Page 22 of Honest With You

I don’t bother saying goodbye and shove my phone in my back pocket. He starts walking towards me and I meet him halfway.

I stop a foot away so I don’t have to tilt my head all the way up as I stare at him.

“I can’t. I sort of already made plans for lunch.”

“With Vanessa?”

I swallow past the lump that suddenly materialized in my throat. For some odd reason, telling him I had lunch plans with Ryder feels wrong. Like I’m doing something I shouldn't be doing.

“It’s not with Vanessa.”

He tilts his head, his eyes dancing around my face as he ponders this. He doesn’t say anything, clearly waiting for me to reveal who I am eating with.

I inwardly sigh. “Ryder is waiting for me.”

His eyes shoot up, his brows meeting. “Ryder Kim?”

I nod, my gaze traveling behind him to where the door to the cafeteria is. I gesture to it.

“I should go.”

“Wait, Ava.”

I stop short of moving past him. My gaze trails up his Ultraboost clad feet, charcoal joggers to his crisp white shirt that clings to a body Zac Efron would be envious of.

My eyes meet his ocean blues and I have to remind myself not to drool at the sight of them trained so seriously at me.

It’s so intense,like the sun shining down on you on a hot beach day.

A sunburn waiting to happen.

“I’m really sorry about all that. It didn’t even occur to me that kids in school might talk about us. I just want a few minutes to explain why.”

I tear my gaze away from his and once again nod towards the cafeteria.

I’m a little on edge as I’m reminded of the cruel words that were passed around today, all from him simply walking me to class. His seemingly idolized status quo is just another reason why it can't happen.

I refuse to subject myself to another school year being ostracized by my peers.

“It’s fine, Jesse. I sort of get it? You’re “Mr. Popular” around here and I’m the newgirl. There’s bound to be some turned heads and whispers but… can we talk about it later? I’m starving and —-”

He steps closer, a forced smile on his face. He presses a gentle hand on the small of my back as if to say, go ahead, and I let my sentence trail off, happy for the reprieve.

I really was in no mood to rehash or go back and forth and make him understand my feelings on a topic I had no interest in explaining.

I let him lead me to the cafeteria and with a forced smile of my own, I give him a small wave and walk over to where Ryder is waiting for me.

With each step, I feel the heat of his stare.

Idelete Margaret’s latest text with a heavy sigh.

For the past few days, Margaret has been bombarding me with texts and calls.

She goes back and forth between blaming me for her current situation to calling me names to saying I betrayed her trust by going behind her back.

I’m tempted to actually text her back, if only to ask why she’s lashing out at me.

I wasn’t expecting to hear from her ever again and if I was being honest, I would have preferred to never hear from her again. I know I need to block her. I should block her.

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