Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 129986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Dare laughs, caught off guard by my honesty. “Hey, you said I wasn’t an angel,” he teases.
“I spoke too soon,” I tell him, smiling. “I’m reconsidering my opinion.”
“What was that angel thing about, anyway?” he asks as he falls into step beside me.
“Oh. I hallucinated. It’s common in near-death situations like that when your brain loses its oxygen supply. People hallucinate. It’s angels and heaven stuff a lot of the time, that’s why there are all these books about people seeing stuff like that when they have near-death experiences. I realize now I probably saw you diving into the pool to save me, but my oxygen-deprived brain saw an angel with massive black wings.”
“Sounds terrifying.”
I smile faintly. “It was comforting. Then we flew up above your house with me still in your arms. We were in the stars,” I say, tilting my head back and looking up at the sky.
His gaze lingers on me. “Sounds nice.”
I look over and smile back at him. “It was.”
“Hey, Dare,” someone calls, interrupting the moment.
It’s probably for the best. I subtly move away from him to create some distance between us as the guy comes over to talk to him.
Dare’s friend glances at me, his gaze lingering as he checks me out, but he doesn’t address me or even vocally acknowledge my existence. I know he’s a friend of Anae’s, too, but if Dare wants to show up to school with some random girl who isn’t her, he’s not gonna say anything.
While Dare’s distracted, I decide to make my exit. I touch his arm and tell him I’ll see him at lunch, then I head inside the school before he has a chance to stop me.
___
After lunch I have government and AP psychology, and I’ll admit, I did not do my government homework last night. I ran out of time, and it’s not a favorite class of mine to begin with, so when my eyes started growing heavy, I gave in and listened to my body, prioritizing sleep over researching the DPC.
Now, I’m sitting on the quiet, empty side of a bustling table in the cafeteria trying to research the White House’s Domestic Policy Council on my phone, but the wi-fi is being an absolute asshole.
“Stop being terrible,” I tell it, tapping again on the link to the executive order that established the council in the first place.
Finally, it loads. I set the phone down and dig my little blue leatherbound copy of the US Constitution out my purse so I can refer to it.
“Did you just pull a copy of the United States Constitution out of your purse?”
I glance up as Dare drops onto the bench beside me, eyeing the thin blue booklet. “Of course. Don’t you keep a copy of the Constitution in your purse?”
He smirks. “You’re a nerd.”
I crack a smile, opening the booklet. “No, I’m just a slacker. I ran out of time to do my homework last night and need to prepare for my next class.”
“Should’ve told me. I could’ve alerted my nerd army and had a briefing ready for you this morning.”
“You have so many connections,” I say, shaking my head as my eyes scan a page before I flip to the next.
“Yep.” His tone is teasing. “Do you find that sexy?”
“Yes, actually.” Before he can make a fuss about my admission, I look over at him and ask, “Any news about my car?”
His expression playfully somber, he says, “Another good news, bad news situation.”
“Why is it taking so long to replace tires? The guy I called said it could be done the same day. I could have literally waited in their waiting room and driven the car home.”
“It will definitely be done tomorrow,” he promises. “You have my word.”
I sigh. “All right. Well, do you mind giving me another ride home?”
“Nope.” He stands, startling me by grabbing the lunch bag I didn’t even get a chance to open yet.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m hungry. Let’s go out to eat.”
“Like, leave the premises?”
“That’s the idea.”
I look around uncertainly, but close my book and shove it and my phone back into my purse before standing. “I don’t usually leave school for lunch. Are you sure we’ll make it back in time for our next classes?”
“Live a little, mermaid.”
I’m startled as he reaches down and takes my hand. My heart flutters as he leads me out of the cafeteria, with fear that someone noticed and… something else.
I tell myself it’ll be fine as he hauls me out to his car. I’ve never paid attention since I’m usually doing homework at lunch, but maybe he and his friends go out for lunch all the time.
The car is an oven when we get in, so I expect him to turn on the air conditioning. He rolls down the windows instead. My hair blows like crazy when he picks up speed. I laugh as it whips my face, and he looks over at me with a smile.