And then he stopped. Shane leaned his forehead against mine, breathing heavily, our eyes still closed, and he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
"Astra," he mumbled against my lips. "Please don't hurt yourself."
And all at once, his body fell l...
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C H A P T E R T H I R T Y - T W O
A s t r a *.✧
As Leila and I lowered ourselves into our seats, I could feel Mr Miles' sharp stare in my direction. I was glad I sat at the back for once - the room was so big that the writing on the board usually appeared like tiny scribbles. I shifted nervously and took out everything from my bag, laying out my book and pens in front of me. I quickly flicked it open to finish off my essay I'd started last night.
"You and English Lit are a dream duo," Leila muttered next to me. A smile pulled at my lips as I wrote the last sentence of my conclusion and stood up to make my way to the front of the class.
The class was chattering amongst themselves as they all waited for the lesson to start. Mr Miles' board often took a while to load, which in turn delayed the whole lesson. I wondered why he didn't just switch it on before the lesson was due to start.
"Sir," I cleared my throat awkwardly and rocked on my feet as I waited for him to acknowledge my presence. He seemed to be doing that just fine merely minutes ago.
He looked up at me, setting down his cup of tea and shot me a crooked smile. Ew. "Hey, Astra. How you doing?"
"I'm okay. I've written a practice essay about Macbeth's guilt and was wondering if you could mark it?" I held my book out to him. He stared at it for a few seconds before taking it.
"Of course. I always have time for you," he gave me another crooked smile, his eyes displaying something along the lines of warmth. "Also, I'm thinking about changing the seating plan and I'm considering moving you closer to me."
I didn't know what to say, so I remained silent. I liked my seat at the back, and I wasn't disruptive to the lesson so I didn't understand why he had to move me.
He quickly looked through the essay and as he did a pen rolled down his leg onto the floor. Mr Miles made no effort to stop it. "Whoops." He leaned down to get it but his foot only ended up kicking it further out. "I'm so sorry, would you mind getting that for me?"
I watched Shane as he walked in. His eyes almost immediately landed on me. He looked at Mr Miles and raised an eyebrow, before looking away and making his way to his seat. He said something out of earshot that made someone thump him on the back and a few others cringe. Mr Miles shot me a weird look.
My hand reached out to grab the pen and I was about to bend down when my name was suddenly called out over the announcement speakers.
"Astra Thatcher, can you make your way to the secretary's office please. I repeat, that's Astra Thatcher to the secretary's office. Thank you."
I looked back at Mr Miles, who'd leaned down to pick the pen up himself. If it was within his arm's reach, why did he ask me to get it for him? I wasn't any closer to it than he was. In fact, I think I was further away.
