Tino laughed. “Well, it’s fun, isn’t it? We’re entertaining. We’re doing the school a public service.”
I wanted to strangle him. Preferably with his tie. But the worst part was that when he smiled, that stupid dimple appeared, and for one stupid half-second, I forgot how mad I was. I snapped out of it immediately, of course, but still. Unacceptable.
Tino leaned forward, brushing a hand on my shoulder like he was comforting me. I shrugged it off before someone could takea photo and spread it like wildfire across the school. “Well, at least now people know you have good taste.”
I groaned and dropped my head into my hands. “This is your fault.”
“My fault? You were the one who said we should wear those costumes.”
“I said we should wear them to escape, not to become an internet couple.”
Across the table, Poppy was already recording us on her phone. “Sorry,” she said when I glared. “It’s just—this is history.”
Tino leaned closer, smirking. “See? Even she ships us.”
“I don’t want to be shipped. I want to graduate in peace.”
But the universe, apparently, had other plans. By the end of the day, I’d tried denying it six different times, and all it had done was convince people we were “keeping it private.” By mid-week, things had somehow gotten worse. Someone had edited the photo into a fake magazine cover. Someone else had made a poll titled “Cutest Celebrity Sibling Couple?” with me and Tino versus two actors from that teen drama we all watched last year.
We were winning.
It was all so ridiculous that if it happened to anyone else, I would be laughing my butt off about it—which meant I couldn’t really blame Poppy and Saylor for doing so. But as it was, I was ready to use a pencil to stab the next person who asked me about my “secret relationship” or referenced Valenturner (a word that only got more disgusting every time I heard it).
At the end of the day on Thursday, I slammed my locker shut and leaned my face against it for a moment, willing myself not to scream. I lost the battle when I looked up again and found Tino leaning against the locker next to mine like it was where he belonged.
“No,” I said. I pulled my books tight to my chest and spun on my heel, walking the opposite direction from him even though my dorm was the other way.
Tino came after me, catching up easily because of his ridiculous long legs. “No what?”
“Whatever you’re about to say, the answer’s no.”
“What if I was just coming by to offer to carry your books?”
I scoffed. “Then the answer would be no times ten. I’m not giving these vultures any more ammunition than they already have.” I eyed him. “If you’re going to walk with me, could you at least put a couple feet of distance between us?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Wow, you’re really bugged by this.”
“And you’re not?”
“I’m clearly holding up better than you,” he said.
“Oh, so it’s a competition now?” I snapped. I was being ridiculous and I could feel it as the worst came out of my mouth, but I couldn’t stop myself. I felt like the frayed end of a rope right now, ready to break at a moment’s notice. And the worst part of it was that I didn’t even realizewhyI was struggling so much—especially if Tino wasn’t. So what if nobody believed that there was nothing going on between him and me? Life would go on. They would find this funny for a week or two then move on to something new and this would all be forgotten. But the annoyance had burrowed deep in my heart and now, it wasn’t going anywhere.
I was still storming down the hall when Tino veered to stand in front of me. I stopped walking even though I was somewhat tempted to shove him out of the way. The only reason I didn’t was because I’d learned from experience that I wouldn’t be physically able to move him.
“Seriously,” he said. “You look like you’re about two seconds from crying.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Or maybe burning my room down—which I would really rather you didn’t becauseI need to sleep, not to mention I think Bear would kill me for causing it and?—”
“Oh my gosh, do you ever stop talking?” I snapped. Tino’s eyes widened in surprise and a flash of guilt swept through me which I pushed away the best I could. I didn’t want to be mean to him, but he was standing between me and the exit from my worst day of school ever, so it was collateral damage.
Tino sighed and grabbed my wrist, yanking me down the hallway. “Come on.”
“Excuse me?” I asked. I tried to pull my arm out of his grip, but it was impossible. He tugged me to a custodian’s closet, glancing around quickly before opening the door and shoving me inside, then following behind me quickly. The place was tiny and barely had room for us to fit, especially once I accidentally knocked over a couple of mops. “Are you insane?”
“Probably,” he said, closing the door behind us. “But at least in here, no one’s staring at you.”
I groaned and rubbed my hands over my face. “This is ridiculous. And you! You’re unbelievable.”
He smiled faintly. “You keep saying that, but I think you mean it in a good way.”
