"HI," I hear a familiar voice murmuring behind me, interrupting me from getting my books from my locker.
Before I can turn around to smile at the person, arms wrap around my torso, bringing me into a strong chest.
It's been one day since Vaughn and I kissed and I'm still freaking the fuck out. I can't get it out of my head.
After he asked me on the date, we went back inside to find all the girls getting ready to leave to go back to the house. I hugged Vaughn goodnight while he kissed me on the forehead before the girls and I walked the short distance back to the house.
Right when we got through the door I was bombarded with questions, and after calming people down, I told them everything that happened.
They all were really happy for us but I still reminded them that we're not even officially together.
A small smile creeps across my face. I turn around and put my bag down on the floor beside my locker. Vaughn grins at me, his hands moving to catch mine in his, holding them.
"Hi," I breathed, my voice barely above a whisper, taking in his appearance.
He's wearing his usual white dress shirt, a few buttons undone with the sleeves rolled up. A snake wraps around his left hand, the ink sinking into his pale, smooth skin and highlighting it.
Vaughn's not wearing his tie today, the first button undone. He's got his usual black, dress trousers that all the boys have to wear with their uniforms, but on him, they look better for some reason.
His hair is just the way I like it, messy with dark strands falling randomly on his face, which he often has to brush back.
From the short distance between us, I can clearly see the various colors that make up my favorite feature of his, his green eyes.
Near the pupil are small specs of gold, while in his left iris there is a small part that's a completely different color than the rest. A light brown, that I probably wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been able to get this close.
He smirks, making me realize that he's caught me red-handed. But before I have time to think about my blushing cheeks, he starts to speak.
"I'll pick you up from your homeroom so we can walk to English together," Vaughn says as he tucks a stray strand that has gone loose from my ponytail. I nod, my smile still as present as ever.
"Have you done the French homework?" I ask, knowingly eyeing him up, he chuckles.
"Dina, you really think I'd actually do the homework this time?"
Dina.
"I don't even understand a single thing that woman says," he laughs to himself. I shake my head, a small smile playing on my lips.
"If you need help, just ask, okay? I'm a pretty good teacher if you didn't know." I slyly grin at him as I play with a button on his shirt.
"Okay, okay. I need help." I laugh.
"Oh, yeah. I know that." I tell him jokingly, to which he gives me a bored expression, making me giggle. "Okay, I'll tutor you. But first, you need to get the homework done. Ms. Samuels would be pissed if you didn't do it." He nods in agreement.
"Library at lunch?" He asks, I hesitate.
"Don't we have a free period after? Can't we just do it then?"
"Sure, if that's what you want?" I nod happily as I place my hands around his neck and start to play with his baby hairs.
"Yeah. But, I have to go to the Art department to start my piece for the summer auction. I'll just help you finish the questions and then we can plan when we'll start your sessions, okay?"
"Okay," Vaughn softly says before leaning his forehead on mine, making our noses touch.
"Yo, break it up lovebirds." I hear Xavier say from behind Vaughn. I laugh, slightly embarrassed.
"Shut up Xav, they're really cute," Bea says, gushing over how my arms are still wrapped around his neck. I become hyper-aware of his on my waist and feel my face heat up.
"Yeah, you're just jealous that no one in their right mind would go out with you, Hill." Summer laughs to herself as she looks down at her nails.
"I'll have you know, I have plenty of girls who are willing to go out with me." He smiles smugly at her, making her stumble a bit on her words. "Including you." He smirks at her making us all turn into wide-eyed idiots, waiting for something to happen.
"Keep dreaming, pretty boy," she rolls her eyes.
"You think I'm pretty?" He bats his eyelashes at her jokingly, I stifle a giggle. "Summer thinks I'm pretty," Xavier sings, making Summer turn a bright red color. In embarrassment or rage, I can't tell.
She stomps her foot like a child having a temper tantrum and walks off down the corridor to our homeroom.
After a few seconds of us just standing in the corridor in shock, with Xavier's jaw dragging across the floor, Teagan and Bea run off to go find her.
"What did I do?" Xavier whines to the boys, Sawyer, Eris, and me. Vaughn and Caspian chuckle.
"Nothing. You know how she gets sometimes." Sawyer tells him gently, with a small smile on her face that looks as if she's about to burst out laughing.
Vaughn turns back to me, making me forget about all our friends that are still around us. He grins.
"Come on, Ricci, let's get to class." He says, grabbing my hand and starts dragging me down the hallway.
"Hey, don't drag me!" I protest, hearing his deep laugh echo in the almost empty hallway.
I give him a light slap on the arm, my face showing my annoyance. "Hey!" Vaughn smiles.
"That's what you get when you don't listen to me."
"Oh, I'll always listen to you, Dina," his town turning lewd. "You look so cute when you're mad."
"Okay, stop that or no more of my kisses for you." I threaten, smiling to myself when he gasps dramatically.
"Too far," I laugh and peck him on the cheek when I realize that we've stopped outside of my homeroom.
He pulls me into a hug. Pulling apart, he quickly pecks my lips before following the boys to their classroom, leaving me alone in the hall.
❀
"Bonjour! Je m'appelle– and then you would obviously say your name." I sarcastically tell Vaughn as he glares at me. I try my best to keep my focus on my painting while also holding in my laughter.
"Adina, I'm not a fucking child. I know how to say my name, I'm not an idiot." He groans, I can't hold it back any longer. It starts as a little squeak, but I give up and start chuckling at his annoyed expression. "Stop it."
"You're so cute when you're mad." I mock him in a deep voice.
"Please. Just help me." He whines, silencing my laughter. I nod my head, trying my best to take him seriously.
"Okay, read out the questions and I'll try my best to answer them for you," I tell him as I begin drawing on my canvas.
And we stay like that for a whole period. Him looking down at his notebook while I try and help him out, also as I start my art piece.
By the end of the period, I have finished the sketch and started the base of my painting and Vaughn has successfully finished his homework.
"Can I see?" He excitedly asks. I roll my eyes with a smile playing on my lips.
"There's not much to see yet. But yeah, sure." He walks around to look at the not-even close-to-being-finished piece.
A few seconds pass of Vaughn standing behind me, tilting his head in silence, trying to figure out what it's supposed to be.
It's kind of hard to tell at the moment, it's just a bunch of lines that don't really look like anything yet, so what he says next is pretty much expected.
"What is it?" He asks softly, putting his hands on my shoulders and tracing circles on them.
I bite my lip. I haven't told anyone what I'm painting for my piece. Not because I don't trust my new friends, I do. It's just that I wanted to do something that means a lot to me.
If I want scouts to actually take an interest in my work, I need to do something that sticks out, something that I'm passionate about.
"It's gonna be my Mom and me," I whisper, but I know he can hear me when he goes around my stool and kneels beside me, placing his hand on my thigh.
I don't look at him, I keep my eyes on the painting. "It's a picture from when I was two... I just decided to paint it, I don't know." I shrug and look down at him. "I'm not really sure about it yet."
He studies my face. I give him a sad smile which leads him to stand up, he places my face in his hands and I lean into them.
"It's going to be beautiful." He whispers back before he leans down and kisses me.
It's soft and calm. Like he's trying to reassure me in some way. Like he's trying to take all of my grief and sadness away with just one kiss.
We don't deepen it, but it's slow. And by the end he rubs my nose with his, making me giggle. With one last peck he stands back up, but his hand is still on my cheek, rubbing soothing circles.
"Let's just hope I don't fuck it up." I laugh to myself, making him chuckle.