Page 24 of My Last Dance

“Mhmm,” he agreed. He pulled his hood back up and bent over his textbook again. “Your eyes go with that, too.”

“What?” I questioned.

“Yeah.” He chuckled. “When you’re mad, they kinda narrow to slits, like cat eyes.” He tilted his head to the side. “Do cats have green eyes?”

I blinked my very own green eyes at him, totally unimpressed. I wasn’t going to just sit here and let him insult me.

I started to get up, but then he said, “Those aren’t bad things.”

“Yeah, okay,” I dropped sarcastically.

“Seriously.” He chewed on his bottom lip for a second while he finished up a math equation in his notebook. “Not many people have the balls to stand up for themselves the way you do, and not many people even know what they want. You’ve got it all figured out, Viper. I like that about you.” He grinned, making dimples appear at the sides of his smile. “And I like your eyes.” He immediately went back to his math homework.

My mind stuttered.He liked that about me… Did that mean…he liked me?

When he finally picked his head back up to stare at me, his eyes dipped to my lips.

My brain practically short-circuited. I had absolutely no experience with guys—besides Patrick, who didn’t count because he was basically my brother.

“Why are you staring?” I swallowed hard. “Are you gonna kiss me or something?” I snapped, then immediately felt stupid for sounding so harsh.

He licked his lips and slowly nodded. “I think so, but…” He threw his pencil down. “Not today.”

My heartbeat went a little erratic as I replayed his words in my head. “What?” My face cracked in confusion.

“Not our time yet.” He winked at me before dipping his headback over his math homework.

“What the hell are you—” I shook my head. “You can’t just—”

My phone went off, interrupting the rest of my sentence.

Gwen was here.

Without looking at him again, I stormed off.

But over the next few days, I replayed our conversation about a million times in my head, wondering if he was serious or just playing me.

That day started the pattern between us. Things went wrong—as they always would—then he’d always seek me out and face me to fix it.

‘Til I eventually broke the cycle and stopped letting him.

_________

That specific truce ended only a few weeks later in a truly embarrassing fashion.

I remember because I got my period for the very first time that morning, and my stomach had been in knots all day. I left the ice mid-session and hurried down the hallway to go to the bathroom.

Right as I passed the staircase leading up to the weight room, a bucket of something freezing cold dumped right on me, absolutely drenching me.

A chorus of laughter came from above while my whole body shook from the freezing blue liquid that was seeping down my body.

Wiping my eyes, I turned and glared.

A group of hockey boys bolted further up the stairs, leaving one boy there—a boy with a mullet and wide brown eyes. And in his hand was the evidence: a string that connected to a large popcorn bucket that was still dripping blue liquid.

“I’m sorry! We thought you were the other team!” His hands went to his head. “All the figure skaters are supposed to be on the ice!”

My whole body trembled with rage. “W-what is th-this?” my teeth chattered as I shook my arms out.

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