cherry flavoured

28

PARKER'S POV

The school halls look completely different to the way they did before summer. The lockers are a bright yellow instead of the dirty grey they were before. The floors are polished, the walls have been repainted white. It almost looks clean. We'll see how long it takes for the students to ruin it again.

It's busy. I kinda missed being at school. The busyness of the halls are distracting, in a good way. The less time I spend at home, the better.

James is saying something to me, but I'm not listening, because I see her. She laughs with Isabela, throwing her head back as her dimples form. Her hair falls down her back, touching her waist when she tilts her head backwards. She's like an angel.

I saw her this morning, her cheeks flushed with that cute little smile she does when she's nervous. I offered to drive her to school, but she said her and Bela have been carpooling since Freshman year when Bela's mom would drive them, and she wasn't going to break tradition for me. I laughed, even though I was disappointed. It's selfish of me to want to spend every moment with her, but I feel like there's not enough air when she's not with me.

"Ashford!" someone shoves me forward, pulling my eyes away from her.

I turn around to see a bunch of the boys from the soccer team behind me, smiling and laughing. I glance back to where Elena was stood beside the lockers, but she's walking away now, her back to me.

First period is Physics. I've failed Physics every year for the past 3 years, but my dad makes me take it. Maybe that's why I'm failing.

"The seating chart is on the board." Mr Parson says to no one in particular, directing my eyes toward the digital board.

No one ever follows the seating chart in his class. We barely acknowledge it and sit where we want. Despite this, I search for my picture, looking for where I should be sat. I find my picture pretty quickly; I try to stop myself from smiling when I see the picture of the pretty girl to my right.

Someone says hi to me as I walk by but I don't even process it because I see her. Her hair falling over her face as she bites her bottom lip, focusing on whatever she's writing. She looks up when I pull the chair out, twisting her mouth to stop herself from smiling.

"Hey." I sit down.

"Hi." she looks back down at her work.

"How was your morning?" I ask.

Elena looks up at me again, her eyes narrowing.

"You saw me an hour ago." her eyebrows pinch together.

"So, what happened in that hour?"

She rolls her eyes, even though she's smiling.

"Do your work Parker."

My name. She's the only one that makes it sound so good. I don't want anyone else to say it apart from her.

I open my mouth to say something again but I realise the class has actually started and I should actually let her do her work. Elena focuses on her book, copying down notes with her perfect handwriting, while I focus on her.

"You look pretty." I whisper as Mr Parson turns his back to us.

She doesn't look up, but I see her cheeks change colour, the corner of her mouth turning up.

"Do your work, Parker." she repeats quietly.

"I can't." I sigh.

She stops writing now, turning her head to look at me.

"Why not?" her eyebrows raise.

I lean in to her, so close that I can smell her peach shampoo. My favourite scent.

"Because all I can think about is how badly I want my lips on your body."

I feel Elena tense beside me, the colour creeping down from her face to her neck. She sucks in a short breath, focusing her eyes on her work but not writing. I smile as I pull away.

She doesn't say a word for the rest of the lesson, but I feel her leg bouncing beside mine. I glance at her every few seconds, up until the bell rings. She packs up her things quickly as I watch her, walking towards the door before she stops short.

"You coming?"

My lips curl up into a grin.

Once I'm close enough she takes my wrist, leading me down the hallway as she peeks into each classroom. She finally finds an empty one, checking no one sees us before pulling me inside.

Elena drops her bag to the floor, leans her back against the door, grabs me by my shirt and pulls me in, crashing her lips on to mine. I smile against her mouth which I missed more than air itself. Her lipgloss. My favourite flavour. I move in so our bodies are pressed together, one hand on the door beside her head and one snaked around the back of her neck.

She makes a quite whimpering noise as I bite her bottom lip and I can already feel myself growing hard. My favourite sound.

Her hands wrap around my neck, her fingers in my hair as she pushes herself to her toes for more height. I bring my arms to her waist, lifting her up, and she instantly wraps her legs around me. I love having her in this position. I bring her over to the desk, putting her down, parting our lips only for a second as I climb on top and knock everything off in the process.

My hand breaches the hem of her shirt, running along the skin of her back. My favourite feeling. Elena arches her back a little, leaning up and moving her lips from mine to my jaw, licking across the length of it. I groan in to her neck, wrapping an arm around her waist and tryna bring us even closer than we already are.

"Parker." she breathes against my lips. Scratch what I said before. Maybe this one is my favourite sound.

"Yes princess?" I lean forward and brush my mouth against hers, desperate to taste her again.

"What are we doing?" she presses her forehead against mine, closing her eyes.

"We're making out in an English class." I say.

She doesn't smile. She's serious.

"No, Parker. Us. What are we doing?" she repeats.

"I don't understand." I do understand. I'm just not ready for her to ask me that question yet.

"What are we Parker?" she winces as if it's the last question she wanted to ask.

My four least favourite words.

I pull back a little. I'm silent. I don't know what to tell her. I'm not sure how to give her the reassurance she wants. I can't right now.

She looks between my eyes, waiting for an answer. One that I can't give her. A moment passes before she presses her lips together, bringing a hand to my chest. She's pushing me away.

I stand back and she gets down off the desk, fixing her hair as she picks up her backpack.

"Elena." my voice is hoarse.

Shakes her head, bringing her eyes to mine.

"I don't like having my feelings played with."

I want to tell her I'm not toying with her. I want to say she's the breath of fresh air that I've been gasping for for years. I want to tell her that she makes me feel a way no one else has ever made me feel. But I don't.

I let her walk out of the class, leaving me alone amongst the literary books and biro pens.