When Candi grabbed the hammer I thought for sure we were about to witness Alex McCoy get his head bashed in. Instead she pointed it at him, scaring him a little.
The boy's blue eyes widened as his gaze shifted between Candi and the hammer pressed against his chest. Students gathered around, phones out just in case anything crazy happened.
"Touch my hair again and I'll make it impossible for you to jack off." Candi's words were like venom, making him flinch. The class snickered.
"Y-you hear this, Mr. B?" Alex whimpered, his eyes never leaving the hammer.
"All I heard was that you don't know how to keep your hands to yourself." Mr. Barton's shrug made everyone but Alex laugh. "Candice, you don't want to ruin your nice sweater with brain matter. Put the hammer down."
She did as she was told and everyone settled back into their seats, preparing to watch a video on making chairs.
Mr. Barton used that time to work on stuff in his office. That meant no one was focused on the video and instead whispering about Halloween costumes.
Normally around that time of year Bee would be teasing people about her upcoming party. Due to her being grounded indefinitely there was no party. At least not a typical Bianca Sackler party. I'm sure someone, somewhere was having a party.
"What are you two dressing up as?" Hannah directed that question to Nolan and me.
The two of us shared a glance, unsure of how to answer. We never discussed costumes. Which was ridiculous considering Halloween was that Saturday.
"We don't know yet," I answered after a brief pause.
"Oh, you can do Mickey and Minnie," Candi suggest.
"Not if they want to win Cutest Halloween couple," Hannah countered. "Almost every couple is thinking of going as Mickey and Minnie. Or dressing up as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell."
"The school's having a costume competition?" I asked, suddenly intrigued. I didn't remember that being on the list of upcoming school events. When I looked over at Nolan his brow was furrowed I assumed he didn't either.
"Yeah, they added it after..." Hannah let her words trail off when Candi gave her a weird look.
"After what?" I asked, eyeing them curiously.
Hannah shifted in her seat, leaning in closer and lowering her voice. "It was Ana Lyons idea."
I leaned in as well, slightly amused she'd think I'd have a problem with her mentioning Ana. "Why are you whispering?"
Her dark eyes widened. "I just thought that since she's with your ex—"
An arm wrapped around my shoulders. I looked over, meeting Nolan's brown eyes. A slow smile crept across his face, making my heart rate spike.
"I don't think she's worried about her ex," he said confidently, his eyes never leaving mine.
He was right about that. However, I was worried about keeping sane for the next few months. Especially if he planned on looking at me the way he was now. Like I was the only person in the room, the only person that mattered.
Blood rushed to my cheeks. I bit down on the inside if my cheek to keep a grin from taking over my face.
"You two are cute," Candi cooed. "But not as cute as me and my boo will be."
I tore my eyes away from Nolan, turning to her, "What are your costumes?"
"Don't even bother asking," Hannah said. "She won't tell anyone."
Candi grinned triumphantly, twisting a kinky curl around her finger. "Just know it's first place material."
Considering the effort she put into her school outfits, I had no doubt about that.
* * *
After woodshop let out, Nolan and I began the trek to the parking lot. We'd usually be holding hands or something couple-like, but I've been trying to limit the amount of physical contact. Instead I'd pretend like I had very urgent text messages to reply to that required both hands.
If Nolan noticed me distancing myself, he didn't let on. "We're not doing the costume thing," he stated definitively.
"What if it's a really good prize?" I asked, now tapping at my phone with purpose.
The school's website loaded. The Halloween contest was front and center, announcing the date and time of the event as well as a list of categories and rules. Most importantly there was a list of prizes.
"Eh, the prize is just movie tickets," I said, shutting my phone off and dropping it into my purse.
"For what movie?" He actually seemed interested.
I shrugged, not remembering the title. "Don't know. Something that looked really bloody."
"Those are my favorite kind of movies." I shot him a look and he chuckled, smoothly slipping his hand in mine.
Shit. I let my guard down for one second...
"Slasher flicks are hilarious," he continued. "We should go see it."
My pulse quickened at the thought of sitting alone with him in a dark theater. The Bellcreek Cinema was a notorious hook up spot. The dark rooms gave people the privacy needed to swap spit for two and half hours.
My entire face heated up as images of Nolan's lips on mine flashed in my mind. I wouldn't survive the night with him.
"For what?" I questioned, trying to sound calm despite the hammering in my chest. "Dates are only useful if people can see us," I reminded him, but mostly myself, that we us being together was only for show.
"Right." He agreed, running his fingers through his hair. "I'll just go alone."
Did he sound disappointed or was I hearing things? Maybe I wanted him to sound disappointed. Maybe I wanted to know if keeping real emotions out of a fake relationship was as hard for him as it was for me.
His face gave nothing away regarding his thoughts. Instead it was blank, void of any indication that his heart picked up pace whenever we touched, that he thought of me even when I wasn't around.
The fluttering in my stomach made me nauseous. I needed air that didn't smell like Nolan's cologne and unrequited love.
"I'll meet you out front," I said, pulling my hand from his. "I need to get some notes from Bee."
He nodded in agreement and I took off for Bee's locker. She was there, but she wasn't alone. As I approached Gia was leaving, rambling on about candy corn until she rounded a corner. How did she talk to so much without taking a breath? I was winded just listening to her.
"I don't think I can do this, Bee." I pressed my back against the cool metal locker next to here. "I think I might actually like Nolan. Or at the very least I want to kiss him. Like, really want to kiss him."
