I was also up all night thinking about the dance.
In the distance, I spot Raven and her friends at one of their lockers. Caleb’s arm is slung around Addie’s shoulder, Carly rests her head on Ryder’s chest, Sophie’s hand is in Damian’s as he presses a kiss to her cheek. And then there’s Raven standing there all by herself.
Like they have the speed of light, my legs take me to her and I wrap my arms around her waist from behind. She whirls around, her wide eyes filling with laughter. “You scared me!”
“Sorry.” I hold her close. “I just missed you.”
“I missed you, too.”
“I need to ask you something after school,” I tell her.
Her eyebrow lifts in curiosity. “Okay.”
I greet the others and add to their conversation. Then the bell rings and we’re off to our classes. They pass uneventfully, but it’s obvious that no one is in the mood for class. The teachers can sense it as well, some being harsh and giving us oral quizzes. Which is very cruel because we didn’t have time to study yesterday.
I sit with Raven and her friends during lunch, where we talk about random topics. Then when it’s time for history, Mr. Lewisreminds us that we’ll be presenting our reports to the class later this week. Most kids tense up because they’re not ready. Raven and I are almost done. The Globe Theatre is nearly built and looks phenomenal. Our music video is kickbutt, and our written report is A+ worthy—it just needs to go through a final edit.
I don’t want to part from Raven to head for my next class, but of course I don’t have a choice. We’re standing in the doorway of the history classroom, our hands still clinging to each other.
I frown. “It’s worth getting detention if I get to skip class with you.”
She shakes her head. “No way. I’m not giving Principal Harrington any excuse to kick me out and neither are you.”
I frown again. “But I’ll miss you.”
She rests her head on my shoulder. “We only have a few classes left and then we can spend the whole afternoon together after you’re done with band practice.”
I wave my hand. “The guys and I canceled band practice for today.”
“Oh. Because we need to talk?”
I nod.
“Should I be worried?”
Bending close, I smile as I peck the tip of her nose. “Not at all. I mean, I hope not.”
“Okay. See you later.”
She slides her hand out of mine, turns around, and walks down the hallway to her next class. I sigh and go to mine.
The time oddly passes at a normal pace and it’s not long before I’m standing outside Raven’s last class, my shoulder resting on the wall.
The kids file out, many of them glad to be done with the day because it was a hard one. Raven eventually pops out and smiles when she sees me.
Holding out my arm to her, I say in my terrible British accent, “May I escort you out of the building, m’lady?”
She does a small curtsey, then places her hand in my arm. “You may, sir.”
With both of us grinning like goofs, we make our way out of the school building and toward the boys’ dorm. I asked Beck to stay away so we can have some alone time. He was cool with it because he and Jasper have plans to game in the rec room, anyway.
“So what’s this big secret?” Raven asks.
I raise a brow. “Who said anything about a secret?”
“Well, you’re being very cryptic.”
I zip an invisible zipper across my lips.
