Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits #1)(54)

I ducked underneath his arm and breathed in fresh air, welcoming any scent that didn’t remind me of him. Noah caught up to me, slowing his pace to mine.

“You know, you may have never noticed, but we have calculus together,” he said. “You could have waited for me.”

“And give you the chance to drag me into the janitor’s closet? No, thanks.”

Noah held his books at his side, his other hand shoved into his jeans pocket. As promised, he didn’t hold my hand or drape an arm around my shoulder, but he did pay more attention to me than the hallway in front of him or the other students roaming the halls.

We entered calculus and I swear, every person in the room froze and watched as Noah paused by my desk. “Isaiah, Beth and I will be by later.”

“All right.” Tutoring, car repair, hopefully a little kissing.

He flashed his wicked grin and lowered his voice. “Mrs. Frost always runs late. I could kiss you now and give the crowd what they’re looking for.”

That would be an awesome way to start class. I licked my lips and whispered, “You are going to get me in so much trouble.”

“Damn straight.” Noah caressed my cheek before heading to his seat in the back.

I settled in my seat and spent the entire hour trying to keep my mind focused on calculus and not on kissing Noah Hutchins. LILA PUSHED OFF THE WALL AND joined me as I walked toward the cafeteria. “Took you long enough. Where were you anyway?”

“I had to go to my locker before lunch.” Actually, I didn’t, but I’d used the excuse so I could walk past Noah’s locker and steal a few seconds—okay, a few kisses—from him. I finally understood why he and his friends preferred that desolate hallway to the cafeteria.

“Uh-huh. So tall, dark and mysterious isn’t going to sit with us at lunch?”

“Nope.” I shoved the optimism in my voice, forcing myself to be okay with it. After all, I really didn’t have a choice. I guessed I could sit with Noah, if I really wanted. I’d stalled long enough. “So, what’s the verdict on my social status?”

“It’s all down to lunch.”

Lovely. She could have warned me before we glided into the cafeteria. Why oh why couldn’t Glinda the Good Witch wave her magic wand and make the people of munchkinland love me?

Reminiscent of the first day of junior year, people stared and whispered as I walked past. At least they weren’t staring at my arms this time, but between me, Luke and Noah’s empty lunch table.

“Grab a tray, we’re getting food,” Lila mumbled as we breezed past our table. Natalie sent me a weak smile, while Grace busied herself with a container of yogurt.

My heart sank. The opinions of the rest of the school honestly didn’t matter to me. Their laughter and whispered comments stunk, but in the end, didn’t matter. But Grace’s rejection broke my heart. I slid my tray behind Lila’s, not touching a single item of food.

Uncharacteristically, Lila grabbed a plate of fries and two fudge brownies. “The school’s divided. Deanna told her friends that Luke only used you to make her jealous, which leads you back to the world of pathetic. Thanks to the fight at the dance and your and Noah’s make-out session before first period, some people think you dumped Luke for Noah, officially putting you on the road to freakdom.”

Awesome. Maybe I could be the queen of freakdom, the ruler of emotionally scarred people everywhere. Kind of like a stepsister to the Good Witch.

“And the rest of the school thinks that you and Luke used each other, that he belongs with Deanna and that you and Noah are hot.” Lila gave me a sly smile and winked as she handed her money to the cashier.

I followed her and caught sight of Luke hovering over Deanna, grinning at her like a fool. I did dump Luke for Noah, but Luke dumped me, too. Truth be told, I’d used him for normalcy. Had he used me to win back Deanna?

Deanna caught me looking. Her eyes narrowed. Luke gave me a half smile while taking Deanna’s hand. Maybe he’d used me, but I was okay with that. In this case, two wrongs made a major right. “Let me guess, you and Natalie make up that last group.”

“We’re the only part that matters, right?”

I joined Lila at the condiment station. “If the majority of the school has thrown me on the freak bus, why’s lunch a big deal?”

Lila squeezed honey mustard all over her fries. “Grace.” Sitting next to Natalie and another of her public friends, Grace stirred her yogurt over and over again.

“I’m surprised she hasn’t already made the decision. Rep versus friendship. Rep always wins, right?”

“She’s trying. Give the gossip some time to die down and she’ll come around.”

Yeah, maybe she would. I placed my empty tray on the condiment table. “Tell Natalie I said hi, okay?”

“Where are you going?”

“To paint.”

NOAH

“‘Sup, Mrs. Collins.” I strolled straight into her office and plopped down in the chair across from her. I had an hour to kill before I started my Friday night shift. Steam and the stench of nickel coffee rose from the untouched mug on the corner of her desk.

She glanced up from a file and gave me a weak smile. “I’m impressed. You responded to a summons on the same day. I didn’t think I’d hear from you until next week.”