Page 23 of The Not So Super Hero
“Good morning,” Bailey said.
“Mornings are never good,” Zane replied.
“I suppose for you that’s true.”
Zane had his hands wrapped around the top of the mop, leaning forward to rest his chin against it while he waited for Bailey to either leave or continue speaking.He may have mentally slapped himself for actually thinking the latter option wasn’t so bad.
“Are you ok?You look tired,” said Bailey.
“I’m always tired.”
“You look more tired than usual.Didn’t have any coffee this morning?”
“Yep.”Now that was a lie; Zane had a few cups of it, but Bailey didn’t need to know that.“Shouldn’t you be getting to class?”
“It doesn’t start until eight, so I think I’m good,” Bailey responded.
Zane’s eyes jumped to the clock hanging on the wall that stated it was 8:05 am.He pulled out his phone next, seeing that it, too, said it was five after.
Smirking, he held up his phone to reveal the time to Bailey, whose jaw dropped before he screamed, “What?No!I left my room at 7:45!”
Bailey grabbed his phone, looking at the time to see that his clock somehow was ten minutes behind.
“How does one even mess up the time on their phone?”Zane snickered.
Bailey paid him no mind.Grumbling, he shoved his phone into his pocket and went to run to class, except he forgot Zane was mopping.Not even a step in did his foot slip on the wet floor, sending him back to fall on his ass.However, rather than hitting the ground, Zane caught him.Gripping Bailey’s shoulders, Zane pushed him onto slightly steady feet.
Damn, Zane felt that heart palpitation again.He was probably dying.It had nothing to do with his hands being on Bailey’s shoulders or the fact that Bailey’s face had turned the brightest shade of red he ever seen.Nope.None of that.He obviously had a severe heart problem.
“Uh…” Bailey hummed, stepping away.Zane’s hands dropped so that he could lean down and pick the mop up.Bailey turned to walk away.He waved at Zane, who gave him a confused expression when he said, “I…I g-gotta go, but thanks!”
Zane didn’t wave back, though he did laugh when Bailey ran into the door.Bailey jumped, smiled shyly, then ripped open the door to run off before he did something even more embarrassing.He nearly ran into another student, stepping around them in the knick of time.Glancing towards the glass doors, he realized Zane had witnessed that as well.He was still smirking.
Bailey bolted to class while mentally berating himself for being such a klutz.Why was he born with such horrid luck?It put him in the most embarrassing situations, like blushing furiously because Zane caught him.The whole situation could have been avoided if he had any ounce of luck and not tried to run on a wet floor.
Bailey ended up being over ten minutes late, smiling sheepishly when he tried to sneak in.It didn’t work since the door made a horrible screeching sound the moment he opened it.Flinching, he scurried off to his seat, taking out his materials to focus on.If only he could do that, though.Instead, his mind remembered how warm Zane’s hands felt on his shoulders.If his brain could shut up about it, that would be great but, no, it had to be the most thought about thing his whole day.
Amery didn’t help either whenever she showed up at Bailey’s work.Obviously she didn’t mean to do it, but the question she asked made Bailey think about Zane even more.“How was your break?”
“Fine,” Bailey replied, focusing on making Amery’s drink because if he looked her way, she’d probably sense his embarrassment.
“Tell me you did something other than lie around in your room all day.”
Shrugging, he handed the girl her coffee.“Not really.”
Amery rested her elbow on the counter and leaned forward.Bailey took a step back.
“I get the distinct feeling that you are lying to me.”She wagged her finger at Bailey, clicking her tongue as she did.Since it was Amery, a girl who was more stubborn than anyone Bailey ever met, she refused to back down.She constantly asked Bailey what happened.His blush further proved her suspicions and he hated himself for it.
“Oh, come on, what happened?I mean, it was obviously something good, right?You’re blushing,” she said.
Bailey shrugged again.However, the universe laughed at him and his poor attempts to save himself from further humiliation.The one who caused Bailey the most embarrassment came waltzing into the café for their promised free coffee.Amery’s grin was damn near demonic when she caught Bailey’s eyes straying to Zane.Zane approached the counter while reaching for his wallet.Amery winked at Bailey, her way of saying they’ll talk later.Bailey had enough time to flip her off before Zane reached the register, requesting his usual.
“I’m surprised you didn’t come for this earlier,” Bailey said.He handed Zane his coffee and blueberry muffin, which he immediately munched on.“You somehow look worse than this morning.”
“How late were you for class?”
“I wasn’t that late.”
