The Bad Boy with a Heart of Gold

✖ Chapter 31 ✖

Thanksgiving came and went. For the first time in Martinez Fernandez history we celebrated it along outsiders. Or at least that was how mama called Adam and his parents.

The first terrible misunderstanding was when they realized that my family didn't do the traditional turkey and side dishes. Oh, no. We went full on Venezuelan on this. Our dinner was always pabellón criollo, which was marinated shredded beef, black beans with a sprinkle of cheese on top, white rice, fried sweet plantain and a couple of arepitas just in case the rest of the dish wasn't filling enough. Mama even went as far as to make papelón for the drink and quesillo for dessert.

For us this was a feast that required a lot of preparation and even more restraint to not eat as we prepared the meal. To Adam's parents this was sacrilege. We could tell that his dad was struggling not to explode by the way the veins in his neck bulged. Meanwhile both of my parents had similar symptoms of discomfort.

Meanwhile Adam tucked in with gusto, delighted at the flavors and the fact that for once he got to switch things up a bit. Toni's eyes shone like she'd struck gold, and maybe she had. I was genuinely happy for her that she hadn't landed a complete douchebag. Seeing him melt at the flavor of mama's quesillo definitely bought him a ton of points with me.

Sawyer spent the whole weekend with Manny, which was a relief. I couldn't imagine what thanksgiving with Jack Logan only would be like. I saved him some leftovers that I took to school for him on Monday. It wasn't easy to pass them on to him without anyone noticing. We ended up agreeing to take simultaneous bathroom breaks from our respective classes and meeting in the hallway. I took out the food from the cooler I'd left in my locker and gave it to him, which he took as an invitation to steal a kiss from me. I wasn't precisely complaining.

After lunch he texted me, If you learn to cook like this I'll marry you.

I texted back the angel emoji along with, If you learn to cook like this I may consider letting you hang out with me for a few years.

The only acceptable response to that was exactly what he said next. Touché.

And then December arrived with a chilly little breeze in the air that most people didn't care about in Central Florida. Regardless of the temperature, it was always shorts and sandals weather here. In the back of my mind I knew that this was the month for early admission results, but I wasn't worried. Mr. Davies and the Principal sent the promised recommendation letters on my behalf and that along with my killer application were going to get me into Rollins. I was going to get my name in Metro High's history, up there with Peyton O'Hare and her best friend, Ellen Young.

Even after Thanksgiving I kept finding ways to feed Sawyer. Maybe that was my language of love, or maybe I was still feeling guilty for the whole scene with Lexie. Although it had got her off my back and yes, she ceased chasing after him and trying to persuade him to get with her, it didn't buy him any peace at school. People whispered and giggled when he passed by, and although he didn't give a hoot, I did.

"Are you trying to make me gain weight?" he asked once as he wolfed down a sandwich I'd made him while at the school library, instead of focusing on his homework.

"That was supposed to be for dinner," I whispered with a frown.

Sawyer shrugged. "I'm hungry."

I gave him a droll stare. "And I'm trying to do what?"

He snorted but kept eating. "Fatten me. Is it to eat me later?"

I smacked him upside the head and forced him back to his books. He choked for a hot second as he tried to laugh and swallow a mouthful at the same time and I had zero sympathy for him. Every moment with him was like this, one second we'd be all nice and normal and the next one he'd put images in my head that haunted me in the middle of the night. Like he was tempting me on purpose.