Forgotten

Chapter 18: School Day

I apologize for the delay in updates. I recently found out that I can no longer drink caffeine... it sucks, and it means I have difficulty staying up late to write. :/

Anyways, here's the next update! 

Alex:

Cedric draped an arm over my shoulder as we headed from French to the cafeteria. I hoped none of the teachers would notice that I was walking through the halls with my shoes in my hand instead of on my feet. After nearly falling down a flight of stairs, and stumbling into an open locker, I had no desire to continue wearing these death traps. The morning had otherwise been uneventful, and even Mr. Creepy hadn't been in class today. I didn't want to be rude and, although I liked the physical contact, I wished Cedric would back off a little. I was starting to feel like I was in the fiery depths of hell, but I absolutely refused to remove the sweatshirt. With my luck, the teachers would take one look at my shirt and send me home.

I tried to discreetly move away, but Cedric pulled me closer so that we could move through the doorway without running into other kids. "Cedric?" I tried to make my voice as sweet as possible. I didn't want to upset him, I just wanted to stop sweating.

"What's up, Red?" He glanced down at me before looking back up to watch where he was going.

"Do we have to be quite so... close?" I hated the hesitation in my voice, but how did one ask a friend to back off without hurting their feelings?

"What do you mean?" His lip stuck out in a pout that made me feel like I'd just kicked his puppy.

I debated on what to say, but I finally decided to just be honest. "I normally wouldn't mind, but I'm really... warm?" My voice rose an octave with the last word, making it a question. I didn't mean to sound so uncertain.

"Then take your sweatshirt off."

He tugged the bottom hem of my sweatshirt up, but before he could get too far, I pulled it back down, "I'd really rather not."

"But-" His bottom lip came back out, only this time it trembled slightly.

"I'll sit next to you for lunch instead." I searched for some way to make him happy again without enduring the sweat that was dripping down my cleavage.

Once we got to our table, I pushed Cedric down into a seat and sat next to him. Paris was sitting across the table from us, and without looking up, he asked, "What's up with him?"

I glanced at him to see that he was talking about Cedric. "What do you mean?" I dropped into the seat next to Cedric. No one else was at the table yet.

"He looks like you just kicked his puppy."

My brow furrowed as I looked between them, "He looks fine to me."

Cedric's bottom lip came out as he moaned, "I'm not allowed to touch her anymore."

My cheeks felt hot, and I was sure they were bright red, especially after Kane dropped into the seat next to Paris and absently said, "Dude, that sounds wrong."

"Well, it's true!" Cedric shot back. Good Lord, if my cheeks were any hotter, I'd probably burst into flames.

Paris sighed, "Ric, not everyone is used to your touchy feely ways. You've got to give other people their space."

I scratched at the back of my neck as I answered, "I was just overheating. I'm pretty sure the shirt I have on under this is 'inappropriate' for school."