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Chapter Twenty Six
"Why are you drawing lilies?" Duncan asks, leaning against my desk with his signature coffee in hand.
His question has a small smile filling my lips and I try to bite it back. Duncan is very observant and I don't need him asking questions like Chloe.
When Hayden and I went back inside yesterday, after his blow-up on his mom's boyfriend, Hayden apologized to the two of them and gave Kyle a chance. Turns out, he really did love Kyle. Just like Patty said
What can I say? The mom is always right.
Hayden may not have been the biggest fan of Kyle's boisterous and cheesy personality, but I could tell that he approved of the way he treated his mom. He was always by her side, always holding her hand or sending her a tender smile, and Hayden took notice.
We left after dinner, and I felt as if I was leaving my own family. Patty really took a liking to me, and I absolutely loved her. She was the perfect mix of sarcasm and love, and she made me feel at home.
Hayden dropped me off around 9 last night, and I walked inside to my parents prepared with interrogation questions to find out just what I was doing all day with Hayden.
I snap out of my thoughts and answer Duncan. "I bought some yesterday and thought they were really beautiful."
Duncan sips his coffee and nods, crossing his arms. "I heard from a little birdy that you went to meet Hayden's mom?"
My eyes snap up towards him and I blink, "How did you hear about that?"
He chuckles, "You aren't the only one of my students who likes to talk to me, Reagan."
---
Skipping towards my locker, the coffee that Mr. Duncan rewarded me with this morning doing its job in making me a hyper mess, I see Hayden smirking next to my locker with his cocky gaze settled on me.
I grin and stand in front of him with my arms crossed and one brow cocked. I place one hand out and give him a pointed stare- I know he got into my locker again. When he does, he has this sort of giddy look in his eye.
"Fork it over."
"Fork what over?" He asks, feigning innocence. "My heart? Cupcake you've already got that," he winks.
I don't know what it is about his winks, but they are so freaking sexy. They make my heart skip and beat and it's as if they automatically trigger a blush to spread over my entire face.
Somehow I connect with my brain and roll my eyes, blowing past his arrogantly flirtatious, yet utterly desirable, statement.
"The letter," I clarify.
He chuckles and pulls it from his back pocket, "I'm getting too predictable."
"How do you even find the time to break into my locker?"
"I'm good with time management," he replies smoothly.
I trail my finger along the edges of my letter as I reply. "So, what did your mom have to say about me?"
He throws his hands into his pockets, "She called me this morning, actually. She wanted to make sure I didn't screw up and make you hate me."
I start laughing at his statement and I see the remnants of a grin from on him from the crinkle next to his lips.
"You're doing quite the opposite, remember? Friends and all that?" I ask.
He nods and glances down the hall, "Or, according to her, you and I are already a thing."
I cock a brow, "She said that?"
"She implied it when she asked how I convinced you to date me. It hurt me to break her heart and have to say no."
I don't even bother with an eyeroll this time. Instead, I start to slide my finger under the white envelope, over the red heart, and pull my letter from inside.
Dear Beautiful,
That crazy storm we had a few nights ago had me lying in bed wondering if you were afraid. I don't know, maybe it's stereotypical of me to think that just because you're a girl you would be scared of some thunderstorm. But the real reason I thought it, was because I was hoping that you're afraid of storms.
I was hoping that one day it will be me you turn to whenever you're feeling scared. That whenever you feel insecure or you need a shoulder to cry on, your eyes will scan the crowd for mine. I want my eyes to be your solace, I want my embrace to be your shelter, and I want my kiss to be your security.
I could be your safe place. I could wrap my arms around you and protect you from the harsh realities we face. I could fight away the blowing winds that knock you off of your feet and I could help you right back up again.
Love,
Anonymous
Later in the day, I make my way towards English with Noah by my side.
"Since when did you start walking me to class?" I tease. He met me outside of my previous class with a bright smile.
He grins cheekily, "I just thought a few extra minutes with you would be nice."
I blush lightly and he steps closer to me to avoid a crowd of football players bustling past.
"You remember that storm from the other night?" He asks as we walk.
I glance at him and nod suspiciously. This is the second time he has mentioned something from one of my letters... Although this time it really could just be a coincidence, lots of people have been discussing that storm.
"Dang thing made a tree fall in my backyard, hit my old tree house," he sighs, kicking at a random pencil on the floor.
I frown up at him, "Oh gosh, I'm sorry Noah."
He shrugs, "I hadn't been up there in three years, but it was nice to have as a memory of my childhood." Then he changes the subject and turns towards me. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you, I've heard rumors of you and Hayden becoming a thing..."