"And it's only October." She frowned sympathetically. Well, she tried to. An uncontrollable grin won over her face.
I blinked. Here Bee was, freshly eighteen with nothing but a family dinner to show for it. Yet she smiled like she'd won the lottery.
"What are you so happy about?" I asked suspiciously. Looking in the direction the talkative blonde went I added, "Does it have to do with Gia?"
"She's throwing a party on Saturday," Bee said, practically glowing. "And guess who's the guest of honor?"
I folded my arms over my chest, narrowing my eyes at her. "Bee, you can't let her throw you a party? You complain about how annoying she is all the time."
"Only when she talks," she defended. After a pause she added, "Which is always..."
"Karma is going to have fun with you."
"Karma can suck it! I deserve to have my birth celebrated with underage drinking and slutty angel costumes." There was a determined look in her green eyes. She wasn't backing out of whatever plan she and Gia concocted.
"But, just to get karma off my back, I'll pay it forward," she declared. "We'll take it old school. Seven minutes in heaven." My brows raised, not following along. "You, Nolan, locked in a closet for seven unadulterated minutes."
My jaw dropped, face burning at the very inappropriate images that played out in my head. I shook my head, shaking away the thoughts as well.
"Bee, you're missing the point." I groaned, banging my head against the locker. "I can't have feelings for him. Not when there's an expiration date. I can't deal with having someone else walk out of my life."
The smile on her face faltered, here wide eyes sympathetic. "In that case, do what I do with Gia. Fixate on his flaws." she suggested. "Like how he always picks his nails during lunch or the fact that he desperately needs a haircut."
"No he doesn't!" I snapped. The back of my neck burned as a few straggling students gave me looks.
The most discerning glance came from Bee. "Wow. You got it bad."
"That's what I've been trying to tell you." I buried my face in my hands. "How do I make it stop?"
"Sorry, J. But the heart wants what it wants."
As I walked to the parking lot to meet up with Nolan my mind was going a mile a minute. I tried to think of flaws. Two months ago I would've had a full list. Now, what should've been turn offs were more like bonuses.
Sure, his pouting when told to do something even remotely couple-like was annoying at first, now it's kinda cute. His sarcasm made me laugh and his eye rolls were adorable. Even his death trap of a motorcycle grew on me.
Bee was right. I had it bad. As if knowing that wasn't enough, my heart had to prove it by skipping a beat when he came into view.
The way he leaned against the sleek black motorcycle, his golden hair falling over his shoulder. I wanted to run my fingers along the sharp edges of his jaw.
"Jade!"
I started out of my daydream at the sound of Nick's voice. He jogged over to me, a familiar yellow bunny in his hand.
"You left this in my car," he said. "Well, I guess Taylor left it."
He had been giving me rides all week. Taylor particularly loved the car rides because he had an iPad that she could use to listen to those annoying kid song over and over.
"Thanks." I smiled, taking the bunny from him and stuffing it in my bag. "I thought she'd lost it at daycare."
"It was under the seat," he told me. He lingered a bit, as if he wanted to say something else. Thinking better of it, he said, "Anyways, I will see you at work."
"Yeah," I agreed.
When I reached Nolan he handed me a helmet, his already placed firmly on his head shielding his face. We did the usual routine of going to his house for the minivan then going to Mrs. Coleman's to pick up Taylor. After we dropped off Taylor he took me to the market. Before I could climb out of the car he stopped me.
"You need me to pick you up after work?"
He hadn't offered before. I never asked because I was trying to keep our time together minimal. That was still a good idea considering everything.
"No, that's fine."
"It's no problem," he insisted. "I'm not doing anything."
Except driving me completely insane.
"No, really. I'm good."
He stared at me, long and hard for a moment, his jaw clenched. "Don't want to miss your rides with Nick Grice?"
The accusation in his voice took me off guard. A part of me wanted to believe he was jealous. I knew better. His hatred towards Nick had nothing to do with me.
"He's talking with you to get to me," he said. The way his eyes darkened scared me.
"It's just a ride."
"It's more than that." He turned his body towards me, his eyes boring into mine. "Trust me." His words sounded so desperate I almost gave in.
Then I remembered what Bee said about flaws. The one flaw of Nolan's I didn't find attractive was his secrets. The way he managed to get around letting me into his world. He still hadn't even invited me into his house, forcing me to wait in the garage while he changed or peed or whatever he did.
If I was going to give Nick the cold shoulder I at least wanted to know why. So I asked.
"It doesn't matter." Was his response.
"If it doesn't matter why can't I talk to him?"
He ran a hand over his face, groaning with irritation. "Jade, just trust me on this. Please?"
"Unless you can give me a valid reason not to, I'll be taking my rides from Nick."
"Why are you being so damn stubborn?"
I scoffed. "I'm stubborn? You won't even answer a simple question." His mouth clamped shut, clearly not willing to give up any information.
A heavy, tension filled silence fell among the car. After a moment Nolan broke it.
"Why did he give you that toy in the parking lot?"
My brow creased. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Think about. He could've given that to you at any time during the day or waited until your shift started," he pointed out. "But he waited until you were in the parking lot, where I could see. I don't know what his game is, but he's definitely playing one. And I don't want you caught in the middle of it."
I asked for a reason and he gave me one. It was valid, too. Nick and I had two classes together. He had plenty of chances to give me Taylor's toy, yet he waited.
"Fine," I said, opening the car door. "My shift ends at seven."