Truth be Told ✔️

Chapter 36

Hey Al,
Let me take you to the movies tonight?

My hands drummed violently against the desk anxiously. Blake's words from this morning still echoed in my mind. I hadn't even responded yet, but I hadn't stopped thinking about it all day. When I was tired and I laid down my head, all I could see was what had made me tired—him.

"You're doing it again," Graham grumbled.

I blinked a couple of times. Had I zoned out again? Graham looked annoyed enough that I probably had. "What? What am I doing?"

"Thinking about shopping when we should be figuring out this stupid mixture."

I made a face. "Calling something stupid does not hide the fact that you love Chemistry. You're so good at it that you don't even need a partner, so the only reason you missed my absence is because you wanted to talk to me."

"Way to go, Sherlock. Wanna be useful now?"

I punched him in the arm. "Don't be crabby. Just have a little patience. I have a lot on my mind."

"Hmm, that could either be really good or really bad. Are you thinking about Homecoming?" He guessed.

"Who isn't? It's this Friday," I sighed.

"Do you even have a dress?"

I snorted. "Just like every other girl in this school, I've had my dress custom made and ready since May. Don't worry about what I'm wearing."

Graham shrugged. "Well, what if I want to match?"

"Well then I'd say—Graham the mixture is boiling over!" I exclaimed in a panic.

Graham's eyes widened. He quickly turned down the heat and then dumped some kind of liquid to calm down the intense amount of bubbles. But, it did not undo the damage done. For today, our project was ruined, which meant another lunch fixing it because we were too busy talking.

I giggled at how red Graham's face was. To comfort his downtrodden mood, I laid a hand across his thigh and smiled warmly at him. "All a part of the plan, right? Will there be flowers when you ask me to Homecoming during our lunch-in?"

Graham smiled. "What kind of flowers do you like?"

I thought for a moment. Once upon a time when my mother liked living at our house, she doted on a little garden she had made near the front porch. She kept so many flowers there.

"Carnations," I replied. "Any and every color. But I love Carnations."

The bell rang.

I grinned mischievously at Graham. "See you at the lunch-in?"

He sighed and nodded. "See you at the lunch-in."

I gathered up my stuff rather quickly. Graham actually liked staying behind and cleaning up because it meant he could talk with the chemistry teacher about whatever he had found fascinating about the project that day. So, that meant I was usually the first one out of the classroom and the first to the parking lot to go on my run. Picking him as my partner would probably be the smartest thing I did in that class all year.

I skidded to a stop when I had left the school through my usual hidden exit, and there was a silver Audi waiting for me. My mind flew in a hundred different directions.

The window rolled down.

"Al?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't answer, actually. My mouth was agape in shock.

Blake sighed. "Al, I'm so sorry."

"About what?" I mumbled mindlessly.

There was a pause. "Um, everything?"