Page 119 of All In Good Time

He thought long and hard about it all night in his bedroom and came to the conclusion that Mal was right. He needed to officially ask Becca to be his girlfriend.

That’s why he had explicitly asked her to do something with him after school. He’d stayed up late to plan it: They’d go for a ride, and somewhere along the way, he would ask her the question.

She would say yes, he was sure. She’d been the first to tell him she loved him, after all.

He was excited all day. So excited that he didn’t notice Mal barely paying attention in the morning when he told her he wouldn’t be able to take her home from school today because he had plans, so she needed to find a ride with someone else. So excited he didn’t think much about catching a glimpse of Mal walking away from Ms. Roylance’s office again after lunch.

He left his final class as soon as the bell rang and made his way to Becca’s classroom just a few doors down. Leaning against the wall, he tapped his foot on the linoleum floor and waited patiently for her to appear.

She came out and jumped a little when she saw him there. His heart clenched. She was so cute when she was nervous. Always biting her lip in that way that drove him crazy. Her eyes shined against the slight pinkening in her face.

“Ready to go, sweetheart?” he asked, stepping up to her.

He’d said it was a date. Maybe not the same as holding hands while ice skating, but he wanted her to know going into this that it wasn’t a normal hangout. There had to be a sense of romance when you ask someone to be your girlfriend.

“Yeah. Let me just get my stuff from my locker.”

He followed her and tried not to smile too obviously when he looked at her. He wasn’t nervous, but he didn’t want to give himself away yet, so he bit down on the inside of his cheek and pursed his lips.

They passed by the front office, right as Ms. Roylance walked out of her room. Becca smiled at the counselor, and waved a greeting, but Ms. Roylance’s focus homed in on Derek.

“Derek. Mind if I talk with you for a moment?”

Becca’s smile faltered, and Derek looked between the two women as his brow knit. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He’d taken exceptional care to make sure that Ms. Roylance never had a reason to call his father.

A familiar wave of unease hit him, and he recalled Mal coming out of there earlier that afternoon.

Derek frowned. “Sure.” He turned to Becca. “Go get your stuff. I won’t be long.”

She nodded, confused, but did as he said and turned to walk to her locker in another hallway.

Ms. Roylance didn’t say anything else but stepped aside and ushered him in with an inviting hand.

44

December 1985

Ms. Roylance picked up the bowl of hard, strawberry candies and held it out to Derek. “Candy?”

He shook his head. “No thanks.”

She set it back down. “It’s been a while since we last talked.”

Yes. It had. He’d been careful to not get caught after their last meeting. Clearly, she was starting to grow suspicious before, and getting into more trouble wasn’t going to help. But this was the first time he’d sat in this office completely unscathed. There were no cuts on his knuckles from fights, and he didn’tneedto be here like he had before.

“I’ve missed our time together, Regina.” He smirked and did his best to channel the same energy he’d used before. It was harder, though, because not only was he about to ask Becca to be his girlfriend, but Ms. Roylance wasn’t receiving his compliments like she had before.

She smiled, politely at best, but her tone was still serious. “I wanted to ask, Derek. How are things at home?”

His hand clutched the arm of the chair he sat in. “Better than ever.”

It was the truth, but it was also a bold-faced lie.

He wasn’t being smacked around every second like before, but the nervous energy around the entire place got worse day by day. It nearly suffocated him, even though he reminded himself over and over that it was better than what it could be.

She nodded slowly, her lips set into a straight line. He couldn’t read her. Her face gave nothing away.

“I’ve met your little sister recently, Mal.”

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