Page 103 of Wallflower

"Maybe." I shrugged. "You didn't eat today. That's not like you."

His stomach growled in answer, and about a minute later, he had wolfed down the entire banana, granola bar and bottle of milk.

"Thanks for that," he said then got out of the car and grabbed the cello from the back.

"No problem," I said. But he'd already closed the door.

After we dropped off my instrument (it had been a silent walk to the band room), I tried to draw him out again.

"Dare, are you sure you're alright?"

He stopped and so did I. "Yeah, I'm good. You better go now, or people might see us."

I scoffed. "As if I care about that."

"Don't you?" he said.

"No." My eyes took in the tight, guarded look on his face. "They think we're together. And according to every teen movie or K-drama I've seen, boyfriends and girlfriends walk down the hall all the time. Right?"

Dare nodded.

"You're the popular star athlete," I said. "I'd think you wouldn't want to be seen with me."

"You're the one who doesn't like attention," he said.

"Yeah, but…"

"But what?"

I stared at him a moment then told the truth. "When I'm with you, I don't mind so much."

Dare's whole face changed then. I couldn't quite put my finger on where it started, but the tension I'd seen only seconds before melted away. His eyes grew brighter, the grin I loved coming back full force.

"Well then," he said and nudged my shoulder, "let's walk. Shall we?"

I nodded.

As Dare and I walked side by side down the crowded halls, every eye we passed conveyed something slightly different. Estelle said, "Hey guys" and gave me a smile of support that I greatly appreciated. Whitney, of course, threw me the stank eye. Penn and his boys looked at the two of us with disgust—but he didn't bark, thank goodness. And there were so many other people. I actually was starting to get nervous. Dare had longer legs than me. I wasn't sure I'd be able to stay next to him.

But then Dare took my hand.

He did it smoothly, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Our palms touched, and I felt an answering jolt go through me. I looked down at our hands in wonder and then back up at him.

"You just pulled a Jordan Catalano," I said in awe.

"Who's that?" Dare asked. "Another one of your crushes? I don't like being compared to other guys, flower."

"He's a character from an old TV show," I said and patted his arm. "No need to be jealous."

Dare scoffed. "Sounded as if you like the guy."

"I did. When Jordan took Angela's hand, it was one of the most romantic things ever. Though he was a bit of a douche."

With a raised brow, Dare stopped us just next to my locker.

"Hmm," he said.

Then keeping his gaze fastened to mine, Dare brought our clasped hands up to his mouth. He pressed a kiss to the back of my palm, his lips lingering a moment after. My jaw went slack in reaction.

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