Forever Changed

“With Colton?” he asked, making a ploy to act like he didn’t care, but I could feel the tension rolling off of him.

I was confused at first by his tone until I realized he was jealous. It was terribly flattering, and I considered having some fun with him, but looking up into his eyes, I could tell that wouldn't have been nice, so I stuck with honesty instead.

“No, I was with Mrs. Leighton,” I admitted.

“Really, why?”

His relief was tangible.

“Part of my punishment,” I said, trying to shrug it off like it didn’t matter.

“That’s cool,” he said, linking his fingers through mine.

“Not really, she’s kind of a pain in the ass,” I mumbled.

“Why?” he asked, sitting up in his seat to study me intently.

“She just pries too much,” I said, wishing I wouldn’t have started the conversation.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Why are you sorry? You didn’t lose it in class and pull a fire alarm.”

“No, but I’m related to the man that set all of it into action,” he said, letting go of my hand so he could rake it through his hair.

“That's not your fault,” I said, trying to erase my mom’s words from the night before.

“So, is this you or what?” I asked, changing the subject as I held up my iPhone with the Facebook app still displayed.

Accepting my subject change, his face lost the stressed-I’ve-screwed-up-your-whole-life look as he shot me a grin.

“Can’t say,” he said, grinning at me more broadly.

I laughed. “Why?” I asked after I was finally able to control my laughter.

“Because of the way she treated you the first day you came back,” he said simply.

“How do you know how she acted? Were you stalking me?” I teased.

“Not stalking, watching,” he said.

“Seriously?” I asked, not sure how I felt about being under some invisible microscope.

“You interested me.”

“Interested you? There’s been nothing remotely interesting about me for the last three months,” I said.

“You don’t see yourself clearly, Kassandra. Everything about you interests me.”

I stewed on his words. I was worried his illusions of who I truly was would eventually be destroyed, just like my father’s had been. I was flawed and destined to disappoint those I cared about the most. I was tempted to warn him off now before it was too late, but I wasn’t quite ready to ruin things.

The rest of the hour passed quickly as we skirted away from the intense topics and instead joked about his countless comments on Lacey’s Facebook page.

“How do you do it?” I asked as we headed for the parking lot.

“I’m handy with the computer,” he bragged, slinging my bag over his shoulder.

“Not me, I’m a complete tard when it comes techie stuff,” I said, unlocking my car with the keyless remote.