Luke
I slid into Mr. Brooks' physics class just before the bell and took my regular seat at the back lab table. Rachel had been sitting with me since the other day when she asked me for tutoring, but she wasn't in the room at all. I furrowed my brow; Rachel was never late to class, and I know I saw her today. I had missed AP Euro and lunch because I was working on the mural for Mr. Sanders' art class, but I assumed I'd see her here.
Mr. Brooks looked around the room as he took roll, but when he got to Rachel's name, he frowned.
"Anyone seen Ms. Cross today?" he asked.
"Yeah, I saw her in the cafeteria this morning," someone said from the back of the room.
"Maybe she signed out early." He shrugged. "I'll check with attendance later." He finished roll, and I heard whisperings at the table next to me.
"I saw her leave out the back door with Miles Jefferson during lunch," the girl next to me whispered to her lab partner.
My eyes widened, but I didn't look over. I wanted to listen without alerting them.
"What?" the other girl asked. "Rachel Cross left with Miles Jefferson?"
"Yeah, I'm Coach Davidson's student assistant 5th period, and he had me picking up trash around the fieldhouse. I saw them running out the back door and to Miles' Jeep. I guarantee you if you go outside now, her car will be here and his won't."
"Wow, who would've thought?"
I was dumbstruck. Rachel didn't seem like the type to skip school, and to do it with Miles Jefferson just made it even stranger. I wondered if Brooke knew, and I wished I had her phone number.
I listened to Mr. Brooks drone on about laws of motion for the next forty minutes, and when the last bell rang, I shot out of my seat and into the hallway, looking for Brooke. I looked for a minute, then I saw her coming down the hall, waving at someone. I looked around and realized she was waving at me. I could get used to this, I thought.
"Hey, Luke!" she exclaimed, throwing her arm around my shoulders.
I couldn't help but smile. "Hello, Brooke. How was your day?" I asked, not wanting to jump right into Rachel's illicit tryst with the devil.
"Eh, it was all right. Have you seen Rachel today?" she asked, and I knew then that she had no idea.
"I did this morning, but she didn't show up to 7th period," I said, watching her face out of the corner of my eye.
"Really. Well, she wasn't at lunch either. Just where in the hell is she?"
I twisted my mouth as I opened the door for her and we stepped out into the sun. "I heard she skipped the second half of the day," I began.
"Skipped? Rachel Mae Cross skipped school?" Her voice was raising decibels, and I held a finger to my lips.
"Shh, Kane, calm down," I said, unable to keep the mirth out of my voice.
"You don't understand, Salazar, this is huge. I have asked Rachel to ditch so many times in the last four years, and she has turned me down cold every damn time. What would make her skip today?"
"I think I know the answer to that."
"You do?"
I nodded.
"Well then tell me, you ass!" she exclaimed, bumping me with her shoulder.
"Rumor has it that she skipped during lunch with Miles Jefferson," I said, hating the way those words rolled off my tongue.
Brooke's face went from shocked to amused in one second flat. "Miles?" she exclaimed before bursting out laughing.
"What's so funny?" I asked, shocked at her reaction.
"You don't see the irony here?" she asked, hopping up on the short brick wall that surrounded the parking lot.
I jumped up next to her, straddling the wall so I could face her. "No, I don't. Why don't you enlighten me?"
She swung one leg over the other side of the wall so we were facing each other. "Here's the irony: I have spent so many lunch periods trying to convince her that Miles Jefferson is hotter than he is douchey, and she's spent even more time trying to convince me you're cooler than you are weird. And look who ends up hanging out?" She held her hands up in a dramatic shrug.
I smirked.
"What?" she inquired putting her hands on her hips.
"Well, Alanis, that isn't ironic," I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
"How is that not ironic?"
"If you were both convincing each other, then this is what you would expect to happen, right? So it wouldn't really be ironic, just a turn of events."
She turned her head to the side and put her tongue in front of her lower teeth, jutting out her lip. "Wow, thanks for the English lesson, O. Henry," she said, kicking my foot with hers.
I laughed. "Sorry, I call 'em as I see 'em."
