Page 82 of True to You

He grabs my hand, and we take off out of the classroom. Natalie and Sam follow behind us but then turn a corner.

“No, it’s the choir room!” I hear Natalie yell at him.

“No, it’s the band room,” he argues back before they are out of earshot.

We head towards the gym, and as we get there Matt pulls the door open for me, still holding my hand.

“Aw, you two look like a real couple,” I hear a voice call out and turn around to see Carter standing under a basketball hoop.

Matt glances down at me, a shy smile crossing his lips before he lets go of my hand. I have to fight off a frown, my palm feeling empty without his.

“How’d they hook you into this?” Matt asks as we walk over to him.

“They tried to get Coach to hold the riddles, but I said I’d do it.”

Matt laughs. “You do know Sarah will be coming by, right?”

“Yeah.” Carter shoots Matt an annoyed smirk. “That’s if she can figure out the riddles.”

“Bret’s pretty smart.”

“I guess.” Carter looks through envelopes, and I see different names on them. He pulls the envelope out that has ‘Matt & Isabel’ written on it and my heart flutters. I haven’t written out a crush’s name in a notebook since freshman year but seeing our names together like that makes me all giddy. “Here you go.”

He pulls out a small coin that looks like a basketball, which must be our clue to show we solved the riddle. Then he hands the envelope over to Matt, who hands it to me. “I read the first one, so you do the honors.”

“Aw.” Carter sighs, but has a huge grin on his face. “What a sweetheart.” He clasps his hands to his chest, mocking Matt.

“Shut up,” Matt shoots back, but still smiling.

I tear it open to read our next riddle. “Okay … Slow and steady win the race, as long as you keep the proper pace. But rhythms can be fast or slow, so watch the notes as the melody floats.”

“Band room?” Matt asks me.

“What if it’s the choir room?”

“Well, they’re right next to each other.”

“It’s the band room,” Carter gives us a loud whisper, smirking.

“Dude, you’re not supposed to help us.” Matt laughs.

“You’re my best friend,” Carter says, before looking over at me. “And who knows, maybe someday, a best friend-in-law?”

My cheeks blush, as I look down.

“You’re really not funny, Carter.”

“I beg to differ.” He laughs.

“All right, let’s go.” Matt grabs my hand, and we head for the doors.

“Good luck!” Carter yells out, and I can hear the laughter in his voice. “I’m rooting for you two.”

“Sorry,” Matt mutters as we jog over to the band room.

“It’s fine.” I’m still blushing, but it helps that Matt feels a little embarrassed too.

We reach the band room and look around, searching for anything that might hold our next clue.

---