You Are the Shell to My Tortoise | ✓

27

On Friday night, I made it all the way down the ground by myself. The moment I let go of the rope and stood on the grass, a great sense of achievement raced through me.

Nolan, who had been standing next to the rope as he watched me climb down, gave me a grin. "Nice work."

"Of course! I told you that I've been working hard," I said, beaming back at him. "Let's go."

This time, when I climbed the wall under Nolan's instructions, I managed to get over it without almost falling off when I reached the top.

"You've improved a lot," he said as we were walking towards the forest.

"Thanks," I said, taking the hand he offered me. "I just don't want to drag us down. If we ever get caught, I don't want to be the reason for it."

"You won't get caught," he said.

"How can you know that?"

"I won't let us."

Even though he couldn't see me, I still smiled. "Confident, aren't you?"

"I just know what I'm doing."

"You know, I didn't see a rope hanging out of your bedroom window," I said. "How did you get down?"

"I don't need one," he said. "I just jump."

"What?!"

"What?" he said, looking back at me over his shoulder. "The ground's only three stories away from my window."

He slowed down as we reached the darker parts of the forest, where the trees seemed to crowd together and cast even more shade on the entire area around us.

I listened to the chirping of crickets that surrounded us as we strolled on in silence, making sure to stick closely behind Nolan.

"So, it's the weekend tomorrow. Do you have any plans?" I asked, trying to make conversation since I knew it would take us a while to reach the clearing.

"I plan to sleep," he said.

I couldn't stop myself from snorting. "How is that a plan? You do that every day."

"That's a misconception. I get interrupted sleep every day. That's not real sleep. On weekends I get to lie in bed all day without being woken up by the bell."

"Or Mr. Jameson," I added.

"Or Mr. Jameson," he agreed. "He's the biggest pain."

"Hey!" I said, ready to defend my favorite teacher. "He is not a pain. He's just passionate about teaching!"

It was Nolan's turn to snort. "Yeah, he's passionate about waking me up alright."

Talking about Mr. Jameson brought to my mind his handsome scowling face. It was hard not to swoon when I thought about him.

He's so hot even when he's frowning.

"What? You like him?" He didn't even bother hiding the disgust in his voice!

Wait, did I just say that out loud? Oops.

"He's good-looking, okay! Could you stop judging me for once?"

"What do you mean, 'for once'? This is probably the first time I'm really judging you," he said, sniggering.

I gaped at the back of his head. "So you admit it! You are judging me!"

"You judged me for coming into the forest for midnight strolls," he said. "I think I can be a bit judgmental about you crushing on our teacher who's probably at least a decade older than you."