She threw her head back and groaned. "You know what I mean, Luke."
"Yeah, yeah...I know what you mean. It is funny when you think about it."
She leaned forward, her brown eyes glittering. "I wonder what they're doing," she hissed, wiggling her eyebrows.
My stomach lurched. "I don't want to know, Brooke," I said, my good mood slipping away. I hopped off the ledge and started walking to my car.
"Ugh!" I heard her exclaim behind me. "Wait, Luke, I was just kidding!" She jogged to catch up to me.
"It's fine, Brooke. I know Rachel doesn't like me that way," I said, and I felt my heart sink at my own words.
Brooke put her hand on my shoulder and turned me around to face her. "Maybe she will, maybe she won't...But I can promise you that someone will."
Right then, my phone rang. It was my mom. "Brooke, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" I turned and ran to my car, desperate to make sure my mom was okay.
Brooke
I looked after him and muttered to myself, "Or maybe someone already does."
I walked to my car and got in, but before I started it, I lay my head against the steering wheel. What in the hell was going on? Was I crushing on Luke Salazar? How was this possible? I hated to admit that Rachel was right, yet again, about how cool he was.
And if I knew Miles...and I was sure I did, whatever was going on wasn't innocent.
I decided I'd text her just to see where she said she was.
Hey Rach, where are you?
At the beach down by St. Andrews.
Oh, okay. Have fun! xx
I wondered if she was with Miles... only one way to find out.
Miles
I checked my watch and saw it was 3:10. "Hey, school just got out," I said, laughing.
Rachel looked over at me and smiled. "And we've been out here on the beach for 3 hours already." Stretched out on a wooden chair, her feet bare and her tank top falling off her shoulder, I stared at her, taking in her beauty.
She glanced at me and laughed. "Why are you staring at me?" she asked, pulling her strap back into place.
"Because you're beautiful."
Her cheeks flushed a deep scarlet. "Oh, Miles, I am not," she muttered.
I walked toward her and dropped to my knees in the sand next to her chair. She looked down at me, her cheeks still pink.
I reached up and pushed her hair off her forehead, the breeze blowing it back over her shoulders.
"Never say that again," I whispered, my fingers tangled in the ends of her hair.
"Say what?" Her voice was barely audible over the crashing of the waves.
"That you aren't beautiful...because it's just not true." She protested, but I put my finger to her lips. "You're gorgeous, and that you're sitting here and denying it makes you even more beautiful," I said, and at the risk of scaring her off again, I slid my finger off her lips and moved to sit right next to her on the edge of the chair. I leaned toward her, putting my hand on her neck. I felt my heart pounding, and I could feel her pulse racing. She leaned toward me, eyes closed—
"What in the actual fuck?" Brooke's loud voice shattered the moment, and we jumped away from each other, standing up on opposite sides of the chair. With an impish grin, she asked, "Just what is going on here?"
Rachel's face paled. "I-uh-nothing, we were just..."
Finally, we looked at each other and just shrugged at Brooke.
Her mouth dropped open, and she clasped her hands together. "Are you guys together?" she squealed.
"What?"
"No!" we said at the same time.
"We're not together, Brooke...we've just...had a confusing day," I finished. It wasn't a lie.
"Well, it looked like you were together," she said, putting a hand on her hip.
"Well, we aren't, Brookie. Just leave it alone, okay?" Rachel pleaded.
Brooke pursed her lips, and as much as I could tell she wanted to press the issue, she didn't.
"Thanks, Brooke," Rachel said, giving her a quick smile. Then she looked at me. "Miles, can you take me back to my car?"
"Of course." I gave Brooke a cursory nod. "Nice to see you, Brooke."
"You too, Jefferson," she said, and the smirk hadn't left her face.
Rachel and I began our walk to my Jeep, and Brooke went the opposite direction.
The ride back to school was excruciatingly awkward. I felt like we had left this giant unfinished hole in our afternoon, thanks to Brooke. But she had broken the spell. Now wasn't the time to recreate that moment.
But that time would come. I just hoped it was sooner rather than later.
Because after the way she'd been there for me today, I was falling for her—and falling hard.