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With that thought, I park my car and get out. My feet barely touch the ground when I hear him calling my name.

So much for staying away.

Without looking or even acknowledging him, I hurry in the direction of the school.

“Amelia, wait!”

His heavy, hurried footsteps follow behind me, and I know it’s only a matter of seconds before he reaches me.

“Amelia! We have to talk about what happened the other day!”

Hmm ... No, we don’t.

“You can’t avoid it forever.”

“Try me,” I mutter to myself, almost breaking into a full on run.

Before I can do so and escape, Derek’s hand wraps around my wrist and he turns me his way.

I don’t know who is more surprised, Derek or me? All I know is that one moment, I’m speed walking toward the school and in the next, I’m being turned around, my whole body stumbles with the motion and I start falling at Derek. He tries to hold me, but he’s isn’t prepared for the force of the impact with which I stumble into him, so we both fall back on the ground.

Derek’s hands wrap around me tightly, holding me close to his chest. He takes the whole impact of the fall on himself, crashing onto hard concrete with me on top of him.

“Oh my god!” I get on my elbows to look at him. “Are you all right?”

The sound of our bodies crashing to the ground was strong. I could feel the impact rattle my bones, and I’m not the one who hit the ground. The air was pushed out of his lungs, and I could hear Derek wince in pain. He’ll probably have one big, nasty bruise on his back for days.

I try to untangle my limbs from his to get up and see if he’s alive, but he’s resisting me. His arms wrap tightly around me, pulling me back to his chest.

“Gotcha!”

“Derek!” I scold him, resisting his strong grip. “Let me go! You could be hurt.”

“Are you worried about me?”

Moving as far away from him as his arms would let me, I give him a pointed look. Today, I let my hair stay down so the curls fall all around us, shielding us from the rest of the world.

“I’m just ...”

“... worried.”

“I’m not worried!” I protest, once again trying to get rid of his hold that’s as strong as ever.

And I’m not. Worried, that is. If I was worried that would mean I care. But I don’t. Having any kind of feelings for Derek would only bring me pain and heartache.

Been there, done that kind of thing.

“Whatever you say ...” He finally agrees, but if it’s to believe in his smug smile I don’t think he actually believes me.

“We should go to class.”

This time I manage to get on my feet, but I don’t take a step back and Derek is up on his own two feet. For a second I catch a painful grimace on his face, but he schools his expression.

Big hands land on my shoulders as he holds me in my spot.

“I’m sorry ... about Friday.” One of his hands cups my cheek and he tugs a stand of hair that’s been hiding my face behind my ear, revealing my face to him and leaving me bare. Vulnerable. “I shouldn’t have done it. Not like that.”

“It’s too late for apologies now.”It’s not like I’ll ever get my first kiss back.

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