Carolina Wren

Chapter 14

Wren's POV

We were only ten minutes into history class when Victor pulled his phone from his pocket, glanced at the screen, and promptly stood up from his seat, making a hasty exit from the trailer in the middle of Mr. Morris' lecture. Mr. Morris glared at him but didn't say a word before falling back into the rhythm of his lecture. I was floored. Twice in one day, one of these boys had stood up in the middle of class and left like it wasn't a big deal at all, without a teacher even arguing the point.

I knew chaos was the name of the game in this school. It was only the second day, but I had already noticed a trend of shoving and yelling in the hallway, as well as kids falling asleep in class. I'm sure it would only get worse from here, but the boys had seemed to be more respectful than that.

When Mr. Morris released us to work on our assignment, I turned in my seat and eyed North. He looked unconcerned as he started scribbling answers on a piece of notebook paper. I was momentarily distracted by the way his dark eyelashes cast soft shadows on his cheeks. It's unfair that boys always get the pretty, perfect eyelashes without even having to try. Regaining my senses, I ask quietly, "Why did Victor leave?"

Dark brown eyes lifted to meet my gaze. He lacks the wariness that Kota had earlier but I can tell he's more alert than usual. "Mr. Blackbourne needed him for something."

"In the middle of class?" I asked, disbelief clear in my voice. "Why couldn't he just do whatever it was during lunch? He was outside the door to my class with Mr. Blackbourne right after third period."

North sighed, leaning back in his seat as he dropped his pen before running his hands through his hair. "Baby, it probably came up at the last minute. Everything is fine, I promise you."

"Why did he leave, though? And why didn't teachers say anything to him or Luke?"

"They have permission from Mr. Blackbourne, baby. The teachers know that. They've all been made aware."

That answered absolutely nothing at all. Why would a teacher who was also an administrator, text one of his students in the middle of class to leave? And why would the school be okay with it? Were all seven of them granted this permission to leave without a word of explanation to their teacher? It was weird.

We were both frowning at each other. I wanted to know what was going on and North was too stubborn to tell me. I know secrets better than anyone. I respect the need to keep things to yourself, that not everything is meant to be shared, but this is so bizarre. Nothing I can think of explains why they need to hide it, though.

"North Taylor and Wren Nelson," Mr. Morris called out, the class snickering as North's face turned red and I whipped back around to face the front of the room. "Is there a problem that you would like to share with the class? Something we might be able to help you with?"

I shook my head numbly, a few students risking a full laugh as North growled out, "No, sir. Everything's fine. Wren just had a question about our assignment."

"You can flirt on your own time. Do your work," Mr. Morris said, the rest of the class dissolving into giggles now as I sank into my seat, wishing I could hide.

I don't speak to North again and all I can do is spare a smile for the kind but silent Greek waiting for us by the door to the main building after class is over. Attention isn't something that I've ever craved and having people stare at me over a suggestion that North and I might be flirting is mortifying. Part of me is worried that he might think I was interested in flirting. A smaller, but still vocal, part of my brain was embarrassed that he might think that I believe it's an awful idea.