nothing’s wrong.” Ollie eyes me with a tilted head. “Did you get your test results back in Bio?” Dropping into my seat with my bag on the desk, I try for a change of subject. Ollie is typically easy to distract.
He doesn’t take the bait this time, though. “Was that Charlie I saw behind you? What did he want?”
I busy myself by taking my book and notebook out. “Nothing, he was just saying hi.” I don’t know what Ollie would think if I told him what Charlie asked me. I was afraid he or the other guys would assume I was the one asking about our relationship status. I’d rather ignore the topic altogether for right now.
Ollie stays quiet. I look over my shoulder, but his head is down. When he looks up, I watch as his shoulder lifts, and he shoves his phone into his front pocket. He meets my eyes and opens his mouth, but the tardy bell rings, cutting him off.
We don’t have a chance to talk much in class, which I’m grateful for. I don’t like not being honest with him, and by the way he keeps looking at me, I expect he knows I’m acting a little off. Giving him a wave and a smile over my shoulder as I walk out of class, I find Milo already waiting for me in the hall.
“Oh, are you meeting Ollie? He’s coming.”
“No, I’m here for you,” Milo says and looking over my shoulder, he tilts his chin up, acknowledging someone behind me—Ollie, I’m sure.
“Why?” I can’t keep the surprise from my tone.
Milo wraps his hand around the backpack strap high on my chest. I know immediately he’s going to take it, so I shift my shoulder and turn so it slides off easily. “I’m walking you to class.”
“Okay…” I let the word hang between us, he’s never walked me to class before. I barely see Milo throughout the day other than lunch. We don’t share any classes. Once he has my bag, he lifts his hand in a go-ahead gesture. Shaking my head, I lead the way to my next class. Milo doesn’t even speak to me on the way. He’s stalking behind with his head on a swivel as he watches the surrounding kids. I slow down and he barely notices, bumping into me when I turn to face him.
“Milo, is something wrong?” I scan the halls much like he was doing, looking for whatever has him on alert.
“Nothing. We need to get to class.” I recognize a brush off when I hear it, I just gave the same line to Charlie. I spin back around, my steps a little heavier than needed, and stomp away. Milo lays his hand gently on my shoulder.
“You don’t need to run.” He doesn’t let go, instead he closes the distance between us, walking right on my heels. I navigate the halls until my classroom door becomes visible. When I turn to face him, he’s already looking down at me. “You’ll tell me if someone bothers you.” I guess he meant for it to come out as a request, but he fails miserably. It’s an all-out demand.
Narrowing my eyes at him I ask, “Why? What do you know that I don’t? And please don’t tell me…” I look around, making sure no one is listening to us. I lean up on my toes to get closer as I whisper, “…Delaney has remembered I exist.”
When I drop back on my feet, Milo grins down at me. “I don’t think she forgot about you. I think it’s more like she wishes she could forget about you.”
I roll my eyes. “As long as she keeps doing it, I don’t care what she’s telling herself.” Milo’s hand lands on my cheek seconds before I feel his lips on mine in a sweet peck. When he pulls away, he looks down at me. His eyes are blown wide, and his lips are parted. He looks as surprised by his actions as I am. A shy smile forms on my mouth. Milo just kissed me, and he looks positively freaked out, or scared. One or the other.
After a few seconds pass, his lips turn up with a self-satisfied grin. “You need to go to class.” His voice is a low whisper. I nod, agreeing with him, but continue to stand there looking at him. Milo uses his hands on my shoulders to turn me, holding me in place. The weight of the backpack falls on my