The Prep and Moi

Chapter 13 - Infinite Details and Halting Confessions

Nonchalantly strolling alongside Destiny, we walked behind the main group of students in front of us, that included Shawn and Ash. Fortunately for us, there were slower stragglers further behind, hopefully meaning that we wouldn't be in trouble if Mr Sterling looked back to us.

As much as I tried to pay attention to my surroundings and the people in the vicinity, my immediate attention was only captured by the ridiculous expressions Destiny was making as she gushed over her boyfriend in front of us. We– well, she watched him; the natural long strides of his legs, the one sharp, forced backward movement of his shoulder as he perhaps tried to relax a muscle in his arm. She sighed in content when the gentle raspiness of his voice reached our ears while he mingled with Ash and another boy I didn't recognise. Honestly, a simple laugh was enough to nearly make her faint.

I elbowed her to break her from her longing looks at him. I couldn't stop my thinking about how their relationship had been over the course of months now, even though I only just found out, but she continually found something that she could fall in love with. There was something so beautiful about watching it unfold. As her mystic green eyes twinkled in delight, the skin surrounding her eyes pinched to form the tiniest of wrinkles. Pure happiness.

It was that exact happiness coursing through her that I often wished for myself with someone; sometimes even a nasty, unwanted trait of jealousy frequently took over my thoughts, but I simply ignored them. There was no need for them. Clearly after not having a good run of that exact happiness when I was with Ezra, I learnt it was okay to put myself first, and anyone who didn't appreciate it didn't belong by my side.

Realising that I'd fallen into a wandering mind, a well-known habit of mine, Destiny back-hand slapped me on my arm to return my attention to her. She then threw her arm over my shoulders to pull me into her side and squeezed.

"So, Mack, just for you, I'll stop ogling over my boyfriend and nicely check how you're doing today." She said, angling her lower arm around my neck like she was going to put me into a headlock.

"You just hit me merely seconds ago, so how do you think I'm feeling?" I retorted rightfully so.

"Ah-hah, you love it!" She patted her hand on my face in effort to irritate me, but I slapped it away and scowled. Even though her 'love' gave me temporary pain, it also provided me with a lifetime of memories... and, of course, ammunition to get her back when the time came. The tally never lied.

The further we ventured down the guided route, Destiny decided it was time for her to catch up with Shawn. Pulling me along while her arm was still around me, we caught up to him and Ash. Greeting them both, she took hold of Shawn's hand and grinned at him.

Knowing I'd be permanently stuck with her and hear all her secret conversations with Shawn if I didn't leave now, I ducked instantly out of her firm hold while she was distracted by Shawn's perfect smile. With a leap, one large enough to pull a muscle in my leg, I sprung over to stand beside Ash. He, in turn, stared at me.

"Hi!" I smiled with all my teeth on show and my eyes squinted as a result of my enormous smile.

Oh, why do I do this to myself?

"Hey."

Luckily, his casual reply was a safe reaction for me, especially after what happened before with my unfortunate hand placement back at the hotel. I was glad it was never mentioned.

**-**-**

The one thing about Miss Harris, our tourist guide in Paris, was that she genuinely making it worthwhile. Walking on ahead with Mr Sterling and Ms Romane, Tecton Gate's teacher, she held up a 'follow-me' sign for us to know where she was at all times. I, like most others, appreciated that her planned route took us to areas where it wasn't too populous nor boring. We could sit on the grass with a distant but equally clear view of the Eiffel, treat ourselves to the fine foods and gifts of the smaller businesses first before heading off to the recognised landmarks.