Puddle Jumping(8)

Some kids just go once or twice a day.

Some kids go all day.

Some, I would learn, go by choice.

It really is amazing how much my thought process has changed since the beginning of my senior year of high school.

I remember just being in a weird daze as I made my way to my first class where Harper was already ignoring our teacher and reading a Cosmo because she claimed it pertained to her more than a Seventeen Magazine did.

What can I say? My bestie is a little . . . advanced.

“You’re late,” she’d whispered and I shrugged, settling into my seat and hoping not to be noticed.

“Colton Neely is here.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I heard he enrolled. He being tutored so e could do his art and stuff. I have no idea why he's here if that's true.”

Word spread fast.

“God. How do you hear this stuff?”

She shrugged. "I have connections in the front office."

It suddenly made all the sense in the world. And it was all I could think about through the rest of my morning classes, barely acknowledging Joseph when he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the cafeteria. I hadn’t needed to go back to my locker yet, and I was nervous as hell.

Colton had scarcely looked like he knew me.

While we were sitting at lunch and I was fighting this horrible nervous stomach cramp, I heard some whispers from across the table and looked up just in time to see Joseph’s friends staring at a few people making their way toward a table along the far wall, away from the crowded middle section of the lunch room.

It was everyone I had seen in Colton’s class, though I only recognized the few I saw walking by me that morning. There were so many of them occupying the lunch table, everyone taking seats like they were assigned.

Now, I’m pretty sure I was the only one at my table who knew Sawyer was in Resources with the other kids, which is why I was surprised to see him walking toward the table with his girlfriend, Quinn, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Marissa, I would later find out, was a grade below us, so I’d never had a reason to really pay attention to her before, and she sat down, too. Lastly there was Colton.

Joseph, with his dark hair and even darker eyes, tanned skin and recently braces free teeth, leaned into me. “Uh-oh. Look who just showed up.”

You should have seen how red my face turned. I shrugged his arm off and turned to glare. “Don’t be an *. You don’t even know him.”

He’d cocked this eyebrow at me. “And you do?”

It was like my lips were sealed with cement. “Just shut up, okay?” I’d said it as quietly as possible and instantly felt terrible. Nauseated at myself, I pushed away from the table and grabbed my bag. “I have to go to my locker before class.”

Joseph offered to walk me but I said no because I needed a minute to just freaking breathe. He was pissing me off. And I was mad at myself for not saying yes to his question about Colton. So, I made my way down the corridors to my locker and pressed my head against the cool metal, wondering exactly what I was supposed to do.

“Lilly?”

It was that voice.

Oh, God. I love that voice.

“Colton.”

I listened to him shift his feet from side to side for a second before I got the courage to look up. He stared at the floor for a beat and then he seemed to struggle with himself before pulling his hand out of his jeans pocket and offering it to me tentatively.

“Hello. I’m Colton Neely.” His eyes flicked to mine and then to his extended hand.

I laughed a little. “I know.” But he stood still I began to feel silly so I held out my hand and he flinched at the first contact, pulling back and scratching at his palm before thrusting it back into mine and squeezing. Hard.

“Why are you acting like you don’t know me?” I asked, my heart now laying in a wet mess on the floor.

He released my hand and shoved his back in his pocket, his shoulders raising a little. “My dad said to be polite and introduce myself. He said I had to be polite.”

It was then I realized just how hard this was going to be for him. He was so formal. So timid.

“You’ve always been polite,” I whispered waiting for him to look up again. “Even when you were saving me from lightning.”

His face shot up immediately at the memory and he blinked furiously. “You remember.”

“Of course I remember. How could I forget? You saved my life.” His eyes had widened further. “Twice,” I reminded him.

He smiled then. Just a small smile, but it was all I needed before he let out a long breath and looked at the floor again. “You remembered.”

The silence took over then, and I won’t lie, it made me fidgety. So, I got my things from my locker and packed my backpack while he stood to the side, not saying a word. Finally, I had to break the tension.

“I haven’t seen you in while.”

His entire body language seemed to imply exactly how nervous he was. “Paint . . .” his mouth snapped closed and he looked down.

“Paint? Your paintings?” It was like pulling teeth.

His face grew solemn. “I’m only allowed to talk about painting three times today and I used my chances during first period.”

Something in my heart, now that it was back in my chest, stung as I looked at him because he seemed to be so embarrassed. He wanted so badly to do what he was used to.