We drive in comfortable silence the rest of the way to my house. I thank him for the ride and go straight for my shower. Afterwards, I take a long soak in the tub, massaging my legs. With the recovery cream applied, I move to the kitchen to make dinner. Deciding on a Cobb salad, I make extra for Zander and leave it in the fridge. I spread out on the couch with the tv on to do my homework, and Seb calls as I’m finishing AP Biology. “Hey Seb.” I answer, putting him on speaker.
“Sunshine, I miss you. I didn’t talk to you all day, and you were practicing after school.” There is a little pout in his tone. Laughing at his dramatics, I remind him he’ll see me in the morning. “It’s too long. How was practice?”
“Good, but tiring. I made some new friends.” Of course, he wants to know who they are, so I tell him about Holly and Jaxon, as well as the twins.
“Hey, I know Holly and Jaxon. They’re nice people, best friends like us. They’re in love, though they’re both in denial. You’ll see it when you watch them,” Seb continues. “I’m not sure when it happened, but they have puppy dog eyes for each other, but neither has told the other. So what’cha doing?”
“Homework.” I ask him a history question that I’m working on, then he tells me he’s bored out of his mind. So dramatic. “Are you home alone? Where are Gabs, E, and Nick?” I ask.
“Gabs is here, but one of her friends is over, so they’re in her room. E left after we finished homework. Nick isn’t home, so I’m assuming he went to visit a girl after martial arts.”
“I thought Nick didn’t date, Hurry.” I finish answering the last history question, then close the textbook. Onto AP Chemistry.
“He doesn’t, but I thought that sounded better than he went to fuck some random girl.”
“Ah, yup, it did. Hey, I’ll call you back when I finish my homework. Is that okay?” Seb pouts a bit more, but it’s hard to concentrate on my work and follow the conversation. After I promise to call him back later, he lets me go.
Zander arrives home a little after 6 pm. I tell him there’s salad in the fridge, which he happily eats, as I call Seb back and we talk for an hour while I stretch my poor legs. When Zander joins me on the couch later, I ask him to take me for my written test this week. “Of course. When are you thinking?”
“I’ve got stuff after school every day this week, so I was thinking I could skip gym one afternoon and we could go?”
“Alright. I’ll check my schedule in the morning and let you know.” He turns on another Marvel movie as we relax until bedtime.
Chapter 32
Another rose greets me today at my locker. The guys aren’t happy about it, but I add it to my backpack and walk to class with Alex. I wave to Jaxon before taking my seat, now that I know who he is.
Morning classes go by quickly, and I’m soon eating lunch inside with the guys and Reesa, as there’s rain in the forecast. “Study session tonight for AP History?” Seb asks me as I’m munching on leftover salad from dinner.
“Nick and I have our group project meeting after school, and I have to make a call,” I tell him.
“We can come over after that, Sunshine. You can show us your tests from Virginia on the material,” he smiles at me.
Ah, not a bad idea. We should exchange quizzes and exams for that class. “Sure,” I shrug. “Do the rest of you want to come over too?” Alex and Bay nod in agreement, with no response from Nick.
I grab another rose from my locker when I get my gym bag. Nick is scowling at it again. “Hi Nick. Why are you scowling again?”
“I don’t like it, Shortie.”
“It’s just flowers, Nick. Nothing nefarious.” He frowns, but doesn’t say anything else as we walk to the gym.
I do a regular run since I don’t have practice today, saying hi to Jaxon as I join him on the track. “Hey Summer. Did I see you carrying roses in your backpack?”
“Yeah. Someone is leaving them taped to my locker.” He’s an observant one.
“You have a secret admirer?” He asks. I tell him it’s possible and I don’t mind the idea, as long as it isn’t Ben. He offers to tell Holly to keep an eye out, since her locker is close to mine. I thank him before he increases his pace.
I run the full period without stopping today, which is an improvement for me. After stretching, I grab my bags to walk to the library. Ben is waiting on the bleachers when I leave the locker room. “Hi Summer,” he waves.
“Ben,” I nod and keep walking.
“Who are the flowers from?” He says, stepping in front of me.
“I don’t know. They were on my locker,” I tell him, watching for a reaction to see if he put them there.
“Do I have more competition for you now?” Ben scowls.
Guess they’re not from him, thank goodness. “Ben, I’m getting tired of telling you I’m not interested.”
