Page 22 of Stealing for Keeps
“And I’ll be there,” Sophie says. “Give me your hand.”
Austin does, looking slightly confused.
She pulls out a pen and proceeds to write her number on his hand in blue ink. When she’s done, she stands. “Now you can text me, and we can meet up.”
He nods a few times, saying nothing. I can’t read him. Sophie is pretty. She dated Blake from the team last year. I wonder if she’s Austin’s type and then scold myself for the thought. I do not care. I just think it’s ridiculous how girls are already falling all over themselves to talk to him. He’s cute, but what do they even know about him?
Sophie beams. “Okay, we gotta go. See you later!”
As soon as they’re gone, Lacey erupts into laughter. “Wow, New Guy. That was impressive. You said less than ten words and somehow managed to get a date. Bravo.”
“If only it were always that easy.” His stare lands on me, and I find myself unable to look away. The bell rings and jolts me back to the present.
I stand abruptly.
“Where is the fire, Crawford?” Lacey asks with a grin.
“I gotta go.” My gaze briefly flicks to Austin, who is watching me with those light green eyes. I hate that he makes me feel so off-balance. Looking back at Lacey, I say, “My next class is in the east building.”
“I won’t see you the rest of the day.” My best friend sticks her bottom lip out in a pout. “Hang tomorrow afternoon?”
“Definitely,” I say. I smile at the rest of the table, carefully avoiding meeting Austin’s gaze, and then book it out of there as fast as my boot will allow.
* * *
By the time I hoof it all the way to the east building, my foot is throbbing. The doctor warned me to ease back into things, but I didn’t think that walking would be so tiring.
Mrs. Randolph is standing outside the classroom, greeting students as they walk into her room. A smile curves my lips when she calls out to me.
“Claire Crawford.” Her gaze briefly drops to my foot, but she doesn’t let it linger there. “I was so glad to see you signed up for my class again this year.”
“Thanks,” I say, feeling a little embarrassed at the attention. It never made me uncomfortable when I was being praised for skating. I think it’s because I worked so hard at it. Hours and hours of practice nearly every day. While art is just something I’ve always liked to do. It’s fun, but it feels weird to be complimented when I’ve spent so little effort trying to be good at it.
None of my friends take art. I recognize a few faces from art class last year, but I don’t know any of them well enough to do more than wave and say hello.
I take a seat at an empty table by the back closest that houses the supplies. The moment I take the weight off my foot, I breathe a sigh of relief.
Mrs. Randolph comes into the class seconds before the tardy bell rings.
“Good afternoon, everyone.” She takes her place in front of the giant chalkboard. Most of the classrooms have whiteboards now, but the east building is part of the original school, and someone decided to preserve as much as possible. Including windows that are drafty in the winter and offer no resistance to the heat in the summer. They finally added some air-conditioning last year, but Mrs. Randolph has it turned off and the windows are open.
“For those of you who are new,” she starts, but a figure fills the doorway.
Austin Keller.
He steps inside and offers our teacher a polite smile. “Sorry for interrupting. Is this Visual Arts?”
“It is. Take a seat anywhere you like.”
There must be a giant neon sign flashing over my head, because Austin looks past all the tables in front and directly at me. I swear a hint of a smirk ghosts his lips as he heads my way.
While Mrs. Randolph continues introducing herself to the class, Austin drops into the empty chair beside me.
“Are you following me?” I whisper the question. I know it’s dumb. He couldn’t possibly have known I was taking Visual Arts, but I cannot sit next to this guy all semester. He’s so cocky and frustrating. I do not have any room in my very free schedule for soccer players. Except Rowan, but we’re just friends.
“No. Well, I would have liked to, seeing as how I also needed to find the east building, but you booked it out of the cafeteria so fast I didn’t stand a chance.”
A smidge of guilt works its way in, but it isn’t like I knew he was taking art.
