You Are the Shell to My Tortoise | ✓

63

The next day, Nolan was already, as usual, at his desk with his head down on his arms when I arrived at the classroom.

I couldn't help but smile as I walked towards him.

I was about to sit down next to my boyfriend.

Boyfriend.

That word, at least in relation to me, sounded so foreign and yet so thrilling.

The moment I approached my desk, he lifted up his head and smiled at me. Startled by his sudden action, I blinked several times at him.

"Morning," he said.

I started settling down in my seat. "Wait, weren't you asleep? Don't tell me I somehow woke you up."

"I was waiting for you," he said, and my heart almost stopped.

"What? Why?" I choked the words out, focusing on his nose instead of his eyes.

He shrugged. "Just wanted to greet you first thing in the morning."

My insides turned to mush. I had to struggle not to turn into a tomato right there and then. Why was he doing this to me?!

"That's nice of you," I managed to say. "Thanks."

Raising an eyebrow, he leaned a little closer to me. "Aren't you going to say it back?"

"What?"

"You know. 'Good morning.'"

"Oh, right. Good morning to you too, Nolan."

His green eyes were so warm as he grinned. I returned it with a tiny one of my own.

"Actually, shouldn't it be 'good night' since you're going to sleep now?" I asked.

"But it's the start of the day for you, which is why I said it. Okay, see you at the end of class," he said, lowering his head down to his folded arms on the desk.

He lay his head down facing away from me, so all I could see was his mop of short black hair.

Suddenly, I was filled with the urge to run my fingers through his hair.

At the realization of the numerous distractions that I'd have in the form of my new boyfriend Nolan in all my classes from now on, I sighed and forced myself to look away, desperately fighting down any signs of a blush.

For some reason, classes passed by really quickly today. It was a breeze to pay attention to what the teachers were saying, and the lessons were so much easier to absorb than they had been the past few days.

In a blink of an eye, it was time for lunch.

When I stood up from my chair, I found myself face to face with an expectant-looking Nolan.

"Um, hi," I said.

His gaze lingered on my face. "Hi."

"What ... what's up?"

"Do you want me to sit with you and your friends for lunch today?" he said, trailing after me as we left the classroom.

I couldn't believe that he was voluntarily offering to join us. As I beamed up at him, I could feel the sparkles in my eyes. It wouldn't be a surprise if he could see them, too.

Okay, so I probably should've expected this, considering that we were together now. But still!

"Can you?" I asked. "Will you be too tired afterwards?"

A half-grin lifted the corner of his lips. "Yeah, but I'm always going to be tired during the day. Don't worry about it. I can stay awake for a couple of hours with no real problems."