Collision

Malias pov

"Good morning, babe."

Of course.

I step out of my car and Nico is immediately beside me.

I swear the boy has some weird sixth sense that tells him the exact second I get to school.

"Morning."

He grins and kisses my cheek.

I smile because that's what girlfriends are supposed to do.

The problem is I don't feel anything.

No butterflies.

No spark.

Nothing.

And honestly? Sometimes I feel bad about it.

Nico is a good guy.

He's funny. Loyal. Popular. Sweet.

The kind of boyfriend every girl at this school wants.

The kind of boyfriend my mom wants me to want.

Unfortunately, that's always been the problem.

"You look tired."

"I'm at school before eight in the morning. What do you think?"

He laughs.

I don't.

Mostly because I'm serious.

He throws an arm around my shoulders as we walk through the front doors.

Immediately people start talking to me.

"Malia!"

"Can you look over my speech later?"

"Are we still doing the fundraiser next week?"

"Do you know when the club forms are due?"

I answer a few questions.

Ignore a few others.

I can't solve everyone's problems.

Even though everyone seems convinced I can.

Then the intercom crackles overhead.

"Malia Baker, please report to the principal's office."

I close my eyes.

Nico snorts.

"Good luck."

"You're annoying."

"I know."

I hate that he's proud of it.

"See you later."

He kisses my cheek again.

Still nothing.

I wave goodbye and head toward the office.

⸻

The second I walk into my mom's office, I know exactly what this is about.

She's staring at her computer.

Not a good sign.

"Hi, Mom."

"Malia."

Yep.

Definitely not a good sign.

She turns her monitor toward me.

I look at the screen.

Ninety-two.

I stare at it for a second.