Untimely Love (Book 3)

♤Chapter 44♤

Darwin tapped relentlessly against the tabletop. I could read a whole book with music blasting in my ears but the tapping was getting to me. Usually, I would have music on but I forgot my AirPods today.

I glared at his hand, then glanced at his face. Obviously, he didn't have anything to do because he was glancing around the library aimlessly, curly hair in his eyes and lips pursed.

Darwin and I hadn't hung out since we last did. Which was the party at Jared's last year. I hadn't told him what happened between me and Jared because shit had gone up in flames after that. I suspect he had a clue though because Jared didn't stop by the library anymore when we had study sem and we didn't talk to each other in general.

When I'd stopped talking to everyone, the only explanation I had for Darwin then was that I'd lost someone. It hadn't been an entire lie. He understood that, and for months I'd sat alone. I didn't remember what exactly I did all those times, mostly stare out the floor-to-ceiling windows for most of the period.

One day we started sitting together again. We didn't talk, but we acknowledged each other. Sometimes he'd invite me to things that I politely declined.

I learned not too long ago the signs of anxiety. Finger tapping was one of them. Usually, I let people fidget as much as they wanted because so did I. But this was getting on my last damn nerve.

"Dar?"

He jerked, turning his slightly widened eyes on me. His reaction was a bit dramatic in my opinion.

I glanced at his hand briefly. He'd stopped, but I still had to ask the question. "You okay?"

A moment passed where we stared at each other.

"Oh, yeah," he stuttered, nodding. "Yeah, yeah, my bad."

That response was farthest from okay but I didn't push it. I went back to my book.

A second later, he started tapping again.

I closed my eyes for a moment, breathing evenly. When I opened them, I marked my page and closed the book.

"What is it?" I didn't know what the problem was but there had to be one.

He gave me that look again. Was it really that shocking that I was talking?

"Seriously?" I retorted. His expression turned sheepish. "What?"

He thought about it for what felt like forever. When he leaned in and began explaining, the words were fast and I could hardly make them out until I realized...

"Are you speaking to me in Spanish, right now?"

He apologized. In Spanish. Pressed my lips together.

"Sorry," he said again. "I know you don't go out much." He sounded so hesitant that the humor in the situation faded quickly. "It wouldn't feel right not to ask."

I nodded. "Okay."

"I don't know if you wanna go to prom," I could tell he was gauging my reaction to the last word, "but I'm going with some friends—as a group thing—and we got an extra ticket..."

It was the last full week of classes for seniors, but every day there was a new activity. I didn't know the specifics of each day, but there were talks of waterslides and a huge luncheon on the lawn outside the cafeteria.

What I was sure about was this Friday being prom. I'd forgotten it was a thing until I came in today and kids kept talking about it in classes. Dresses, makeup, suits, and ditching school to get done up. It was too last minute for me. Plus I had work and therapy and appointments. And finals started next week. I just didn't wanna go too.