Listen to my Heart

6 - The Broom Closet

Evan

I was hanging out with the guys after school by the lockers waiting for CJ to pop up. My mind was stuck thinking about the stupid bet I agreed upon with Lance. I really needed to proceed with my plan before anything else fails. You gotta strike while the iron is hot. My gaze darted over every student. Still no luck. I was getting really impatient.

"That's totally fucked up, man!" Exclaimed Lance. He turned to me. "Hey, Evan!"

That jerked my attention back. "Yeah?"

"What's up, man? You've been zoning out the past few minutes. You okay?"

I swallowed the lump lodged in my throat. Shit. Why am I so fucking nervous? Relax. Act cool. You're getting all worked up just because of a girl.

"It's nothing," I lied. "Just thinking about the most important things in life, like, you know, college?"

Reece nudged me. "Evan, look who it is." He pointed at CJ who was just coming out of her classroom.

For some reason, CJ seemed to sense my gaze, because as soon as she saw me, her eyes widened and she started walking away as fast as she could. Great, she's avoiding me. My skin snapped tight as I heard Celia's voice. I looked over my shoulder and I saw her threading her way among the crowd of students.

Crap. Cue the disappearing act.

"I'll see you guys later." I quickly slipped away from Lance and the others but I still heard her sweet voice calling my name.

"Evan, baby! Where are you going?" I pretended not to hear her as I waded through the crowd, trying to find an escape route somewhere. Anywhere. As long as I get away from Celia as far as possible.

I looked left and right and then I saw the custodian closet.

Bingo!

I snuck inside. The closet was probably the most perfect and the most classic hiding place in the history of mankind. Whoever thought about putting broom closets was a genius. That was close. I couldn't imagine being stuck with Celia again for the rest of the day. She just doesn't get the message. She failed to understand that dating me wasn't going to work out at all.

All of a sudden something brushed my elbow. I quickly fumbled for the switch and as soon as the light went on—

"You!" We both exclaimed at the same time.

"For gosh sake's, Evan, what are you doing here?"

"Well, what are you doing here?" I shot back. "This is my hiding place!"

"No, I was here first," she argued. "Go find another hiding place."

I smirked. "If you don't mind me asking, who are you hiding from anyway? The big bad wolf?"

"It's none of your fucking business," she retorted, her face beet red. I knew she was hiding from me, obviously. I know her too well.

"You know, you swear like a sailor." I told her.

Her eyes were transformed into angry slits. We realized our bodies were just a few inches away from each other, making our faces, well, close enough that we could actually... kiss.

Yeah, right. As if that would happen, right?

We're both not on the same page, no matter how much you twist it. I could hear her heavy breathing. The small closet was cramped up with brooms and other cleaning supplies. She was probably crouched down behind the boxes of paper towels, no wonder I didn't see her when I came in. It was hot as hell, you could tell from the beads of sweat trickling down our faces. The pulse at my throat skittered wildly.