Blazing Academy: Semester One (Academy For All Things Scorching #1) - Avery Song Page 0,80

the openness was actually refreshing.

When it came down to people speaking the truth, they always smiled and said the opposite of what they thought of me unless it was time to bully and insult me. For him to be so open about his newfound feelings threw me off in a way, but it was a good thing.

It felt really good to know that he wasn't influenced by anything either, his lips having yet taken a sip of his drink.

"Do you think my dad would even approve of us dating?"

"That I'm not sure," he admitted. "But if you want me to ask him formally, I will."

"Really?" The thought of him going the distance just to get approval made me feel like a lucky gal in love.

"If it makes you happy," he encouraged.

"Don't you want to be with someone who’s experienced?" I tried to make sure he knew I wasn't the only girl on the block he could be interested in. Due to zero experience in the dating department, I wasn't sure how this whole dating thing went. I read books and watched a few classic relationship and love-at-first-sight scenarios, but now that I was facing this potential chance to be dating someone I actually had a similar interest with, it felt too close to a dream.

"Experience is earned," he acknowledged. "I want to be with someone who wants to know about me and doesn't care about silly statues and ranks. We may have only known each other for a week, but all our interactions thus far, you've looked at me as a person and not at my appearance, rank, or power level. You know about things that very few individuals know about and you haven't suddenly tried to seduce me or anything."

"People have tried to seduce you?"

"You'd be surprised if I told you the number of times I've been begged to date someone. You're being rather generous to even offer me an opportunity to choose someone else."

"Wow." I couldn't believe it. "But you're sixteen."

"But I look nineteen and get hit on both by young individuals, as well as those who are double my age."

I cringed at the thought and he smirked and took a bit of his drink.

"Would we be able to take things slow?" I inquired.

"Any pace you want to roll with is fine by me," he reasoned. "We're going to be busy with school anyway, but I don't want you feeling pressured at all. We can even play the part and you give me your answer when you're re-"

"I want to date," I spurted out before I rushed on, "Not in a desperate way."

He grinned from ear to ear and nodded.

"Alright. Dating in a non-desperate way. Got it."

His teasing made me puff up my cheeks, but his sudden agreement finally clicked into my mind and I mentally screamed.

Holy shit! Am I officially dating Westley Simmons? No way. Hold on, Alice. You gotta freak out later.

Pushing my excitement to the side, I tried to distract myself with the various finger foods. Everything from cheese nachos with salsa, sour cream, loads of cheese, olives, and various species to the extra cheesy potato cups that were topped off with cheese, bacon bits, and diced green onions.

We began munching away, and it amazed me how nice it felt to sit on his lap and eat. We ended up deep in conversation before he finally brought up the horsemen thing.

"Do you want to know more about the blazing horsemen status?"

"Definitely." I leaned in closer, ready to soak up all he had to say.

"So intrigued." He seemed pleased with my eagerness and nodded. "Every semester, an individual from each trait is chosen to be a horseman. Before, it used to be a year, but a few days ago, they decided to change it to each semester. It's a status based on multiple factors, but the two most important qualifications are what type of flame you carry and the magnitude of power you hold. Grades then come in as a factor as you carry through the years attending Blazing Academy. And there are sometimes random tests, or what some call ‘missions’."

He reached for a square cube of cheese and popped it into his mouth as his eyes lowered to the second-floor crowd. I followed his gaze, noticing the three individuals looking our way, one of which was Rick.

I didn't let it bother me, noticing the girl hugging his arm was probably praying for my early suspension with how she was glaring at me. The third guy