I almost stop in the middle of the hallway. I blink at Noah and stare at him for a moment or two from shock, and then I shake my head. "No!" I laugh it off.
But I can't deny that a small part of my heart fluttered at the thought of being with Hayden, and the other part pulled at the thought of no longer getting my letters. Then, I also didn't like the thought of no longer having Noah as someone to talk to.
Oh god I'm in trouble.
"We're only friends," I say, pushing my thoughts away.
I take note to the relief evident in Noah's eyes and his charming smile returns.
Yeah, definitely in trouble.
---
"Logan I swear to god if you eat that I am kicking you out of my car!" I exclaim, staring at him in horror through the rear view mirror as he holds up a forgotten, half eaten lollipop from who knows how long ago.
"But we're going, like, 50 miles per hour," he pouts.
Chloe spins around in her seat to point a harsh finger at him. "I will throw you out myself. You don't know what diseases that thing carries!"
"Reagan's car is pretty clean," he argues.
"Bruce also couldn't make it to the fire hydrant last week," I say.
Logan doesn't respond after I drop that bomb and silently lowers the window, throwing the lollipop out without any hesitance.
Hayden called me after school and asked if I could come over and hang out, but I was already with Chloe and Logan at Sonic. He said that he was with Cole and said they should come too. So, we hopped in my car, Logan's jeep passing out at Sonic, and started driving here.
"Harley has a sack of candy in the back," Logan grumbles, referring to his Jeep, as we pull into Hayden's grandiose driveway.
My car hobbles over the cobblestone driveway and pulls up to Hayden's challenger and his parents Escalade and G-Wagon. I wonder who drives what?
"Yeah, Harley also breaks down in the middle of the Sonic parking lot," Chloe retorts, stepping out of my car.
"Don't make fun of him. He had a rough day."
"He's a car."
"He's so much more than that!"
I roll my eyes and start walking to Hayden's house as they argue behind me, and finally Chloe wins with some comment about it being an object for Logan and Vicky to...have fun in.
He can't object to his activities.
We reach Hayden's basement and I trail behind both Chloe and Logan as we walk down the steps. I see Hayden waiting at the bottom of the staircase, greeting Logan with a fist bump and Chloe with a smile- Cole was right there to greet her with a hug.
I'm so engrossed in watching everyone else greet each other that I somehow manage to skip a step and I go falling down the stairs.
One second I'm flying through the air, my eyes shut tight as I prepare to meet my fate and slam my face into the hardwood floor.
But I never crash to the floor.
Instead, I crash into a large body. My forearms slam into a broad chest while my legs flail behind me, and said body wraps his arms around me as we both start to stumble back. But he catches himself easily by placing one foot back to stop our momentum.
Hayden.
My hands are practically glued to his chest and the rest of my body is pressed against his from my not-so-graceful fall. He has his hands on the small of my back and I can feel his muscles flexing into my waist.
My face is so close to his that I can see the almost imaginary stubble on his chin. His eyes hold their usual arrogance, something that I've surprised myself by becoming fond of.
"Well hey Cupcake," he smirks.
He doesn't let me go.
"Hi," I squeak, my cheeks heating at the pathetic response.
"I was beginning to think you had moved past the klutz stage."
I gulp and shrug, "I was too."
He smiles at me and then sends me back down to earth. My feet gently hit the ground and Hayden slowly retracts his arms, trailing his hands over my waist before resting them back at his sides. I lower mine from his chest and I'm amazed at the sudden loss of warmth.
We don't break eye contact even when we are pulled apart, and it isn't until I hear someone clear their throat that I snap out of his gaze.
"So...should we come back or?" Cole asks.
Hayden scowls at him and in an instant thwacks him on the back of his head. I try to wrap my head back around reality and walk towards Chloe. She, of course, has a huge smirk on her face.
She still can't get over the fact I am gaining feelings for someone I used to vow to hate for eternity.
I hold my hand up as I walk past her and towards the couches. "Don't say anything."
We all settle down on the couches, with Chloe and I lounging on one with Cole situated closely to Chloe, and then Hayden and Logan take the recliners. For an hour or so we sit around and talk. I learn more about Cole, and he and Hayden learn more about Chloe and Logan.
We're an unlikely group, but we all get along surprisingly well.
At about six or seven, Logan's stomach starts to roar like a lion so Chloe and Cole decide to go pick up a pizza for us all to share, and Logan tags along with them so that he can get his Jeep back before the rain hits later tonight. Which leaves just me and Hayden.
