Fools in Love

21. Confidence? Never Heard of Her!

"You've been acting strange," says Tori when sitting next to me in class.

"Huh?"

"You heard me." He leans over the aisle. "Are you hiding something?"

"Like what?" I play dumb, but I knew this would eventually come to be. I haven't been eating lunch with him, Chelsea and Rose. I've been disappearing most afternoons after class because I'm hanging out with Matt. I've been texting a lot, even now, I have a message from Matt awaiting my reply.

Tori catches me attempting to text beneath my desk. He purses his lips. "You're being awfully suspicious."

"Says you."

"Yeah, says me, and I'm right. You're hiding something!" He pokes me in the nose.

"No I'm not," I lie, but my eyes deceive me. They briefly glance at Matt sitting at the front of the room. His headphones are in, as per usual. He's not as heavily surrounded by people as he was when school first began. Some have realized he isn't interested and wandered off, but some unfortunately remain.

Tori swings his head back and forth. He's not a fool, which sucks because he's nosy and he should have to be a fool and nosy to allow everyone some freedom. He smirks.

"Interesting." He holds up his hands, tapping the tips of his fingers together like a villain. "I do believe that I've put a few pieces of this mystery together."

"You definitely didn't," I mutter although I'm pretty sure that yeah, he's catching on. Thankfully our professor walks in to save the day, allowing me a break and Tori to, hopefully, forget this topic by the end of class.

Even if he hasn't forgotten, we have different classes afterwards. I escape my far too inquisitive roommate that will have to learn the truth eventually. For now though, I attend classes like usual before meeting Matt at the library. He's waiting patiently at the usual table, bobbing his head slightly to whatever song he's listening to. I pop out one of the headphones causing him to whip his head around in surprise. When he sees me, he smiles.

"Hello stranger," he says.

"Hi." I sit next to him, warming up before he even kisses my cheek. I glance around the library nervously, but as usual there's no one around.

"So, I wanted to ask you something," Matt says out of the blue when I'm midbite into a chicken sandwich. I imagine the sight is quite amusing because he snorts.

"A-About?"

"Nothing to worry over," he reassures me, reaching over to tenderly rub my back. He's almost hesitant to do so until he realizes I'm more than ok with it. I'm fine with affection and I'm even more than fine with Matt being affectionate. Although I get embarrassed by a mere smile, but it's nice to know that he does too. We're both a bunch of blushing fools and that's kind of cool.

"I was asked to do a modeling job," he says. Initially I'm shocked until I remember, right, this isn't odd. Matt's an actor. He has done his fair share of modeling. "He's a good friend of mine so I decided to dip my toes back in, I guess. It's next Tuesday but...well, I was wondering if you'd like to come along?"

Again, I'm caught midbite. Now Matt actually laughs, handing me a napkin since I start to choke on my food. I smack my chest a few times then ask, "W-What?"

"I understand if you don't want to. We'd have to miss class." He shrugs, but I notice the sudden dimming of his eyes. "Thought I'd ask if you'd like to stop on set, see a little behind the scenes of a photoshoot."

It'd be a complete lie if I said I wasn't curious, but it'd also be a complete lie if I said the idea of it doesn't make me nervous. Me? On a photoshoot set? That is unimaginable, nerve wracking!