You Are the Shell to My Tortoise | ✓

8

"Good morning!" I said to Nolan, who had just woken up at the end of math class.

He blinked at me. "Yes?"

I decided to get straight to the point. "Gym is next period. Are you skipping again?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Do me a favor and please find a better hiding place than last time. Or," I said, adding my next line as an afterthought, "at least make sure no one sees where you're going."

"Why?"

Was that amusement on his face? Impossible. There was nothing amusing about my desperate request.

"Because the last time you skipped," I whispered, "Jordan saw where you went. If he hadn't, no one would have known, and Mr. Robinson wouldn't have sent me."

That, and if Jordan had been able to keep his mouth shut.

"Who's Jordan?"

Typical.

"He's in our history class," I said, waving his question away. "It's not like you recognize any of us, anyway. The point is, do you really want me bothering you again?"

"No," he said. "But you could have just not come."

"I couldn't, because the whole class somehow had it in their heads that I'm responsible for you," I snapped. "And then Mr. Robinson just ... got a totally wrong impression and made me go! Unless you want to come to class today, which you should—"

His dark glare silenced me faster than his reply. "No."

Alright, I got the hint! Before I could say anything else, Ashley approached my desk.

"Hey, Chels," she said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "We'll be late if we don't start going now."

"Oh, yeah, I'm coming," I said, standing up and collecting my things. I turned to Nolan and said, "Don't forget, okay?"

The corners of his mouth twitched upwards as he said, "Fine. I'll be careful. For both our sakes."

"Thanks," I said, beaming at him. "You have no idea how much I appreciate this."

As we walked out of the classroom, Ashley gawked at me. "I think I need a new pair of eyes. Where can I buy them?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Nolan just smiled at you!"

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"You've shot down all my ideas so far," Derek complained.

"They weren't good ideas, so can you really blame us?" Melissa said, flicking a tiny leaf off her shoulders.

"Fine, then maybe you should come up with some yourself," he snapped.

Ashley raised an eyebrow at me over the can of apple juice she was sipping from. I smirked back when I was sure neither Derek nor Melissa was looking at us. The afternoon breeze lingering in the courtyard today was great—or maybe air just tasted fresher after classes at the end of the week. We were seated at one of the many large stone tables spaced out in the courtyard, contemplating what we were going to do this coming weekend. Derek had suggested going to a movie, but we didn't find any of the currently showing movies appealing.

"I vote," Melissa announced, leveling a challenging stare at him, "that we go for a hike in the forest Saturday morning."

Ashley's hacking coughs punctured the air as she clapped a hand over her mouth.