Page 15 of The Valedictorian and the Big Man on Campus

“Aren’t you even just a little bit worried about breaking one of the windows?”

“Nah. I tested the windows earlier. They’re thick and sturdy as shit.” He bounces the ball again. “Worst case scenario, my strength is too much for it, and it breaks.”

“Right. And you would be okay breaking a school window.”

“It might mean us having a way out.”

“Because we’re going to climb through a tiny hole surrounded by shattered glass.”

He scoffs. “Don’t be dumb.”

Before I can object to him—of all people—calling me dumb, he holds up a hand to silence me. That might be even worse than saying I’m being dumb.

“We wouldn’t climb out of the window,” he says. “We’d call for help out of it.”

“And you think someone would hear us?”

He lifts a shoulder. “Maybe. The bonfire isn’t that far away.”

The bonfire. I check the clock, and my heart sinks a little. I hope the other volunteers were able to get everything set up. If they follow the list of instructions I emailed them last week, it should be fine.

Oh, I hope they remembered to get enough ice to keep everyone’s drinks cool. And the hot dogs! I hope there are enough stakes for cooking the hot dogs and marshmallows over the bonfire.

My lips curve down.

Barely sparing me a look, Zack asks, “What’s wrong?”

I swallow past a lump in my throat. “Who said anything was wrong?”

“You look like someone threw your favorite stuffed animal in the trash before telling you there’s no such thing as Santa.” He goes back to bouncing the ball. “You might as well admit it. Something’s wrong.”

Sighing, I rest my cheek against the side of the bookshelf. “It’s nothing, but… I can’t believe I’m going to miss the bonfire.”

“Yeah. It’s a bummer.”

“Out of everything I planned for this weekend… It’s what I was most excited about.”

Zack snatches the ball as it bounces back to him and sets it on the floor before jumping to his feet. He strides toward me until he reaches the row of desks that represents our barrier.

“Really?”

My frown deepens. “Why would that surprise you?”

“No offense—”

“Why do people always say no offense before they’re going to say something offensive?’

He carries on without acknowledging my question. “No offense, but you’ve never particularly struck me as the outdoorsy type.”

I humph. “I’ll have you know that I go hiking every weekend.”

“Yeah, you and every other so-called outdoorsy girl in Los Angeles who goes for walks in Runyon.”

Okay, so maybe Runyon Canyon isn’t the most rustic of locations, but it’s no walk in the park.

Or, a walk on a golf course for that matter.

“I’ve climbed El Capitan.”

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