Chapter 128

I had to drive to school separately from Lucas since he had left earlier this morning for hockey practice.

Waking up, I felt refreshed and much stronger mentally than I had in the last two days. However, I felt a little odd driving myself to school without having Lucas by my side.

The car ride was filled with the echoing silence that seemed to amplify my apprehension.

A sense of nervousness gnawed at me as I parked my car in Shadow High's parking lot.

For weeks, we had arrived together, and now, going in alone felt strangely unfamiliar. I wasn't used to this.

I exited my car and entered the school grounds, weaving my way through the bustling crowd of students. I wasn't oblivious to the hushed whispers that followed me as I walked through the hallways. It was impossible to ignore them.

I tried to train my ears to hear some of their conversations, and I surprised myself when I could actually catch onto a few of the things people were whispering about.

"Where's Lucas?"

"Why isn't he with her?"

"Wait, they're still together, right?"

I wanted to roll my eyes at the stupidity of their questions. Just because Lucas didn't show up to school with me, they thought that the two of us had a falling out.

At this point, it seemed like everyone at the school just wanted something to talk about, and their favorite topic was Lucas and I.

My solo arrival had spread like wildfire within the span of minutes, and I could feel the weight of their gazes on me.

This was never going to end, was it?

I tried to brush off everyone as I made my way to my locker. Outwardly, I looked unbothered, but inside, my heart pounded wildly.

Suddenly, I found all of their attention too overwhelming.

As I fumbled with the lock, trying to will my racing thoughts into submission, a girl I barely knew approached me, her curiosity overtaking her sense of common human decency.

"Hey, Shana," she said with a sly grin.

I didn't know the name of this girl and I found it a bit odd that she knew mine and would approach me so familiarly.

"Uh, hi?" I questioned, wondering what she wanted from me.

"Did you and Lucas break up already?"

She had said it so bluntly and plainly, that I almost couldn't believe that the words came out of her mouth.

How dare she approach me as if we were friends and start pestering me about my personal life? At times, it seemed as if nobody in this school had any sort of compassion or common sense.

"That's really none of your business," I said, my voice laced with venom.

"So, does that mean yes?" she asked again. "It's not really a 'yes' or a 'no.'"

"It's none of your business either way." I slammed my locker closed with more force than necessary, hoping that the girl would get the hint to leave me alone.

My patience was wearing thin, and my anger was starting to grow.

The girl appeared stunned for a moment before recovering. She took a step back and looked at me as if I had just hit her.

I couldn't believe my eyes. She was acting like I was the one who was being rude to her. She had no right to ask me questions when she didn't even know who I was.

She opened her mouth to speak again but I decided I was finally done. I would ignore her pestering questions. I simply walked away, not wanting to entertain the constant gossip mill that had sprung to life.

I pulled out my phone and quickly typed a message to Lucas.

Me: Surprise, surprise. Guess who's the center of attention again in all of the Shadow High group chats?

It didn't take long for Lucas to answer me. He must've been finished with practice already, and my heart fluttered at the thought of him somewhere on our school grounds texting me back.

Lucas: The guessing game! My favorite. Okay then, let me take a wild guess... Us?

Me: Bingo! Wow, you're really good at this. How did you know it was us?

Lucas: Probably because they have nothing better to talk about.

Me: LOL! You're right about that. Ugh, it's just so frustrating. I hate not having you here with me for this...

Lucas: What did they do? Did someone hurt you?

I smiled as I read the words on my phone. Of course, Lucas immediately went into protective mode. It was sweet that he cared enough to want to know if someone had hurt me.

Me: They're just whispering like they always do. They think we broke up because I showed up to school on my own.

I saw the three chat bubbles appear as Lucas began to write his next message.

Lucas: Maybe we should give them a show later to remind them we're still together.

I could practically hear his teasing voice through the text, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his playful response.

At the same time, I felt myself heat at his words.

I remembered resting my head on his chest yesterday and falling asleep in the comfort of his arms. It had felt nice to be close to him again in that way, a way that was more than friends.

We haven't had a lot of time together to focus on our relationship, not really since we had our first date at the cabin in the woods.

Hearing Lucas joke about wanting to spend time with me in an intimate way made my skin grow hot.

Even though I was blushing at his words, I didn't want to let him off the hook that easily. Typing back, I scolded him through the phone screen.

Me: Get your mind out of the gutter.

He replied instantly.

Lucas: My mind isn't in the gutter, it's on you.

I bit my lip as I read his words. His flirting was definitely having an effect on me.

The memory of our kiss on our recent date played in my mind like a recurring daydream. It had been perfect in every sense of the word, and we hadn't kissed since then.

I couldn't help but wonder when it would happen again, or if it even would... A part of me couldn't wait for that moment to happen again.

I haven't had much time to think about it, but whenever I had a spare moment, I found myself thinking about it.

I found myself imagining the feel of Lucas's lips on mine again.

The kiss wasn’t even anything too spectacular. I think it was something that had been a long time coming. Sometimes, I couldn’t believe that it had finally happened.

It had been so simple yet so meaningful, and it only left me wanting more from him.

I hated that the past few days had been so chaotic and difficult that the two of us hadn't had to opportunity to explore our relationship further.

But they did say that all good things happened to those who waited.

Maybe I just needed to wait a little bit longer.