One and Done - S. Briones Lim Page 0,5

as I said those words, the walls felt as if they were closing in on me. Fighting impending nausea, I croaked, “I know this sounds weird, but don’t let Dwight bother you today.”

“He wouldn’t hit a girl.” All humor quickly washed off her face. “At least I don’t think so…”

“That’s not what I meant.” It wasn’t the time or the place to explain that Dwight had obviously had a boner for her since sophomore year. I’d rather peel my toenails off than stand back and watch her get with a Neanderthal who didn’t deserve the time of day. I shifted slightly, trying to remain balanced. “Just watch it, okay? If he bothers you, tell me.”

“So you can get punched again?” She huffed.

I snorted. “He took the pussy way out. He punched me when I wasn’t looking. Trust me; he won’t get a single shot again, and he’ll definitely see me coming.”

“Mr. Tyler!” Nurse Lance gasped, suddenly giving me her undivided attention. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

I nodded. “You do that.” Turning back to Rocky, my jaw hardened. “Seriously, tell me.”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Um, okay. I still think you’re being ridiculous.”

“I’m not. See you at lunch.”

***

“Hey, if it isn’t Mr. Knuckles.” Stephanie’s ear-piercing voice screeched above the cafeteria’s normal bustle.

Rolling my eyes, I plopped down next to Rocky and rubbed at my nose, which popped from the pressure. “Remind me to send the school board a complaint.”

“About what?” Rocky propped her tiny chin onto her hand and tilted her head. Before I could help myself, I imagined what it would be like to tilt my head in the opposite direction and place a tiny kiss on those plump lips of hers.

Blinking quickly, I cleared my throat. “About how bad Lance is at her job. Seriously, I thought all nurses were supposed to have some medical training. She practically accused a girl of faking a sprained ankle while I was there.”

“Well, maybe she was,” Stephanie replied, popping a chip into her mouth and chewing loudly.

“Her ankle was swelling and turning blue by the minute. No way she could fake that.”

Stephanie rolled her eyes and shrugged.

“Anyway, I wouldn’t doubt that she made my concussion worse.” Suddenly feeling hot, I peeled off my leather jacket, fully aware that Rocky was watching my every move.

When we caught eyes, Rocky quickly looked away and jumped to her feet. “If you have a concussion, we need to get you to the hospital. Why are we still sitting here?”

“Oh for God’s sake, sit down, Rocky.” Stephanie yanked at Rocky’s shirt, which did nothing but reveal her cleavage. The edge of Rocky’s polka-dotted bra peeked out, causing my mind to travel to very inappropriate places. Stephanie eyed me suspiciously and let go of the cloth. “Trust me, he doesn’t have a concussion. You can relax.”

“How can you tell?” Rocky asked doubtfully.

Still gazing at me knowingly, she replied, “Is he vomiting?”

“Um…”

Stephanie rolled her eyes. “Jesse, have you thrown up?”

“Nope.” I shook my head.

“Are you dizzy?”

“Nope.”

“Well, there you go.” She clapped her hands together.

Still looking unconvinced, Rocky stared at me as if giving me a silent medical exam. I both liked and hated how it made me feel to have her eyes roaming all over my body. I could almost feel her touching my skin. If I wasn’t careful, I’d blow a load right in the middle of the cafeteria. Shuddering, I changed the subject. “So did the Neanderthal bother you during class?”

“Neanderthal?” Stephanie leaned over in interest, stretching her giraffe-like neck toward me. “Who are we talking about?”

“No one,” Rocky said quickly.

A bit too quickly.

“Rocky,” I said warningly. “You can tell me. I told you to tell me. And Steph, stop straining. I can see the vein popping out in your neck.”

“Ha, ha.”

Rocky’s shoulders slumped forward. “Fine, if you must know, Dwight did talk to me in class, but it wasn’t about anything bad, I promise! That’s why I wasn’t going to tell you.”

My vision began to tinge in red. “So what did you talk about?”

“He…” Rocky glanced at Stephanie with uncertainty, which only caused Stephanie’s curious smile to widen. “He asked me out.”

There was a moment of silence before Stephanie burst into laughter. She slapped her denim-clad thighs and struggled to catch her breath. “Wait, are we speaking about the same Dwight Mansfield who just sucker punched Jesse to the ground?”

“Hey!” I protested.

“The muscular, blond-haired, blue-eyed Chris Evans look-a-like? Wow…Rocky, I’m impressed. Please tell me you said yes.” Stephanie’s hands were clasped together so tightly that