Art Class With My Enemy

Chapter Thirteen

Gage finished his shower rather quickly, considering we were supposed to meet our parents in the lobby at eleven and it was already close to ten thirty. He came out of the bathroom dressed from the waist below, his faded jeans lowly hugging his hips while his toned chest glistened with water drops from his shower. Wait, why was I staring at him?

I quickly turned away and busied myself with packing my suitcase. Stupid hormones; obviously they were the reason why I was checking him out. It's not like I was attracted to Gage anyway, just his body, perhaps.

Luckily he put a shirt on and started packing his own suitcase in silence. I shoved all my clothes in my own, not even caring that they weren't folded as neatly as when I originally packed them. I probably should've cared though, since I couldn't shut it enough to zipper it.

"Stupid thing!" I mumbled, trying to zip it shut while sitting on it. When I couldn't do both at once, I pitifully faced Gage, who was looking at me curiously, already finished packing.

"A little help here?" I asked with a sheepish smile.

He rolled his eyes as if he expected me to ask him for help. He took a few strides toward me and crouched down to zipper my suitcase while I was still sitting on it. He leaned closely so his face was only inches from mine, though he focused on the zipper. Once he got it zippered all the way, he looked into my eyes, still not moving away.

For some odd reason, instead of yelling at him and pushing him away from me, I was frozen as I gazed into his dark blue eyes. When I looked into his eyes, it was almost as if I was looking into the same blue eyes as the young Gage I once knew very well. I used to know every characteristic of the young boy he was, almost as if I had spent every minute of every day memorizing his features. However, his kind eyes, joyous smile, and other features he had then were lost when he became the jerk I know today.

I don't know how long we didn't move or say anything, but our silent trance was broken once we heard knocking at the door. Gage blinked and shook his head before swiftly leaving to answer it. Meanwhile, I still remained sitting on my suitcase, utterly confused at what just happened.

"Why are you sitting on your suitcase?" Harlow asked suspiciously, though she was clearly amused.

"I, uh, couldn't shut it," I said, getting up. "Are you feeling better?"

Harlow nodded. "Yeah, I guess it was just food poisoning," she replied, while out of nowhere Mason came into my view as he tackled me onto the bed in a hug.

"I missed you, babe!" he exclaimed, rolling around on the bed as he hugged me tightly.

"I missed you too, but you're kind of choking me," I laughed.

He stopped rolling around, instead grinning down at me. "Sorry, cupcake."

I rolled my eyes playfully. "You're still on me, therefore I still can't breathe."

"Are you calling me fat, cutie pie?" he asked, feigning hurt.

"Maybe," I teased.

"You love me the way I am though, right baby?" he replied. I had to laugh at him. What's with the excessive use of pet names, anyway? Mentally shrugging, I decided I'd just go along with it. Mason was always like this, though usually it was toned down slightly.

"Of course I love you, Cookie," I joked.

"Cookie? You couldn't think of anything better?" he replied, smiling.

I shook my head. "Nope."

After a huff from Gage, he interrupted us. "We should go down to the lobby now." And with that comment, he grabbed his duffle bag and left the room, not even waiting for us to follow.