The Songs in Our Hearts: A Young Adult Romance(15)

“Did you miss the bus?” Rachel asked, concerned. Jennifer was smiling.

“I saw Micah get off the bus. He looked a little disappointed. Didn’t even head off to the football field with his friends. He must have really missed you,” Jennifer giggled.

“Why would I care?” I muttered.

“I can’t believe Josh gave you a ride to school,” Jennifer continued. “Did you ask him for a ride or something?”

“Maybe,” I said. “Maybe I just wanted to avoid this whole—” I paused as my eyes jumped to Rachel’s face. I almost let it slip; I hadn’t told Jennifer about my English project with Micah.

“I don’t like Micah Jacobs, all right?” I walked to the side entrance, dismissing the rest of the conversation. As I approached the glass doors, I saw Micah just on the other side, glancing down at his phone. Was he still waiting for me to reply? He must have seen my read receipts. As I stood there, a surge of guilt pulsed through me.

“Uh-huh, keep telling yourself that,” Jennifer grinned. “We’ll leave you two lovebirds alone.” Jennifer grabbed Rachel’s elbow and walked past me into the building. Rachel cast me an apologetic glance. Taking a deep breath, I went over to Micah.

“Hey.”

He looked up. “Oh, there you are. You missed the bus.”

“Yeah, Josh had to give me a ride,” I lied. I was going to hell for this.

“I figured. I saw you guys pull in.” He pushed his phone into his pocket and adjusted his backpack to grab something out of it. He pulled out a notebook and thrust it at me. “So, after you stopped texting me, I was so inspired that I decided to write us the best kissing scene ever.”

“Are you joking?” I asked, afraid to open the notebook.

Micah laughed. “Christ, Charlie, I’m just kidding. I finished outlining the first few scenes. I figured we couldn’t make a full-length movie, so I did my best to summarize the beginning. It starts with Victor and his relationship with his family and Elizabeth. Then it kinda delves into his schooling where he studies to be a doctor and decides he wants to create a man. Personally, I think it’s more of a god-complex. Basically, Victor tries to prove to everyone that he can bring back a man from the dead, and results in a monster!” He leaned over my arm and opened the notebook for me, revealing his scratchy handwriting.

“See? I even tried to give Elizabeth more of a role. But mostly, I have everything coming from a Mary Shelley narrative. So, you can just narrate the movie if you want. Or you could be Elizabeth, too. If not, I guess I could ask one of my friends.”

“You have girlfriends already?” I hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Of course Micah Jacobs had girlfriends. He was a handsome guy. I was sure with those dark brown eyes and devilish smile, girls found it hard to resist him. Without question, Micah probably left a strand of broken hearts behind in Georgia. I caught myself gawking at him and quickly looked back down to the notebook. “I mean, that’s cool…that you have friends who’d be willing.”

“Willing to kiss me?” Micah teased, and I glared at him. “Kidding.”

“Let’s head to class,” I sighed and handed him back the notebook.

Micah bobbed his chin. “Ladies first.”





“Demons”

Jasmine Thompson





I SAT QUIETLY AT THE lunch table, listening to the conversation about a new Chinese restaurant floating between Daan and Jake. Rachel and Jennifer hadn’t yet arrived to the cafeteria, which left me a clear view of the “Bro-Table”…of Micah. I did my best to keep my eyes locked on my food and the nearby paperback of Frankenstein. I was almost finished reading through it and had begun an outline of scenes that I felt were important to include in the screenplay. I lifted a French fry from my tray as I opened the book, skipping to the creased edge where I’d marked my page, and not one second later, my phone vibrated in my pocket. As I lifted my gaze from the book, I looked in Micah’s direction and caught him smirking at me from across the room. I tugged out my phone from my jeans and saw his message:





MICAH: I see ur nose deep again.



CHARLIE: Can’t a girl eat her lunch in peace?



MICAH: Of course - my bad. LOL!



CHARLIE: I want to get this done so we can focus on the assignment.



MICAH: Gotcha. 10-4





I hadn’t realized I was smiling until I glanced up again, our eyes meeting. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as a growing warmth came to my cheeks. I was pretty sure I was as red as a cherry. Jennifer and Rachel approached the table with their lunches. Rachel took a seat beside me with her perfectly packed lunch, while Jennifer sat across from me. She grinned at me with this all-knowing look.

“Were you two just ogling each other?” She picked up chicken nugget from her plate and lifted it to her lips. “Come on, Charlie. You guys are killing me!” Jennifer laughed.

I rolled my eyes. “Just leave it alone.”

Jennifer took a bite of the almost-too-crispy chicken nugget.

“I just don’t want you to hold back because of Samantha Walters.”

And yet, honestly, Sam was the main reason I was trying so hard to resist Micah Jacobs and his charm. I didn’t want to be humiliated again.