"So Cupcake," he starts, "looks like it's just you and me."
"Your wildest dream come true."
Hayden grins and starts chuckling, and since his laughter is so infectious I start laughing with him.
"I think my dirty mind is rubbing off on you," he grins.
"Hopefully your stupidity doesn't do the same."
He smirks, "You mean like my 'stupid' smirk?"
I grimace. Did I used to say that out loud?
"Did I say that out loud?" I ask, voicing my thoughts on purpose this time.
"I heard you mutter it once or twice," he hums, reclining back. He bends one arm at the elbow and rests his head on it, the other resting on his chest as our conversation ends.
I stretch out on the couch and yawn, resting my head down on the cushion. Then I turn towards Hayden.
"What do you want to do when you're older?" I ask.
His brows raise from the sudden question and he sits up. "Are we five?"
I roll my eyes, "Just answer the question."
He grins at my annoyance and rests his head back down. "I want to go into broadcasting."
I do a double-take and sit up slightly, "Really?"
"Yeah, good idea right?" He smirks, "I can bring in hundreds of more viewers from looks alone. And who knows, maybe a gust of wind will come and my shirt will fly up and then bam! A thousand new viewers."
I roll my eyes at him on impulse and he starts to laugh, "I'm kidding around. I want to go into it for the right reasons- to get news to the public. What about you?"
"It's stupid," I mumble.
"I doubt it."
"You'll roll your eyes."
"You rolled yours at me."
"That was different."
"Unless you say you want to join the circus, I won't roll my eyes at you, Cupcake."
I sigh and look down, "I want to major in art, but I need something to fall back on."
He cocks his head, "Why do you think that?"
"I won't get anywhere in art," I frown.
Hayden chuckles and shakes his head, "Reagan, you're amazing at anything artistic. You'll go somewhere. That project we did? It was phenomenal, and definitely not because of me."
I turn my gaze towards him and stare at him for a moment or two. How is it that in only a month or so, I've gotten this close with Hayden Summers? I used to hate him. I used to think he was the biggest narcissist, the biggest asshole, and the cockiest man on the face of this planet. And now I have a crush on him.
"It's amazing that I'm friends with you now," I think aloud.
"I agree."
"I used to hate you," I admit.
"Oh I know, trust me."
I chuckle awkwardly and look over at him, "I didn't understand how you got so many girls." I say as stand up from the couch to get myself a water from the fridge he has down here.
Hayden tilts his head, "You don't know how I got so many girls?"
I shake my head with my back turned to him as I scan the fridge, "No. I didn't know why they were attracted to your level of cockiness."
I hear him stand up and start walking over to me, and I take a second water from the fridge for him since I'm assuming that's why he's over here.
As I turn around with both water bottles in my hands, Hayden pins me to the fridge with his hands on either side of my head- his biceps cutting off my peripheral vision so that all I can focus on is him. I drop the water bottles from the shock, but he doesn't seem to notice, or maybe he just doesn't care.
"You didn't know why they were attracted to me?" He asks lowly with his eyes a shade darker than before. "Do you know now?"
I gulp and shake my head. "No. You don't have any effect on me," I lie.
He has way too much of an effect on me.
He smirks, "I have no effect?"
I shake my head because I don't trust my voice.
I want to move, but I want to stay so much more.
I can feel his body heat mixing in with my own, and my heart starts to beat faster from his quiet and husky response.
"You mean to tell me that when I'm this close to you, you don't feel your heart starting to pound harder?"
Reagan, you can't stay this close to him.
But I can't pull away.
"When I lean in like this," he dips his head down and our breath starts to mingle, and I barely contain a gasp, "you don't hitch your breath?" His lips are inches away from mine, and I start to imagine what they would feel like on my own.
"When I brush your hair to the side," he says softly, lightly trailing his fingers across my skin as he tucks my hair behind my ear, his touch sending chills down my spine, "you don't feel goosebumps rise on your skin?"
I know that I need to stop him. I need to do what those other girls couldn't and push him away, but every cell in my body is aching for his touch.
"When I press my body against yours," his voice is a low and husky whisper now, and it makes me suddenly feel every nerve in my body, "you don't feel every objection disappear from your mind?"
He pauses for a second and hesitates, his eyes flitting down to my lips.
"When I brush my lips against yours," he whispers, his voice a little less confident as he leans forward at an agonizingly slow rate.
His lips are so close to mine that I can practically taste him. Electricity is sparking between us, and everything in my mind is yelling at me to close the hair-thin distance between our lips.
Then we hear voices upstairs.
And we pull apart like nothing ever happened.
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