Page 89 of The Hallows Queen

She narrows her eyes at me, and I shrug again.

I finish my pizza in the next minute, brush my hands on my jeans, and then stand up, grabbing my trash. “Gonna go for a smoke.”

“Want me to come?” Levi asks, still devouring his lunch.

“Nah.” I wave him off, walking away and dumping my trash in the can just inside the lunchroom doors before I go out into the hallway. I shake my shoulders, trying to even myself out so Penelope can’t tell I’m faded, then walk down to her classroom.

Looking through the window, I find her sitting at her desk, scrolling her phone as she mindlessly eats the salad sitting before her. I don’t spot Mrs. Justice, so I open the door and step in, closing it behind me.

“Hey,” she says, smiling at me.

“How’s my girl doing?” I ask, walking across the room to lean against the side of her desk so I can look at her.

“Fine. Where’d you go last period?” She narrows her eyes.

“Lo and I went out to the beach, just needed to get some fresh air. This place is suffocating me… which brings me to my next question.” I say, running a hand through my hair.

“Which is?” she asks, putting her fork down and crossing her legs as she turns her chair to face me.

“Let’s go to New York this weekend.”

“That wasn’t a question.” She laughs.

I wave her off, rolling my eyes. “So, yes? New York?”

“For what?” she asks, biting her bottom lip.

I slide closer to her, cupping her face with my hand. “To get away. To be together, without worrying if someone is going to fucking walk up and see us. We can just be us.”

She smiles, still biting onto her lip. “Just us.”

I nod, leaning down to kiss her nose quickly. “We can roll around in bed, go out for fancy dinners, you can come with me to get a tattoo at my cousin’s shop – it’ll be fun.”

“Your cousin? You think that’s the best idea?”

I shrug. “He’s cool, baby. I want you to meet him and his girl.”

Penelope smiles from ear to ear, then stands up and places herself in front of me. “Let’s go to New York, then.”

“Perfect,” I grab her waist. “I’ll let Travis and Olivia know we’re coming.”

* * *

I manageto snag two tickets on a flight to New York, so by 9 p.m., Penelope and I are walking through the Upper East Side hand in hand.

It’s freeing, being out in public, holding her hand in front of people, kissing her whenever I want without the risk of anyone we know seeing us.

I booked us into a suite at the Four Seasons, and plan to devour every inch of her. Even if this trip was spur-of-the-moment, I want to make it as special as possible for us – we deserve it. No drama, no fighting, no sneaking around… Just us.

I lean over and kiss her on the cheek, pulling her hand to my chest and holding it there, savoring the warmth of her skin through my shirt. “I like this.”

She looks at me. “Like what?”

“This.” I hold my arm out to my side as we keep walking. “Being here, being here withyou.We’re like a real couple for the first time.”

She nods, her face flushing as she smiles. “Yeah, it’s really nice not worrying about running into someone who might know us.”

I stare at her for a moment, letting our hands drop back between us. She’s beautiful – a fucking work of art – I feel like at any moment I may blink, and this will all have been made up, like someone who is so fucking perfect can’t possibly exist in real life, especiallymylife.

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