The Dating Game

SIXTEEN

"Chase, what are you trying to say?" I finally ask him. I suppose I should put him out of his misery and move the conversation along before his face gets so red he becomes a tomato.

"I just want to know your limits," he admits. "Your boundaries, you know? I don't want to cross any lines because I didn't ask beforehand."

Huh. That's actually kind of sweet. I almost didn't think that word could possibly be used to describe Chase.

"I think you know the basics, Matthews," I tell him with a crooked smile. "How about I let you know if something is off limits when we get there?"

He finally makes eye contact with me again. "Are you sure? Because-"

I grab his forearm–which is unexpectedly muscular, might I add–to reassure him. "Don't worry, I know the rules. I'm fine with it."

He looks up at me—actually, he looks down at me—and gives me this brand new smile that I've never seen before. Not a smirk, not a grin. It's a genuine smile that kind of says 'I'm glad' and it also kind of says 'I am extremely embarrassed'. His smile doesn't need to tell me that, though, because his red cheeks already do.

"Cool." He smiles.

"Cool." I return it with one of my own.

Comfortable silence. It's nice.

///

Navigating through the school day without Isaac has proven to be weird. Not necessarily bad, but definitely abnormal.

Usually, around now, he'd be waiting for me outside the classroom door, waiting to join me for lunch. But now that he's gone, I've been eating alone more than usual. Of course, I could always go have lunch with Chase, if I really felt like it, but I'd rather not surround myself with the toxic testosterone that drenches those basketball guys.

Speaking of basketball, I haven't seen Chase wearing his jersey lately. Is it possible that he really got kicked off the team because of me? Oh, God, I would feel horrible if that's the case.

"Michelle." A familiar voice suddenly speaks my name from behind me. I turn around to meet eyes with Miles, which is not exactly who I expected to see, of all people.

"Miles," I say, the weird nervous energy I usually have around him now cut down to a small percentage. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to ask how you've been doing lately. I notice Isaac hasn't been around and I know you guys are close so I just wanted to check in."

Check in? Miles wants to know how I'm doing?

So much for no more nervous energy.

"Oh, um," I struggle to speak without stuttering, "Uh, thanks. I'm okay."

He smirks. "Good to know."

I sit and admire his smile before he speaks again.

"Hey, listen," he says. "What I said about you and Chase, I'm sorry if I crossed a line. I guess I was just jealous."

"Jealous?"

"Yeah, I mean, he gets to be with someone like you and I have to sit and watch, you know?"

Is he actually jealous? There's no way, right?

"It's stupid, I know," he says. "I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry."

I nod with a grin. "It's okay. Thanks for apologizing."

"You forgive me?"

"Yeah, of course."

He smiles. "Does this mean I can get your number now that we're on good terms?"

Okay, this has to be some sort of joke, right? First, he tells me he's jealous of Chase, and now he wants my phone number? There's gotta be a red flag in this whole situation somewhere.

Better to protect myself if there is one.

"Sorry, I just don't think that's a good idea right now."

His smile fades. At first, he looks disappointed, but then his expression shifts to content.

"I get it." He stands up and grabs his bag before he starts walking away from the lunch table. "See you around, Michelle."

See you around, Michelle. So dreamy.

So dreamy that lunch is over much too soon. And then anatomy class, and then Spanish class, and suddenly, it's the end of the school day and I'm sitting alone in an empty classroom with my face in a textbook, and all I can think about is Miles. The way he apologized to me like a gentleman and admitted he was wrong. Integrity is hard to find in a man these days.

And I had the nerve to reject him when he tried to kiss me. God, what was I thinking?

I know what I was thinking; I was thinking that it's wrong to be unfaithful to Chase, even if our entire relationship is just a competition to see who has the most severe trust issues. I was thinking that no matter how much I like Miles, it still wouldn't be right to betray my boyfriend like that, fake or not.

But I can't help feeling like I lost my only chance with Miles. Never once did I think he'd ever notice me before, but now that being with Chase has given my name an extra boost in this school, of course now is the time he decides to want me. Just my luck.

But I guess being with Chase isn't all that bad. Despite having the superficial personality of a devilish player, he seems to actually care about how I feel. And after being abandoned by some of the most important men in my life, it's something I've grown to admire about Chase.

"Hey, Michelle," I hear a deep, raspy voice call out from behind me. Speak of the devil.

"You never came outside," he continues as he makes his way further into the classroom and takes a seat beside me. "I was worried you went out looking for your prince charming again."

I snicker at his remark as I bury my head into my book further. I may not be looking for Miles, but I don't even want to think about the argument he'll try to start if I mention that we had a conversation during lunch.

"Astronomy?" Chase asks, making it known to me that he clearly read either the cover of my textbook or some of the words on the page. I nod. "I didn't know you were into space."

"I've always liked it," I say. "When I was younger, it wasn't really astronomy to me—more like pretty constellations."

"Hey, I've never been big on astronomy, but those constellations are pretty."

I elbow him slightly, enough to alarm him but not to hurt him. I've somehow grown a sweet spot for him over this short amount of time. "I don't know. It just means a lot more now."

"Like what?" he asks after a second or two of silence. He seems interested—I can hear it in his voice.

"Well, for starters, black holes are so much more than what they seem. They're used for so many metaphors, which I think makes them so special," I start to explain. My face feels lighter and my eyes feel brighter as I continue to talk. "And there are so many different types of meteors that come down during meteor showers, it's insane. Also, did you know the North Star changes every 26,000 years? There's just so much beyond our knowledge and we have yet to explore it! Like, how does-"

Before I can keep ranting about my unmatched adoration for astronomy, I'm passionately interrupted by a kiss. Chase's lips are glued to mine as his palms are pressed against my cheeks and the warmth from his body begins to surround me. I don't move my hands to touch him, but I do allow myself to melt into the kiss as usual. I can only assume he's kissing me right now for the same reason did when I was apologizing to him after our fight.

"Was I talking too much again?" I ask quietly as soon as he pulls away.

Then a flood of red rushes to his tan cheeks and he struggles to speak again. "Um... no. I just..."

Man, I could get used to this new Chase. It's nice not being the one at a loss for words for once; he's getting a taste of his own medicine. And I don't know how I did it, but I did, and I am so damn proud of myself for it.