Healing Gabriel (BoyxBoy)

✖ Chapter Thirty-Six ✖

      "How am I being immature? You're the one who refused to do anything about your throat until your mom finally had to come to the rescue."

      "Seriously? You're going to start this now?"

      The look on his face told me that he was getting caught between aggravated and exasperated. I hesitated, simply staring at his handsome face, a face I didn't want to be annoyed at me. "No," I sighed after a moment, slouching in my seat. "I'm not going to start this now. Sorry."

      He sighed, too (not without coughing, of course), the expression on his face losing some of the fierceness, the usual tender look in his light brown and golden speckled eyes returning. "Don't be sorry. It's fine." He reached over the table and cupped my cheek. I blushed and scooted my barstool backwards, out of reach.

      "Nobody's looking," he said with a benevolent smile, his arm still outstretched, fingers curling slightly inwards. When I still made no advance towards him, his smile fell, just like his hand, which he dragged back to his side. I felt bad of course, but I'd make it up to him later. I told him that, and he raised his eyebrows at me suggestively. My blush deepened.

      "Shut up," I whispered, staring down at my hands, trying to keep the smirk off my face because I didn't want to encourage him.

      "I didn't even say anything," he responded innocently, a laugh in his voice that he coughed out. I saw him take a sip from his water bottle before he spoke again. "Jurnee just texted me."

      "What'd she say?"

      "She told me to ask you if you could meet her after school. She said she wanted to talk to you about someone."

      I looked up, purrowing. "Someone?"

      He shrugged. "If you don't know, neither do I."

      I made a face and groaned. "I don't want to waste time after school. I want to go home. I forgot to feed my fish in the morning, and I don't want them to starve just because of something stupid."

      Evan was silent for a minute, thumbs typing out a quick message before hitting send. Not even fifteen seconds later, Jurnee responded. "She said that you're so cute, but it's not anything trivial. And she said that if your fish die she'll buy you new ones."

      I felt my face heat up from embarrassment instead of bashfulness. "You weren't supposed to tell her about the fish!"

      "Why not?"

      "Because, I sound like a four year old whenever I mention them."

      "Oh, please. You sound cute. You're so cute, you know that?"

      I covered my burning face with my hands. "No, I'm not."

      "Yes, you are. You're so adorable, and tiny, and you're like a little kitten," he teased good-naturedly. His compliments made me smile, despite the girly-ness.

      "Alright, whatever. Fine. Just tell her to put her phone away before she gets you in trouble."

      He rolled his eyes. "Please, teachers haven't cared about students using their cellphones in class since the nineteenth century."

      "Maybe that's because cellphones weren't around back then," a sudden voice from behind me said, sounding very adult-like and professional. I watched as the teacher appeared seemingly out of thin air next to Evan. We both stared up at him, but he kept his eyes on Evan with his hand held out expectantly. He then made a beckoning motion with his fingers, nodding at Evan's phone. Evan made a sour face, the type of face you'd make when you got caught and just wanted to groan in annoyance, and put the device in his hand. "You can have this back after class, Mr. Ricci."