Page 95 of The Tattered Gloves
I laughed. “Solid plan.”
I held up her pizza slice, and after an eye roll, she finally took it from me and began eating.
Sometimes, I wondered who had taken care of Allison before I came around.
But then again, sometimes, the same could be said for me.
“Oh, I did have some good news to share,” she chimed in after wiping a little grease from her mouth.
“So, the day wasn’t all that bad?”
“Well, not totally, but it’s only half over.”
“Way to be optimistic,” I joked. “What’s your good news?”
“Well, I heard a few people talking about the new couple on campus.”
My nerves came to life. “Oh?”
“Seems everyone can’t stop talking about you and Sam.”
Now, I was the one to roll my eyes. “I can’t imagine what they must be saying.”
“Actually, nothing bad. Well, at least, from what I heard. It was more like, ‘Hey, did you hear Sam and that new girl Willow are together?’ People saw you holding hands at the bookstore and in the hall. But, honestly, Willow, I think people are kind of over your particular weirdness.”
“My weirdness?”
“The gloves,” she clarified. “I don’t think it really bugs them anymore. You’re just Willow to everyone now.”
Just Willow.
Huh.
I kind of liked that.
“And, speaking of the hot new couple, here comes your boyfriend now,” she announced.
I turned just in time to see Sam take a seat next to me.
“Hey,” he said to both of us. “Is it just me, or is it strange to be back?”
“Kind of,” I replied. “It did feel like an eternity that we were away.”
“It did, yet now that we’re back, it’s like nothing has changed.”
“Well, some things did,” Allison piped in, raising her eyebrows at the way Sam’s hand rested on my knee. “Anyway” — she smiled — “I’m going to go make the most of my remaining lunch break. If that Mr. Lee thinks he’s safe in the teacher’s lounge, he’s sorely mistaken.”
“Poor Mr. Lee,” I said before we said our good-byes.
“What’s up with her?” Sam asked, his emerald eyes focused on mine.
“New Spanish teacher.”
He nodded. “Right. I heard about that. A couple of the guys in my English class were talking about it. Sounds rough. Glad I took my foreign language requirement early on.”
“Me, too.”
A long tendril of his dark brown hair fell forward, and I instinctively bent forward and brushed it back. The corner of his mouth lifted into a lazy smile.
