LIB

Chapter 13

          As I walked to Biology on Monday, I couldn’t help but be a little nervous. I knew that my friendship with Blake had changed over the weekend, but I wasn’t sure what he was going to be like in school. I had talked to him on the phone yesterday, and we had bantered back and forth, but I was still unsure of how he would act around me today.

            I walked into the classroom and took my seat beside him. “Morning,” I greeted him.

            He turned his head and gave me a small smile. “Morning,” he replied. He turned back to face the front.

            I frowned a little. “What, you don’t want to talk to me today?”

            He turned to me again. “What makes you think that?”

            I shrugged. “You just turned away from me right away.”

            “Did you have something in particular you wanted to talk about?”

            I let out a frustrated sigh. “No.”

            “Then what’s the problem?”

            “Nothing,” I grumbled, pouting a little.

            He chuckled quietly. “You’re pouting now, aren’t you?”

            I quickly made my face blank. “No,” I lied.

            The teacher chose that moment to come into the room, saving me from listening to Blake’s response. The class went by fairly quickly, which I was grateful for. We were supposed to start dissecting things soon and the thought caused me to shudder. I was going to have to find a way to get out of that one.

            After class, I grabbed my bag and linked my arm with Blake, but he refused to move. I looked at him questioningly. “Why aren’t we going?”

            He held out his free hand. “Give me your bag.”

            My brows furrowed. “Why?”

            He sighed. “Because I know it must hurt your back to carry that thing around. So give me the damn thing and I’ll carry it.”

            Wordlessly, I took my bag off my shoulder and handed it to him. He threw it over his shoulder and then waited until I had linked my arm with his again. We headed out of the classroom and down to his next class. Once we got there I led him back to his desk. He sat down in the chair and I hopped onto the desk. “I’m going to see Jake after school, but I’ll be at the park after that. Will you be there?”

            “What time?”

            “Probably just after five. Jared and Amanda will be with me, so we won’t stay there too long.”

            He laid his hand on my knee for a moment in a gesture of comfort. “I’ll be there. Just send me a text when you’re on your way back from the hospital.”

            I smiled. “Thanks.” I got off the desk. “I have to get to my class before I’m late. I’ll see you this evening.”

            “See you later.”

            I left his class and went to my own, just before the bell rang. I greeted Rachel and David and they both smiled at me.

            At lunch, Rachel nudged my arm. “Hey, do you and Jared want to come out bowling with us tonight?”