“Day forty-three,” I whispered as I turned the corner of the hallway, ignoring curious glances. “Breton is nowhere to be found. Mission: Find the bad boy.” I began humming the Mission Impossible theme song as I darted through the hallways, checking the back staircase, the library, the cafeteria, and the gym for Breton.
“Day forty-three, continued,” I said in a hushed tone as I peered around a bookcase. “Re-checking the library. Something feels a bit fishy.”
I army-crawled past Ms. Scott’s desk. She wasn’t in today, and apparently no one could substitute. After checking to see if the coast was clear, I dashed madly towards my corner hideaway. As I suspected, the door was cracked open.
“The fort has been breached,” I whispered in alarm. “Checking it out now.” I crept closer, finally grabbing the handle and peeking into the corner.
“Empty,” I sighed and stepped inside. “I thought for sure-“
“Boo!”
“Ah!” I screamed, jumping into the air and whirling around, bringing my hands up to attack position.
“Hey, Georgie,” Breton grinned.
“Aha! Found you!” I cried triumphantly.
“No, I found you!” he argued.
“I was supposed to be looking for you!” I told him loudly.
“No,” he said, “I was definitely looking for you.”
“Breton, you were the one hiding in my secret fort! Obviously, I was supposed to be looking for you!” I insisted.
“No, I only came in here because I thought this is where you would be hiding,” he told me.
“Stop telling me no,” I complained.
“Sorry, darling,” he apologized, stepping forward to kiss my forehead.
“Darling?” I inquired.
“What?” His eyes widened in shock.
“You called me darling,” I teased, delighted by his expression.
“I d-did not,” he stammered.
“Yes, you did,” I said.
“No,” he countered.
“Yes,” I crowed. “You called me darling! Breton Joel called me darling!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he claimed, crossing his arms and looking away as his cheeks turned red.
“Aww, he’s blushing!” I sighed. “That is so adorable.”
He turned to argue with me, but I kissed him before he could say anything.
“No takesies-backsies!” I chirped, backing away. “You were blushing.”
“If it gets me another kiss, I’ll also admit I called you darling,” he grinned.
“No, no,” I scolded, “bad Breton.”
He pouted, then grinned. “You’re so beautiful.”
Now I blushed.
“What’s that?” he asked with an exaggerated gasp. “Is Georgie blushing?”
I scowled, causing him to laugh and hug me close to his side.
“Alright, no more teasing,” he said.
“Good,” I huffed.
“So, now that we ruined our game of hide-n-seek, how else should we spend our free period?” he wondered as we sat down on the bean bag. Since there was only one, I had to sit in his lap.
“Truth or dare?” I suggested.
He shook his head. “Never again.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” I cried.
“You dared me to lick a swing!”
“Maybe I can see your point,” I surrendered. “So what do you think we should do?”
“Hmm. Well, lunch is next period. Maybe we should do something in the lunch room,” Breton proposed.
I thought about it, then announced that it was a good idea. “Let’s go!”
Breton and I don’t have any classes together, and usually only see each other at lunch or in the hallways during passing time. But today, Mr. Toms awarded me with a FREE PASS from any one class of my choice. Since Breton coincidentally had a free period right before lunch, I took that class off so we could do something together.
As we entered the lunch room, I was surprised to see it empty. “Where is everyone else who has free period right now?” I wondered.
“Probably outside, enjoying the weather before it gets cold,” Breton answered. “Or maybe hiding in a dark corner of the school making out.” He raised his eyebrows at me.
“No,” I said.
“Fine,” he sighed, face dropping in disappointment.
I grinned, knowing he was just teasing me, and quickly kissed his cheek. “Come on, let’s go find something to do!”
We sat down at every table, helped the janitor sweep the floor, cleaned a few of the windows, and ran around the room five times. Fifteen minutes before the bell would ring, Breton got up on a table and proceeded to sing “I Love My Lips” from Silly Songs with Larry, a Veggie Tales segment. I applauded, standing up to give him a standing ovation. To my great joy, the lunch ladies had entered sometime during the song and clapped for him too. Breton took a bow and jumped down from the table.
“Fabulous,” I told him, “absolutely fabulous.”
“Thank you,” he replied, bowing again.
“I think you mean, ‘thank you darling’,” I corrected.
He was still chasing me around the room ten minutes later when the students began to file in for lunch. Luckily, we were the first in line. I had brought my lunch of course, but Breton didn’t, and I needed my milk anyway. Because of Breton’s performance, the lunch ladies gave us both a free cookie.
“Thank you!” we chorused.
“Darling,” I added quietly, so no one could hear. Breton gave me a look, as though he suspected, which made me giggle, but he didn’t say anything.
“I can’t believe it’s been forty-three days since we met,” I said as we set our lunches on my table.
“I can’t believe we met because you were talking to yourself while you were locked in a closet,” he retorted, sitting across from me.
“I can’t believe you kicked down the door,” I countered.
“I can’t believe you thought I was Superman. And then that I would kill you when you found out I wasn’t a superhero,” he told me.
“You kicked down the door,” I repeated.
“Fair enough,” he laughed.
We enjoyed our lunch in silence, or as much silence as there is in a busy cafeteria full of teenagers. Peter was sitting with Hayley, Donna, JB, Frank, Chris, and the triplets, while Dallas and Lucas were off somewhere else doing something else.
When the bell rang we threw out our trash and Breton kissed my cheek in goodbye as we went to our separate classes.
Finally, school ended, and I met Breton in the parking lot next to his car as usual.
“If I ever get a car,” I told him, “I’m buying yours from you.”
“Why not get your own that’s the exact same?” he asked.
“I want this one,” I said simply.
“The only way you’re getting my car is if we share it,” he replied.
“That works for me,” I said. “Now hand me the keys.”
He laughed and said, “You haven’t bought it from me yet.”
“Because we’re going to share it!” This made perfect sense to me, why did he not understand the concept of sharing?
“Not until I get some form of payment,” he insisted.
“That’s not how sharing works,” I informed him.
“It is when you’re sharing a car. I own it, so if you want half of it you half to pay for half of it,” he retorted.
“Fine!” I threw my hands up, giving in. “Once I get a job, I’ll save up the money so that I can buy half of your car.”
“Which half?” he asked with a grin.
“The front half,” I answered smartly, “so that I can drive while you sit in the back.”
~~
The song Breton performs is on the side, if any of you are at all curious. ;) My childhood over there.
I have great news for all of you who are sad the book is ending: I have written an epilogue. The book is still ending, but there's an epilogue now! Yay!
Also, I'm thinking about entering this story into the Watty's. Thoughts?
Comment, vote, and spread the word! :D