Forever and Always His

Chapter 10

                I stared mindlessly at the piles of textbooks that were in my arms, giving him a sheepish smile. “I don’t think I can make it.” I sighed. “I’ve got to study for three tests this afternoon.”

                Max let out a groan, before running a hand through his curly blonde locks. “You haven’t been to lunch with me for a week now.” He pointed out. “And that’s the only period I get to have with you, besides French.”

                I gave him a hesitant look, before letting a long breath of air. I gave him a glare, before giving into Max. “Fine,” I rolled my eyes, “I guess I could do a little bit of cramming during study hall.”

                Max gave me a broad grin, before throwing an arm over my shoulder. “See? This is why you’re my best friend.”

                I gave him a playful glare, before pushing his arm off of me. “Are you sure?” I teased, poking his shoulder. “I was starting to become convinced that you’ve replaced me with Cassandra.”

                Max let out a dramatic gasp, as he clamped a hand over his lips. A laugh escaped my lips, as I stared up at my best friend with amused eyes. “I can’t believe you think so low of me!” he joked along.

                “Well, you have been pretty close with her lately.” I pushed his shoulder, as I thought back to the night before, when Cassandra came over to my house to talk about how Max hasn’t asked her out yet. “Word is it that two of you have kissed four times-“

                “Six.” Max corrected me.

                I shot him a glare, as a blush crept up his neck. It seems as though that Cassandra wasn’t the only one who was counting. “Okay, six times.” I corrected myself, while rolling my eyes. “Why haven’t you grown a pair of balls to ask the poor girl out yet?”

                Max rubbed the back of his neck with his palms, as he stared down at the ground with embarrassment. I’ve got to admit that Max should be scared and shy, because Cassandra was actually his first girlfriend. But, he should own up and ask Cassandra out before she got the impression that he was playing with her.

                The late bell finally rang, as a relieved look came across Max’s face. He gave me a small smile, before disappearing off down the empty hallways. Before he made a turn, though, I called out, “Ask her out!”

                I stared down at the time that was written on my phone, noticing that I was already a few minutes late to my history class, which was all the way on the other side of the building. I was too busy scolding Max to notice that I was going to be late for my next class.

                I groaned, as I hurried down the hallways to make my way towards my history class. When I finally got there and opened the door to the classroom, my teacher shot me an unimpressed look. She glared at me, as I muttered an apology. My cheeks turned bright red as I made my way over to my seat, which was right in front of Cooper, the guy that I danced with at homecoming.

                I dropped my stuff down, as I took a seat. I took out my notebook, as Mrs. Wilkins continued onto teaching her lesson. Just a few minutes into the lesson, I felt a light tap on my shoulder.

                I flinched just slightly, as I glanced over to Cooper, who had a grin across his face. “Hey.” He whispered. “You’re Riley, right?”

                I nodded shyly; almost satisfied with myself that he remembered my name. Even though dancing with Cooper at homecoming was a bit uncomfortable, I still wanted to prove to Everett that Cooper hadn’t only chosen to dance with me because I was in a dress and heels. “That’s me.” I gave him a tiny smile.