Page 150 of One More Kiss

“Yeah. I’ll see ya later,” Trey said, grinned, and then walked away.

His lanky body turned the corner and exited my sight. I felt horrible for getting between the two friends. I hoped Trey wasn’t upset that I interrupted them. And what was up with Phoenix moving me closer to him when Trey spoke? I didn’t think he was jealous. I wasn’t the kind of person a guy should be jealous over with another guy. It wasn’t like men were flocking to me.

I could barely get anyone to look at me much less flirt with me. Though it felt nice to feel like Phoenix was possessive even though that probably wasn’t the case. I shrugged my shoulder and followed alongside Phoenix as he made a move to walk through the hallway.

“You might want to lead the way,” Phoenix said. He continued to look ahead, paying attention to where he walked. “I don’t know where your class is.”

“I figured that much,” I said, still nervous.

We were walking to my first-period class, English. Though, I don’t remember even getting to the classroom because I was so nervous. It seemed Phoenix excited me and made me feel amazing, even though I felt like every word coming out of my mouth was stupid.

“How was the rest of your weekend?” Phoenix asked, walking alongside me.

I inhaled deeply and then released the air before talking. “It was okay. What about you?”

Stupid me, I thought to myself. I should’ve come up with some lie about how amazing my weekend was, but I couldn’t, not to Phoenix.

He chuckled as if knowing he made me nervous. “Mine was okay. My band finally had a chance to practice. We don’t get to practice often since most of us are graduating this year.”

“Oh,” I commented, “That’s pretty neat that you’re in a band. You don’t want to go pro?”

Phoenix threw his head back and laughed before saying, “Isn’t that every musician’s dream? But no, I have other plans, which involve waking up really early, exercising, wearing uniforms, and building comradery.”

I had no clue what he spoke of. Was he going to some gym camp or something? It sounded like his summer, or the rest of his life would be boring and suck.

“That sounds tedious and boring,” I said, unsure of what else to say.

He grinned. “That is, after all, the way of the military.”

“Oh,” I replied, “I didn’t realize you joined. Are you scared?”

Of course, he wasn’t,I told myself. He seemed to be confident with everything he does. Why would the military be any different?

“Nope. Not at all,” Phoenix replied, “I didn’t have plans, and I want to travel the world, so I figured, why not join the military? Besides, it wasn’t like I could afford college and the military provides a portion of it for services rendered.”

“I didn’t know that,” I said. And it was true. We didn’t discuss his enrollment in the military during our time at the fair. It seemed we talked mostly about me and what I wanted out of life. I felt bad for not directing our conversation to him more often. I wasn’t good at talking to anyone much less boys.

We made it to my classroom just in time because the bell rang indicating that whoever was still in the hallway would be tardy for their next class. I worried for Phoenix because he took the time to walk me to mine and now, he would be late for his.

“Crap. I’m sorry you’re late,” I said. My brows creased as the worry seemed to show on my face.

“I’m not,” He replied. His hand reached out and grazed my fingers as he backed away. “I’ll see you for lunch?”

I smiled and nodded. Things were looking up. As I stared at his retreating back, I couldn’t help but think about how he was always reaching out to touch my hand. It elated me to think he actually wanted to be near me. Maybe I was too hard on myself. I couldn’t help my thought process because I’d always been picked on and treated differently. I wasn’t used to this kind of attention. I had to admit I liked it a lot.

English class was possibly one of my favorite subjects, every day I looked forward to this time, except today. We were supposed to be writing an assignment about Romeo and Juliet, but I couldn’t focus. My thoughts were on Phoenix, not on the star-crossed lovers. I tried with all my might to pay attention to what I wrote, but the knock at the door pulled me from my concentration.

“I was told your computer needed to be fixed.” It was Phoenix.

Butterflies took flight as I craned my neck to get a look at him. Did he know he was going to be in my classroom to fix the computer today? I didn’t care as long as I got a chance to see him again.

My teacher, Mrs. Winters, responded, “Head to the back of the classroom. It’s the computer with the stickers on the top of the monitor.

Phoenix nodded, “Thanks. I shouldn’t be too long.”

“That’s okay. I appreciate the assistance. Let me know if you need a note in case you’ll be longer than expected,” Mrs. Winters said before walking back toward her desk.

“I sure will,” Phoenix answered.

He strolled to the back of the classroom but slowed down right in front of my desk. I looked up and locked eyes with him just in time to notice that he slipped something onto my desk. No one noticed his movements but me, I was excited to see what he gave me. He winked as he walked by and then settled on the chair in front of the computer. I looked around observing how everyone was focused on their task, once happy that no one was paying attention I slipped the piece of paper under my desk.

Head bent; I opened the paper so that no one could see what I was doing and read the note Phoenix handed to me. My ears were ringing as my nerves tried to control me, but I forced my anxiety away and tried to focus on the words.

Dearest blue eyes,

I miss being around you already.

xo P.

Be still my heart.It was a simple yet sweet thing to say. My cheeks were flaming, but not in embarrassment. I was shocked Phoenix missed me. Did that mean he actually liked being around me? What did this mean? I was totally out of my element, but I wanted more of his attention, so instead of focusing on my assignment I wrote him back. It wasn’t much, but I couldn’t wait to give it to him. My chest seemed to expand like a flower seeking the sun’s rays, I felt alive from this note.

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