Only Fools

Chapter Thirty Five

"Oh, fuck that," I say with an eye roll as I watch yet another girl walk into class with a lovesick smile on her face and an early Valentine's Day gift in her hands.

"Angry that others are happy again?" Margot asks from behind me.

"It's the 13th. Valentine's Day is tomorrow. On this fine specimen of a day, we should be commemorating the date that we collectively named unlucky as a Western culture, Friday the 13th,"

"I don't think commemorate's the right word. Maybe ignore and hope nothing bad happens...."

"You see, that's strange because I feel the same way about Valentine's Day,"

"And that has nothing to do with you being single?"

"Hell nah. Seventeen years and still going strong. They can't break me with their stuffed bears and cheap chocolate,"

"Who's they?" Margot asks me. I pause for a second, not having realized what even came out of my mouth.

"All my suitors?" I respond, though it's more in the form of a question.

"Oh yeah. You mean the imaginary ones lining up out the door," Margot says as she nods her head as if understanding me.

"Of course I do. But they're all getting jealous right now because I'm talking to you. They think you're gonna steal me away," I reveal to her.

"Oh. So I have a chance?" Margot asks me with a wink.

"No. I believe I said that the suitors think you have one," I remind her. Margot just shakes her head at me as I turn back around in my seat, my cheeks flaring up due to the way the conversation ended. What the fuck.

It's been nearly a week since the night of the Coming Home dance. Consequently, it's then also been nearly a week since Margot and I....

The image of Margot pinned underneath me flashes through my mind and my stomach does a flip. The picture is still crystal clear, as if my brain took a snapshot of the moment so that it could be kept forever. Her curls were splayed out on the floor like a crown encircling her head. Her eyes were wide from the shock of being tackled, but eventually softened as they locked with mine. Her lips were slightly parted as she let out heavy breaths and despite that, she was extremely still beneath me, frozen in place. But we both were. The hesitancy was deafening. And that's the moment that's stuck in my mind.

And yet I can't help but wonder what would've happened if I leaned in a little further, if my lips touched hers. Butterflies erupt in my stomach at the thought and for some reason I push myself to think further. What if she had responded to my kiss and began to move her lips against mine? My hands would move so that my fingers would get tangled in her hair. She would loosely wrap her hands around my waist, but she would use her grip to hold me in place if I tried to pull away. When we'd pull away for air, she'd flip us over so that she would hover over top of me and send me a smirk that would make me feel lucky that I was lying down as my knees would immediately buckle if I had been standing. Margot would then go back and place another kiss on my lips, but it would only be a peck as she would move over to my jaw and then my neck and-

As I turn around in my seat to glance at Margot, she sends me a small smile that I don't even hesitate to return and the way my cheeks heat up as I turn around is something that's completely out of my control.

Shit.

————

"Code pink. Code fucking pink,"

"What?" Naomi asks me as she looks up from untying her cheer shoes as she sits on the locker room bench.

"Did I say the wrong color?" I ask her, tilting my head as I try to recall what each of the colors actually mean for the codes that Naomi and I came up with freshman year.