s house,” Zaina says. “Which is —”
“Zaina. Kieran.” Jasper’s voice slices through the room like an arrow. “Are you two listening?”
He stands at the front of the classroom, wearing a frown I know all too well. Behind him, his PowerPoint plays on the whiteboard.
“Yep,” Zaina replies. I say nothing, just raise my brows.
Jasper’s eyes linger on mine before connecting with Zaina’s and nodding. “Good. As I was saying…”
I thought that my school responsibilities ended with Sustainability Day, but Trinity and Imogen forced me to attend this meeting. Even Jasper told me to go the last time we were in bed together.I don’twantyou to go, he emphasised.But it’s a good idea to get more involved with the school.
Zaina was hesitant to come too — every time I see her, she’s looks more stressed out than Jasper — but the meeting needed more people. It’s about Year 12 leaders and fundraising money, I think.
Jasper continues talking about whatever he’s talking about, pausing now and then to go through the slides of the PowerPoint. Trinity stands him, tapping her foot, waiting for her time to talk. In the front row of the classroom, Imogen sits with Kennedy. Fin isn’t here, which surprises no one.
“Mrs Abbot hasn’t given us an exact date yet,” Jasper goes on, “but it’ll be before the end of this term to avoid clashes with exam season.”
I train my eyes on him, so he doesn’t have another opportunity to accuse me of not paying attention.
“I know it’s annoying not to have a specific date, since we all have tests and other c—” Jasper makes eye contact with me and pauses, long enough for Trinity to look at him and crease her brows. “ — er, other commitments to keep in mind,” he continues, then clears his throat. “However, we will ask you to…”
Seamlessly, he’s back in school captain mode. I suppress a smug smile.
Trinity concludes the meeting and invites everyone to flock to one side of the room to write their names on a sign-up sheet. Jasper remains by the whiteboard, disconnecting his laptop. I’m walking towards him before I’ve made a conscious decision.
His eyes widen for a second when he sees me coming before he assumes a normal expression.
We’ve been hooking up for three weeks now, and every time is like the first. He meets me at the front door, we take our clothes off in his bedroom, make each other come, then I put my clothes on and walk out. Sometimes we talk afterwards, in bed. It’d be a smart idea to talk less, but that’s one of the few times Jasper is half-bearable.
“What do you want?” he mutters under his breath when I’m close enough.
I take a step closer, and he inhales.
“Free this afternoon?” I ask.
His eyes flit around the room, even though no one is close enough to hear us. “You’re asking me thisnow?”
“It’s an innocent question,” I say.
“As if there’s any other reason we see each other. I can’t do this afternoon, my sister will be home.”
“Shit.”
After a beat, he says, “we could meet tomorrow.”
But I don’t want to wait. Who knew that once I started having sex again, my sex drive would go up this much? “Well…” I begin.
“Yes?”
I shrug. “I have an idea. But it involves a single bed.”
He twists his lips. “What about Senior?”
“He’s out all afternoon.”
He taps the side of his computer. “When does he get back?”
