Page 90 of Breaking Rules
I became a statue in my seat.
Reagan tapped her hand on my desk. “Did you hear that? Wow! That was a cool way to declare his feelings.”
Everyone in class began whispering with the kids next to them.
“Hey, are you crying happy tears?” Reagan asked. “Please say yes.”
My tongue was glued to the roof of my mouth. My palms were sweating, and my throat was swollen.
Mr. Salvatore tried to lecture, when the speaker crackled once again. “Montana Smith, please report to the principal’s office immediately,” a female voice said.
Great.Train had declared his feelings, and I was the one to take the rap. I collected my bag and gave Reagan and Elvira a weak wave.
As I headed to the admin wing, I decided to take the hall in which my art signature had been painted. When I reached the end of the hall and made the turn, I ran into my mom.
She was dressed in shorts and a cotton top with her hair up in a bun. “Why are you crying?”
I beamed from ear to ear. “Train just declared his love for me over the school’s PA system.”
“That’s great. So you’re not mad at him anymore?”
“Maybe a tiny bit. What are you doing here?” She’d said she would call Principal Flynn, but I hadn’t expected to see her.
“When I talked to Mr. Flynn earlier, he asked me to come in. He wants to have a group meeting with you, me, Nina and her parents, and Ferris and his parents.”
Relieved wasn’t even the word to describe how I felt about my name getting cleared. Now I was eager to see if Nina would get suspended or expelled. I wasn’t sure if Principal Flynn had anything to hold over Ferris’s head since he hadn’t defaced school property.
Anyway, Mom and I passed the wall in question. It had been cleaned and had a new coat of paint. But the wall became a dot in my vision when I spied Train standing outside the admin office, chewing on the inside of his cheek.
He was cute when he was nervous.
“Hey, Ms. Smith.” He nodded at my mom.
“I’ll be inside,” Mom said as she went in.
He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. “Did you hear my message?”
“Maybe,” I teased.
“Montana, you’re killing me. I’m in love with you. And I said I was sorry.”
“I know. Yesterday, I was so angry I couldn’t see straight. Last night, I was in shock when I found Nina and Ferris in that alley. Then when I saw you outside my house this morning, I wanted to kick you and kiss you at the same time.” Tears burned. “I’m just overwhelmed.”
He picked at a strand of my hair that was stuck to my mouth. “You’re the only girl for me.”
“Why did you use the speaker system to tell me you loved me?” Not that I was complaining. I wasn’t. And standing before him with his delicious scent and love in his eyes, I knew he was serious about his feelings. “You could’ve started with that earlier outside my house.”
“Actually, I didn’t know when the right time to tell you was. Austin said girls like to hear those words on a dance floor at the ball. But when you wouldn’t listen to me, I had to find another way to say I was sorry. And as I was talking on the PA system, the mood felt right to tell you I love you.”
Mom knocked on the floor-to-ceiling window, motioning me to hurry.
“I better get in there,” I said.
“Can I kiss you?” he asked.
I blinked.
He flattened his palms on my face as his lips ghosted over mine. “I don’t ever want to do anything to screw us up again.” Then his tongue was in my mouth, and I was melting into a pile of mush.
An hour later, I left Principal Flynn’s office with a permanent smile on my face. He’d suspended Nina for two weeks. Ferris hadn’t received any punishment from Mr. Flynn. Mr. Everly, on the other hand, hadn’t weighed in on if he would take legal action against Nina and Ferris. Regardless, I didn’t have to see Nina for two weeks unless she made an appearance at the debutante ball, which I would bet she would. Nevertheless, my life was looking up. My current mission was to show Train Everly how he had my heart in the palm of his hand.
