Page 64 of Isabella and the Slipper

Okay.

Chase slipped his phone in his pocket, not feeling much better. He vowed to find out who Isabella liked so he could size up his competition. History class dragged on, and he stared at the wall, not paying much attention.

His sour mood continued until he entered his physics class and Isabella smiled at him. He sat down and turned to her. “Hey.”

She pushed her glasses up with one finger. “Hi.”

“How’s everything going?”

“Fine.”

Her eyes held something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. “You free to work on our paper tonight?”

Her smile disappeared. “I have to clean the gallery. Get it ready for my stepsister’s big debut.”

Mr.Morgan walked in. “Why did the chicken cross the Mobius strip?” He waited for a moment, then said, “To get to the same side!”

A couple of people chuckled. Mr.Morgan grinned and waved a hand in the air. “It’s okay. You don’t have to clap.”

Chase gave Isabella a frown. “Sorry,” he whispered, then turned around.

Mr.Morgan opened his briefcase. “Today we’re going to partner up and work on our projects. If you haven’t started on your papers yet, today is the day to do it.”

Chase turned his desk around. Good. He’d get to spend the period looking at Isabella. And maybe charming her a little. It couldn’t hurt, right?

Chapter 20

Isabella tried really hard not to smirk at Chase. He was jealous of himself. What a weird situation. His crush on Five was cute. But also a bit annoying. Five wasn’t real. She was a girl in his imagination. A girl who didn’t exist in the real world. As long as he didn’t know who she was, Five could be anyone. He could imagine her to be what his heart desired. And that was the danger of revealing herself to him. Because Isabella wasn’t nearly as fascinating as the mysterious, sexy woman he’d conjured up in his brain.

Chase pulled out their paper. They discussed a few options and wrote the rest of the paper together. Then they talked about how they would present the materials to the class.

After they got all the details ironed out, Chase cocked his head to the side like he wanted to say something, but he stayed silent.

Isabella mimicked his stance. “Yes?”

“Sorry. Was just thinking.”

She gave him a small smile. “About what?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged and made an it-doesn’t-matter face. “I told you I have a secret crush. Just wondering if you have one.”

Oh, no. This wasn’t good. She was bad at lying. She could feel the heat coming up her neck.

“No,” she said, even though she knew she’d be tomato red in a second.

He squinted at her. “Really? Then why are you blushing?”

She rolled her eyes. “All right. Maybe I do. But it’s asecretcrush, and that means I don’t talk about it.”

“I told you about mine.”

“You said you don’t even know her name. That’s it.” She squared her shoulders and returned his bold gaze, even though staring into his blue eyes was making her butterflies dance.

“True.”

“So we’re even in my book.”

There. She’d gotten out of that conversation.

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