When Our Worlds Collide (Our Worlds #1)(35)

Graham butts in before Craig has a chance to say anything, “Actually I was going to talk to you about that, Kennedy. I need help with our assignment in Government and I am hoping you could help me with it tonight since it’s due soon.” I don’t know what he’s talking about, but I go along anyways.

“Sure,” I answer. I glanced back at Craig. “Is it okay if I go with Graham that way you don’t have to drive me all the way home since he lives pretty close anyways?” What am I doing? Why am I going along with Graham’s charade? I look over at him as he fights back a laugh which means only one thing. He got his way. Dammit.

“Are you sure?” Craig’s unsure of the situation. I don’t blame him for that. It all seems out of sorts. There is no reason on this planet why I should be riding back with Graham.

“Yeah, I’ll just see you tomorrow at school. Thanks for tonight,” I answer leaning up on my toes to kiss Craig on the cheek quickly. I turn to Graham to say his goodbyes before heading to the passenger side of his car. Amanda openly glares at me as she gets into her car. I think she saw her night ending differently. She’s not the only one.

Neither of us says anything as he turns the key to his ignition and the car comes to life. Graham rolls down his window and leans over to grab his iPod from his glove box. He’s close enough that I can smell his cologne. He tosses the iPod onto my lap and instructs me to pick something. There is something intimate about looking through his music. There’s a lot of rock and hip hop. Most of it I know, but a few things are unrecognizable. I continue to move down the list and came across Katy Perry.

“You a big Katy Perry fan, huh?” I peered at him through my eyelashes doubting he actually listens to her music. She seems too poppy for his style.

“I once knew this girl who danced to her song E.T and I was an instant fan after that,” he flashes his signature smirk at me, the one I’m sure gets him into the beds of half the girls at school.

“That was a big night for me, you know? I was scared to death of dancing in front of everyone.”

“You seemed nervous, but confident. It’s hard to explain.”

“I saw you in the audience and you had this look of wonder in your eyes. I don’t know. It’s stupid, but that’s when I decided to feel different about you.” I blurt out without realizing what I am saying. I know that I went too far and said too much. I have been trying to avoid being Graham’s friend. Somehow whenever he’s around I forget everything else. I should be irritated with him. Every time he flashes that smirk at me I became a blubbering idiot.

“How did you feel about me before that?” Graham’s voice is low with curiosity dripping from every word. He asks the question keeping his eyes on the road clenching his grip on the steering wheel.

“Honestly, I thought you were a douche.” Graham laughs at my admission. “I have heard rumors about you and I guess I believed most of them, but there was always something in your eyes that was different. I can still see it sometimes.” My voice is a near whisper. I smile just thinking about it. I should feel total awkwardness admitting all of that. It never comes.

“You were right about that. There was something different, but it wasn’t me,” he pauses before finishing his thought. “It was you.” I can tell that he’s nervous as soon as the words leave his mouth. It’s the way he sits up straighter, the way his voice changes just enough to be noticeable as if he realizes he’s said the wrong thing.

I quickly change the subject. I don’t want to go down the road we were heading with that conversation. “So, you don’t really have any homework you need help with, do you?”

“No. I just needed an excuse to get you away from them,” he answers honestly. It’s refreshing once again.

“Well you did, now what are you going to do with me?” The words come out before I realize how they probably sound. Graham coughs frantically and I nervously stare out the window.

Graham ponders over this one for a bit as he continues to drive finally calming down from what I had said. He makes an effort not to peer over at me as I sit nervously waiting for what’s going to happen next. When it comes to Graham I always feel at ease even when I’m annoyed with him. He still inflicts a colony of butterflies to flutter in my stomach. Most girls feel that way around guys like him. There’s something about them that makes you drawn to them like moths to a flame. It’s as if you know you are walking into immediate danger, but you don’t mind. Guys like Graham allow you to not have a care in the world.

“Umm…” Graham looks to me then to the road a few times. “Do you need to be home at a certain time?”

“My parents are visiting my brother in California, so I suppose I don’t really have a curfew,” I tell him knowing that I leave the subject open ended again allowing him to interpret it however he wants.

“Do you want to go somewhere to talk?” This is the question that stumps me of all the questions he could have asked. It’s known that Graham is a bit…slutty, for a lack of a better word. I don’t know what I want him to say. Talking isn’t the suggestion I expect from him.

“I’d like that,” I answer with sincerity. There’s no way of knowing how this will end though. It seems that all of our recent conversations have left both of us more infuriated than the ones before. Graham seems to be one of the few people who have managed to weasel under my skin and it seems that I am capable of inflicting the same on him.