Page 39 of Where the Little Birds Go (Little Bird Duet 1)

I learned quickly that boy fights are nothing like girl ones. Apparently, Zach made a comment about Corbin’s role in the school play. The rehearsals have been almost every day since Christmas break ended because the first show is set to premiere right before Valentine’s Day. When Corbin admitted he’d hit Zach for giving him crap about it, I didn’t believe him. But Zach didn’t confirm or deny anything when I asked him.

“Yeah, Kin. We’re good,” Zach muses, throwing one foot up on the tiny table between us. “So, what’s the deal with the test?”

Biting down on my inner cheek, I give him a limp shrug. “I haven’t been paying attention, it’s my fault.”

He watches me for a second before pulling his water bottle out from the side of his bag next to him. “Is that why you’re sulking in here? Pretty sure Corbin was looking for you.”

Everyone knows that Corbin and I are joined at the hip. Ever since the sort-of kiss on Christmas Eve, things have been strange. Neither of us have brought it up when we hangout, but we find ourselves holding hands or using each other as pillows during movies or study sessions. It’s like we decided silently to pursue something without any conversation.

“What are you doing here?” I ask skeptically. Zach already told me he isn’t a fan of books, which led to me jokingly tell him we couldn’t be friends. Given he’s still around, he didn’t take the threat seriously.

He stuffs the bottle between his thigh and the side of the chair. “I was over by the computers playing games when I saw you moping.”

“I’m not moping!”

He tilts his head and raises his brows.

I sigh. “Okay, maybe a little. I never fail anything. I’ve always done well in school, but I can’t blame anyone but myself. I never even studied for this stupid exam.”

“So, study next time,” he states simply.

Realistically, it is as easy as that. All it takes is an hour a day the week leading up to an exam to get the material down. I’ve done it plenty of times before, but now my focus is on anything but school.

Despite that, I say, “You’re right,” and study the oncoming students walking to the side exit. Their jokes and giggles make me smile and miss Corbin. It’s a weird feeling to miss someone you see often, and I’m not sure I like it. When I wake up, I think about him. Before bed, I think about him. It’s easy to channel that when I’m writing about Ryker and Beck because I want them to be realistic—conflicted and confused and happy and awkward. It seems to be exactly what Corbin and I are. Like we want to be something more but don’t know how.

Zach tosses a balled-up piece of paper at me, but it bounces off my knee and lands on the floor. “You going to the game tomorrow night?”

The muffled snort that comes out of my mouth makes him laugh. “Uh, no. You remember how I said sports aren’t my thing like reading isn’t yours?”

His puppy dog look is better than any other I’ve seen, but it still doesn’t work. “You won’t even come to support your favorite player? Come on, Kinley, don’t do me like that.”

“She won’t be doing you at all, Russo,” a new voice says coolly from behind my chair.

Turning, I see Corbin staring at me. I wiggle my fingers at him. “Hey. I figured I’d see you later.”

Corbin’s eyes go to Zach and something flashes in them, but before I can ask what, he glances back at me with a blank expression. “A few people said they saw you here. Figured I’d bring you lunch since you skipped again.”

“I didn’t skip…” In fact, I can still taste the peanut butter from the sandwich I’d eaten in the computer lab. I almost got yelled at by the teacher who’s a stickler about eating by the computers but hauled butt out of there before he could even open his mouth.

Corbin’s hand goes to my shoulder, squeezing it once. “What are you guys talking about anyway?”

“She won’t come to the game.”

Corbin probably rolls his eyes, but I’m not really paying attention. “You’d have better luck asking her to give up sugar.”

My nose scrunches. “Not true.”

Zach smiles. “You’ll come then?”

“Nope.”

He frowns.

Corbin laughs and let’s go of me. “She’ll be busy, Russo.”

Now I do meet his eyes. “I will?”

His nod is terse. “I was going to ask you to run lines with me. Figured we’d talk about it on the way home.”

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