Page 9 of The Bookworm

We finish breakfast and drive to school, and just as Talon said, we step out of the car and he grabs my hand. I feel nervous and I know my palms are sweaty, which makes me want to crawl under a rock, but Talon offers me a reassuring smile as we make our way inside.

The halls of Pembroke High are vast and wide, but for some reason now it feels claustrophobic. Nearly everyone in the entire school appears to be gathered in the entry mezzanine and they're eyeing their star quarterback holding hands with some nobody. We walk past all of them without stopping, but I catch many of them whispering among each other, questioning who I am.

They don't recognize me as someone from the cheer squad. I'm not some wealthy lawyer's daughter, and I don't sit with the other blond bombshells in the cafeteria. Maybe if they squint hard enough, they'll recognize me as nerdy little Merrit who spends nearly every lunch hour in the library with Miss Benson devouring words on a page instead of whatever the lunch ladies have cooked up that day.

I'm not used to this attention. There's a reason I've always kept to myself and avoided the spotlights. It makes me uncomfortable. I can already feel myself getting red, and the panic I feel from the embarrassment isn't making it any better.

“Why is everyone staring at us?” I ask in a hushed voice as we stop by his locker.

“They're all jealous,” Talon says with a smirk. “All the girls are jealous of you for being the one holding my hand. All the guys are jealous of me because I get to have you on my arm. I've had a thing for you for a long time, and I imagine some others have too.”

Really? I've never gotten that impression from anyone in school before. Sure, some of the guys tease me, but I've always thought that was more akin to bullying than anything else.

Talon and I don't have our first period together, so he walks me to my AP English lit class and kisses me goodbye. People walking by us all snicker to themselves. Some even make little offhanded comments about how the two of us need to get a room. I would like nothing more than to do that right now, but Jack Caraway awaits.

It's hard to pay attention in class when people focus more on me than anything the teacher discusses with us. When we turn to our books for individual reading time, I can hardly focus on the words for once. It's rare for me not to get invested in a book, so this is unusual to say the least.

I don’t expect to see Talon again until third period bio, but he's waiting for me when I step out of the classroom. Without saying a word, he grabs my hand and leads me toward my calculus class.

By lunchtime, everybody in school has heard about Talon's new girlfriend, and rumors are already running rampant. Without Talon on my arm, nobody assumes that it's me if they haven't already seen me. I've overheard rumors about how I must be some kind of foreign exchange student or how I'm just a new girl he managed to sweep off her feet before anybody else had a chance.

“So you must be the mystery girl,” someone says in the cafeteria, taking a seat next to Talon. I look over and recognize Richie Graves immediately. We've been going to school together since kindergarten, and he doesn't know I exist. Well, he didn't until this morning anyway.

“Richie, this is Merrit,” Talon says, nodding between the two of us. Sawyer comes to join us at the table shortly after and several other people from their friend group join. Talon introduces me to all of them, though I already know their names. For the most part, we've been going to school together since we were young children. I'm amazed that none of them seem to recognize me at all.

“Wait, when did you get a girlfriend, Talon?” Debbie Lopez asks as she looks at me suspiciously. She is the captain of the cheerleading squad, and with prom right around the corner, it's all but been official that Talon would be taking her, and both of them would become king and queen. I can tell she's disappointed that won't be happening now.

“It's new, but we've had feelings for each other for a long time,” Talon says, looking at me and reaching down to squeeze my hand.

“It's been incredible,” I say, realizing I'm speaking up for the first time in a while. All of them talk amongst each other, and I realize they have so much history. I've always wished I could have a friend group like this.

Spending as many lonely nights as I have with my books, I've wished I could sit around a lunch table and talk to my parents this way. But now that I'm among them, I just feel overwhelmed. There's too much for me to catch up on, and they have too many inside jokes to laugh at with each other that they don't think to stop and fill me in on. Talon tries every so often, but it's far too much for me to understand all at once.

On Friday, I was alone in the library during my lunch period reading a book about an ancient vampire who found out his mate was a fairy from another realm. Now, I'm sitting at a table surrounded by the most popular kids in school living out my own bizarre love story.

I feel like I need to go buy a lottery ticket.

When only fifteen minutes of lunch are left, my anxiety rises, and I need to get away. I tap Talon on the shoulder and lean in to whisper in his ear, “I actually have to run to the library. I have a few books I need to return.”

“I'll come with you,” Talon says, grabbing our lunch trays and waving goodbye to his friends as he escorts me out of the cafeteria.

The halls are almost empty, and I'm thankful for that. He grabs my hand and follows me as I lead the way. As soon as I open the door to the library, I'm hit with the familiar smell of old books and ink that I haven't realized I've missed until now.

Only a few students sit in the lounge area looking over textbooks to cram for some exam. The librarian is on her lunch break. I know because I've spent enough time in the library to grow accustomed to her schedule.

Even though the library isn't the most popular spot in school, I was always embarrassed about having lunch by myself here, so I know the perfect place to go where nobody will bother us. After everything that's been going on today, I want nothing more than to just be alone with Talon.

“I thought you had books to return?” he asks me as I pull him into one of the newspaper archives. We're surrounded by old newspapers from Pembroke and a few old yearbooks from decades ago.

“Is it a crime to want to spend some one-on-one time with you?” I ask and press my body against his to lean in for a kiss. His lips meet mine, and excitement washes over my body I don't expect. If I had a nickel for every time I went looking for a book somewhere in the library and found two kids making out, I'd have more nickels than you'd think. To be one of those kids now is almost surreal.

Talon grips my waist and holds me close to him, his hands falling to my ass as he grips it. Pressed hard against him, I feel how his cock stiffens in his jeans, and I reach down to touch it. He groans as I massage it from the outside, and I feel the desire growing in my stomach.

Even after spending the weekend with him, when he went down on me, I still haven't seen all of him, and I desperately want to. I was almost positive after he went down on me last night that we were going to explore much more of each other, but he was adamant about giving me time. While I appreciate that more than he could ever know, I feel as though every moment I'm not with him is torture.

My hands slide in the front of his pants, and I feel his skin against my hand, and it all lights something inside me. “Maybe we shouldn't do this here,” Talon says, looking at me with an eager smile.

“After everything you've done for me this weekend, let me do something for you,” I say as I pull away from him and look down to unbutton his pants. He doesn't stop me.

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